When we moved to Orange County, California two years ago, I thought it easy to spend weekends in Los Angeles. In reality, our weekends are too busy to fight traffic getting in and out of L.A. for dinners, so when the opportunity arises to spend some quality time there, we grab it. Earlier this month, I planned a romantic weekend for my husband and me in West Hollywood to celebrate my birthday.
First stop: Beverly Hills. Now, when I pay $23 for a Caesar Salad in a world-class hotel, I expect to be offered freshly ground pepper. Not just if I’m a celebrity sitting at a prime patio table. Don’t you? That was just one of several disappointments at the fading Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel. Service was non-existent, and the food was lackluster. Sadly, the Polo Lounge has gone from “place to be seen” to “place where you wait around forever for your check.” Perhaps the recent temporary closing for re-modeling of the Bel-Air Hotel has made their dowager sister in Beverly Hills a wee bit lazy, rather than wanting to up their game.
But, now on to the good! While planning an upcoming Girlfriends Getaway for Oscar weekend, I checked out two potential prospects: The Montage Beverly Hills and The London West Hollywood. While The Montage had a great in-town location close to shopping, it felt like a hotel my grandmother would stay in. Well, not my grandmother, but someone else’s grandmother who drives a late-model Mercedes with low mileage and wears classy St. John Knits suits. The rooms are classy, but a little boring. In fact, the whole place just has kind of a blah vibe. Then, I checked out The London West Hollywood (londonwesthollywood.com). What a breath of fresh air!
Sitting in a prime West Hollywood location just off Sunset, and close to great clubs and restaurants, The London West Hollywood—just named the #1 hotel in California by “Travel & Leisure” magazine (travelandleisure.com)—lives up to its reputation. The staff is welcoming and friendly, and our corner suite (every room in the hotel is a suite) was roomy, plush and relaxing with it’s soft, neutral hues. Even though we were there on Grammy weekend, and the hotel was full of music celebrities, the hotel still felt relaxed and calm. The Boxwood Café in the hotel is a casual alternative to the fancier Gordon Ramsey restaurant, and was a great spot for a delicious, healthy breakfast.
Dinner at The Tower Bar in the Sunset Tower hotel (sunsettowerhotel.com), just down the road on Sunset, never disappoints. Maître d’ Dimitri Dimitrov helps set the scene for a classy, elegant evening, and the food and impeccably soft lighting add to the romantic atmosphere. It’s routine to spot celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox here in this Art Deco spot that often feels like a private club.
As we do every year, my husband and I are trying to cram in as many Oscar-nominated movies as we can before the big night in March. We found the perfect spot to see “Crazy Heart” at the Arclight Hollywood Cinema (arclightcinemas.com). Every seat is reserved, so there’s no need to queue up forty-five minutes in advance. Tickets are more pricey than the crowded, noisy neighborhood movie theaters, but the convenience and added luxury are well worth it.
The perfect capper to our relaxing and classy West Hollywood weekend was a brisk and beautiful walk to Beverly Hills from our hotel. Walking West on Sunset, we dipped into some of the neighborhoods south of Sunset, where stars like Lucille Ball and James Stewart lived. Amazingly, these beautiful homes are easily viewed from the sidewalks. We then took a more athletic walk through the hilly, winding streets north of Sunset, home to today’s stars who value their privacy and are well-hidden behind plush garden hedges. Greystone Park (greystonemansion.org) on Loma Vista Drive has sixteen acres of lush gardens open to the public, and you can sneak a peek at the historic mansion built by the Doheny family in the 1920s.
The wonderful thing about West Hollywood and Beverly Hills is that a weekend can be whatever you want it to be … a cozy, romantic weekend getaway, or a fun-filled shopping extravaganza for a bunch of friends. Maybe the fact that I’ve been a hardcore movie fan from the time I was able to toddle into a theater seat contributes to my fascination with Hollywood, but I think it’s the perfect getaway for anyone who enjoys a spot of glamour. And what girl doesn’t?
