W Los Angeles
930 Hilgard Ave, Westwood Village
Apologies in advanced for the far from comprehensive pics
It was nice to be back at a W after so long. Great decors... great lobby music... great crowds... Bliss Lemon and Sage amenities... I'd missed all of that! And so I was eagerly anticipating my stay at this one.
This W is located near UCLA, and in fact used to be the dorms of UCLA. That would explain why it's an all-suite property as the individual rooms would've been too small to be made into separate hotel rooms. Westwood Village is a predominantly residential area, with some nice coffee shops nearby for this avid inner city latte sipper. There was an ample supply of taxis in front of the hotel, and it was approximately a 15 minute, $13 taxi ride to get to the shopping, eating and clubbing areas in WeHo and Beverly Hills.
The reservation was made under Mum's name. As SPG Gold, this meant she got what she booked - a Spectacular Suite. The suite had a spacious living room which was most conducive for parties (when I'm staying alone that is), as well as an excellent stereo system. The bathroom was a bit cramped but had a pretty cute look to it. No plumbing issues as reported elsewhere, and in fact the showers were great.
I wasn't too enamoured with the decor of the suite. I much prefer the stark and dark schemes with black and/or dark coloured furniture. The hotel had undergone a makeover and had gone for a very light, creamy look ala W San Diego (except replace blue with creamy brown). It was extremely difficult to achieve the clubby feel which is standard of Ws, and we spent about 30 minutes trying to get the lights right to offset the lightening effect of the new colour scheme. It actually felt like they'd gone backwards in terms of design. The Wonderful Beds were comfy as usual, which was the saving grace about the room.
On the other hand I thought the W CD had some great tracks this time. The number of tracks were quite limited OTOH - I arrived at the hotel 3 hours after mum and dad and was told that they'd already listened to the same tracks 3-4 times in the duration that they'd had it on.
The Living Room didn't have much of a crowd, however this is most probably due to me being there on weekdays. Still, after reading reviews about the loud and hopping Living Room bar (Whiskey Blue), I couldn't help but feel disappointed with the quiet Living Room. The decor was extremely progressive unlike the suite, but I thought there shouldn't be a barrier separating Whiskey Blue from the rest of the Living Room as it ended up creating 2 distinct spaces and the rest of the Living Room felt rather disconnected from the bar and thus a lot less atmospheric, unlike a lot of other Ws.
The best bit about this W was its restaurant,
Nine Thirty. We had meals there twice and for the quality we got the prices were fantastic value. The service was also very friendly, efficient and down-to-earth.
The service was truly top notch. With some assistance from
taipeiflyer,
HUGE AL and the awesome concierge, we mapped out a super itinerary of shopping and eating in LA - of course we didn't get around to them all due to certain events which I'd describe in my next installment. On the last day of my stay I'd rocked up to the W Cafe just as they were preparing to close for some milk to go along with my medication; not only did they have time to serve me but they prepared some milk and a plate of cookies free of charge!
One major negative we noted was the headboard mirrors not adequately cleaned. The service recovery was pretty decent. A complaint yielded some bonus Starpoints for Mum, a bottle of wine, an apologetic note, and the promise of a huge suite upgrade on her next visit.
It's LA and there's bound to be some celebrity-spotting. Dad managed to spot Eddie Murphy emerging from the hotel one night; he was also in the same lift as another actor whose name he can't remember.
Overall, the hotel in LA for this W fanboy - until the W on Sunset opens that is.
edited to add - There was also free wifi in the Living Room, which I thought was a great touch!
Next: Los Angeles, including an unexpected visit to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre ER