rgdave

My thoughts about the location are mixed. There isn't a lot right around the hotel --- sort of a sterile mid-rise area. But it's well located to get to places you want to go. It's not a place where you're going to walk to a cool burger joint or bar a block away.

But here's why I come back to the IC Century City. They have these very cool terrace rooms on the top of the 5 stepped towers. The terraces are huge with great views. Some of these rooms are one bedroom suites and some are studios, and the studios with terraces are only one booking category up from a regular room. The studio rooms themselves are smaller than a regular room, but the terrace makes up for it. You can see an aerial in birds eye view on Bing Maps: http://binged.it/1R46Y1F The hotel doesn't have good photos of these rooms, but if you go to the IC Century City page on Tripadvisor, there are some traveler photos under "View from Room." Some of them look down into the Fox Studio lot, which is kind of fun.

I've stayed at the IC on both an IC Ambassador BOGO weekend certificate and on points. I emailed the hotel ahead of time and asked about getting a terrace studio. (A friend had clued me into these rooms before my first stay.) On the BOGO stay, they told me what to book to be upgraded to a terrace. On points, they offered to do a day of arrival upgrade space available (which is an Ambassador benefit) or pay a modest differential to confirm a terrace room. (Both times I've gone with the latter, because I love the terrace rooms.) I haven't stayed there in a year, so policies could have changed. But their reservations and guest relations people have always been very accommodating. Spire probably won't get you a comp upgrade, so email and ask what would be the additional cost on points. Who knows, they may just upgrade you.

If you're traveling with kids, though, note that the studio terrace rooms only have a king bed. I don't think there are any with two doubles, and the size and shape of the rooms isn't amenable to a roll away.