Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills Review
3 Nights, Reward Redemption at 95,000 points per night
Cash prices ranged from $650 to $900 during our stay - so including California tax, redemption ranged from 0.8 to 1.1 cents per point

Great hotel with beautiful public spaces, well appointed and technologically advanced guest rooms, great service and good food all around. Checked in at around 3 PM, asked if an upgrade was available. They said a higher floor was available (same room type), and it would take about 30 minutes before it would be ready. Concierge had our bags and would set them up in the room. A front desk associate escorted us up to the roof for drinks while we waited for the room, so we saw the highlight of the hotel right away. Great rooftop with awesome views, good service, food and drinks. A local celebrity choice as LeBron James was having a casual lunch up there as well. Enjoyed the view and grabbed a drink, I get a text from concierge telling me that my room was ready, and that someone would get us from the rooftop and bring us down to the room.

Concierge brought us into the room, explained the features of the room, etc. Booked into a double queen (one of the reward redemption options), very well laid out and spacious room with two beds, desk, lounge chair, terrace, etc. Nice size bathroom with double sinks, shower, tub. Spacious enough for two. Great linens and Ferragamo toiletries. Tons of light switches and outlets everywhere, iPad used for ordering room service.

In addition to the rooftop, the Jean George restaurant is also great - we ate there the second night. Awesome service. Saw more celebrities.

In terms of Gold benefits, Golds get $25 F&B credit per person, free water bottle refills, the aforementioned 1 level upgraded. The “F&B” credit is a replacement for breakfast but will just as likely be used for drinks. Decent elite amenities, but nothing you can‘t get through Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts or something similar. In fact Amex FHR may be the better way to book this hotel if paying cash as FHR benefits seem to approximate Gold and Platinum benefits exactly (F&B credit, early and late checkout, free WiFi, property credit, room upgrade, etc),. Seems like a place where repeat visitors and celebrities will be the ones getting any extraordinary treatment as opposed to Hilton elites. Nevertheless the base level of service is excellent so not sure this matters.

It’s about a 10 minute walk to central Beverly Hills. Walked to the Equinox there and also to some of the shopping and restaurants. Very easy to walk to and from the property on Wilshire.

Texting with the front desk is probably the highlight of the service - they set up dining reservations, late checkout, service requests, and other items via text all seamlessly. They are very proactive over text. Concierge helped us with a recommendation for a bar off property and reserved the car for us. Unfortunately we haven’t been in the Phantom yet, we were given an Cadillac.

One more brunch on the roof tomorrow and off to LAX we go.
Late checkout of 1 PM was granted (normal is noon)

Overall, this is an excellent hotel if you want great service, great food, people watching, very comfortable rooms (even the base room) and a central location in Los Angeles (walkable to Beverly Hills and 30 minutes or so to most areas of the city, traffic permitting). They go over the top to make you feel at home in terms of service and amenities. One of the better ways to redeem points in the Hilton system, especially given high room rates and taxes. Wouldn’t mind making this a regular visit.