We will be staying 5 nights in LA at the beginning of a 20 day West coast trip next August and we'll be spending our last night in LA as well just before flying back to France.
We have decided where we will stay on our last night: The Huntley Hotel in Santa Monica (their penthouse restaurant/bar is a must-see/go!)

As for our first 5 nights: At first, we wanted to stay in BH at any of the following hotels: Peninsula, Bel Air, BH Hotel or Raffles.
After checking these hotels websites and reviews on FT, we figured we did not really like their "old" style and felt more enclined to stay in a more contemporary hotel: W Hotel Westwood or Sofitel L.A. (which is supposed to be well located in BH from what I've read)

A friend of mine lives in Santa Monica and kinda convinced me it'd be nicer to stay there. We're looking at Shutters on the Beach or Casa Del Mar. We, however, do not really feel enthusiastic about these 2 hotels.

We're probably gonna go on studio tours and would like to go eat at night in nice restaurants. We would like to be able to walk from our hotel to wherever we're gonna eat in the evening (we will rent a car though but mostly plan on using it during the day).

My friend really discouraged me from staying at the W Hotel in Westwood...