The Hotel Angeleno is probably my favorite hotel to stay at when visiting the Los Angeles area. Every so often I will have to visit UCLA for work and so this hotel is a nice pick due to its close proximity to the campus. Just beneath the Getty Center, the Hotel Angeleno is one of the best kept secrets in LA. The hotel actually use to be a Holiday Inn, the design of the hotel is very distinct in that it reminds me a lot of the Capital Records building with its circular design. If you want to see how the hotel use to look just visit the the Holiday Inn near the Long Beach Airport.
The first time I stayed at this hotel was about eight years ago when it was still the Holiday Inn. I liked the hotel so much due to its price and convenient location that I decided to stay there once again. Soon after, I found out that the hotel had been completely redone and renamed the Hotel Angeleno. When I arrived at the hotel to check in I was pleasantly surprised. Talk about an upgrade! What was once a typical drab Holiday Inn was now a chic boutique style hotel whose design was reminiscent of what one might find at a more pricey hotel such as the "W". Gone was the light rock musac that once filled the background of the holiday inn. The background music was straight from the catwalk and not suprisingly, all the front desk clerks looked uber stylish in basic black. They also were above average looking and were likely to be aspiring actors. This was not the hotel I stayed at before. It was clearly remodeled and had a much different vibe. When I arrived to my room, I fell in love. The flat panel tv, crisp linens, minimalist zen like style in earth tones that made me you immediately feel relaxed.
At the top of the hotel there is a lounge that has a panoramic view of LA. As a fan of the bubbly, I was pleasantly surprised at the reasonable price for champagne. The dim lights and soft techno added to the ambiance. On Fridays and Saturday nights they have a DJ and the club crowd comes in. Despite this, I've never known this hotel to be particularly loud.
The gym is decent, they've got all the basics that you'd need to grab a quick workout. The downstairs cafe has decent coffee, so so pastries and friendly staff. Parking is valet only. The hotel is completely non-smoking which is a plus.
The only drawback is that the bathrooms tend to be rather small. But other than that its a great room for the price. Definitely Recommend!!!
Monday, April 12, 2010
A Home Away From Home
When I was a kid, I remember that my family rarely took many vacations. Aside from one or two trips to Reno, Nevada we usually stayed close to home. However, about every five years or so we would traveled to sunny Anaheim, CA to visit Disneyland.
We always stayed at modest hotels and sometimes motels near the theme park. Looking back, I now realize that we didn't have a lot of money. However, at the time I felt as though we were well off. I figured since we had enough money to stay at a hotel for a week we must be rich, right? I remember staying at a hodge podge of places such as the Howard Johnson's or the Best Western. When I got older, I followed suit and naturally took my own daughter to Disneyland. Without even thinking the first time I took my kid to Disneyland I made my reservation at where else.... yep you guessed it, the Howard Johnsons. It had all the amenities I thought one needed, a swimming pool, wake up calls, maid service, what more could one possibly need?
Naturally, as I got older I did more traveling and began to be a little bit more adventurous in my accomodations choices. I also got a job that required me to travel about 25% of the time. Through my domestic travels I've stayed at a variety of hotel chains. Ironically, sometimes when I sleep at home I wake up in the middle of the night thinking to myself, wow, this is a comfortable bed. Only to wake up and discover that my little Yorkshire Terrier is nestled next to me and I am actually at home.
I'm a self-professed "pain in the ass" when it comes to hotels. I don't want to pay a lot of money but I want a nice room. I want all of the comforts of a "home away from home," yet I don't have the budget of an A-List celebrity. This blog is an account of some of my hotel stays throughout the past few years. Obviously, some of the stays have been much more enjoyable than others. I hope you find this blog useful if you are looking to book a hotel and want to find a great place to stay without spending a fortune.
We always stayed at modest hotels and sometimes motels near the theme park. Looking back, I now realize that we didn't have a lot of money. However, at the time I felt as though we were well off. I figured since we had enough money to stay at a hotel for a week we must be rich, right? I remember staying at a hodge podge of places such as the Howard Johnson's or the Best Western. When I got older, I followed suit and naturally took my own daughter to Disneyland. Without even thinking the first time I took my kid to Disneyland I made my reservation at where else.... yep you guessed it, the Howard Johnsons. It had all the amenities I thought one needed, a swimming pool, wake up calls, maid service, what more could one possibly need?
Naturally, as I got older I did more traveling and began to be a little bit more adventurous in my accomodations choices. I also got a job that required me to travel about 25% of the time. Through my domestic travels I've stayed at a variety of hotel chains. Ironically, sometimes when I sleep at home I wake up in the middle of the night thinking to myself, wow, this is a comfortable bed. Only to wake up and discover that my little Yorkshire Terrier is nestled next to me and I am actually at home.
I'm a self-professed "pain in the ass" when it comes to hotels. I don't want to pay a lot of money but I want a nice room. I want all of the comforts of a "home away from home," yet I don't have the budget of an A-List celebrity. This blog is an account of some of my hotel stays throughout the past few years. Obviously, some of the stays have been much more enjoyable than others. I hope you find this blog useful if you are looking to book a hotel and want to find a great place to stay without spending a fortune.
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