Best Hotel near Bel Air and Westwood

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!!!