Where to Book Your Stay in Los Angeles, California

Opened in February 2020 on the century-old site of the former Ritz Milner Hotel, the innovative Wayfarer is a great option for solo travelers looking for where to stay in central LA. Accommodation options include stylish dorms or private rooms – decorated with works by local and national artists – while the hotel’s amenities encourage guests to mingle. You’re sure to meet other travelers in the basement’s super-modern kitchen, where you can prepare a meal with locally sourced ingredients, over cocktails at the Rooftop or while building your own beer flight at the Gaslighter Social Club.

Eclectic Koreatown’s Renaissance Revival Normandie was built in 1926 by Albert Walker and Percy Eisen, the renowned architects behind LA’s Fine Arts Building. Extensive renovation has wisely left key original features untouched, including hefty mahogany doors and famed cheeseburger joint Cassell’s Hamburgers, an in-house diner that opened in 1948. You can also enjoy classic and craft cocktails at the Normandie Club or book dinner at Le Comptoir, where Michelin-star chef Gary Menes offers an eight-course tasting menu featuring vegetables from the hotel’s organic garden.

Italy-inspired Casa del Mar offers classy oceanfront digs in the center of Santa Monica, within walking distance of the pier and Third Street Promenade. Its classic, light-hued accommodations feature uninterrupted ocean views and local artwork inspired by the West Coast. Its on-site eating and drinking venues are some of the neighborhood’s most popular. Soak up a 180-degree perspective on the Pacific at Terraza Beachside Patio, pair sushi with saki at the Catch, or chill with friends in one of the cozy indoor cabanas – designed by Michael S Smith, who refurbished the Oval Office in 2010.

If you want a tranquil base for your LA adventure, try the Langham in Pasadena, where refined rooms overlook the San Gabriel Mountains. In celebration of its impeccable British pedigree (the first Langham opened in London in 1865), afternoon tea is served every day in the Lobby Lounge, featuring a guilt-inducing array of sandwiches, scones, Devonshire cream and jam, and cakes. In-house dining is by no means limited to British fare, though, with prime Australian wagyu or Japanese kobe beef served at the wood-fired steakhouse the Royce, and Californian classics offered at the Terrace.

Hyatt Regency’s Spanish-style Huntington Beach branch is within walking distance of the Ten Mile Beach, the Huntington Beach Pier and the Pacific City shopping center. Its pricier deluxe rooms feature private, furnished patios with firepits, but all accommodation options face the ocean and have balconies. To fully immerse yourself in the Huntington Beach experience, order a s’mores kit (and stock up on SoCal wine and nibbles at the hotel’s grocery store), or rent a bike from reception and cruise around the area. On-site eateries serve Californian cuisine as well as pizza and pasta.

The historic Beverly Wilshire, which opened at the junction of Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard in 1928, provides an appropriately chic base from which to explore this famous neighborhood. Spend a night glamping on the 10th floor – where you and your partner will have a 2,140sqft (199sqm) terrace overlooking Rodeo Drive to yourself, as well as a tent equipped with marble lamps and a queen-size bed. Alternatively, book the two-night Pretty Woman package, which includes a behind-the-scenes tour of one of LA’s most iconic shopping thoroughfares and a special dinner at THE Blvd.

The Historic Broadlind Hotel is housed in a landmark building dating from 1928, in Long Beach’s vibrant East Village Arts District. Once popular with sailors temporarily docked in the area, it’s now a luxury aparthotel (part apartments, part hotel), offering 20 uniquely decorated rooms and suites with mini-kitchens as well as beds and bathrooms. Soak up the East Village’s bohemian ambience in the Blind Donkey Whiskey Lounge, which was an illegal drinking and gambling den during Prohibition and is said to connect to the Lafayette apartment building opposite (a former hotel also dating from 1928) via a secret tunnel.

The Shade Hotel offers two four-star hotels in the South Bay area, one three blocks from the sand in trendy Manhattan Beach and one on the waterfront in Redondo Beach. Both provide oceanview rooms and suites, complimentary breakfasts and luxurious outdoor spaces. In Manhattan Beach, sip cocktails by the pool on the Skydeck, or if you’re staying in Redondo Beach, dine on oysters and craft beer at the Sea Level restaurant. Shade’s Redondo branch is also home to the Aquadeck rooftop pool.