W Hollywood

The W Hollywood was a bit understaffed during my stay. The room was pretty nice with a great view, but the shower head was broken, and the sheets were stained. Also, there was no lamp in the living area, which made things a bit inconvenient. I’ve been a fan of W Hotels for a while, but I’ve noticed they seem to be shifting away from true luxury—they just don’t seem to have enough staff to deliver the full experience anymore. Marriott, in general, feels a lot more average lately since they laid off a lot of their staff. I’ve been a loyal customer for over 20 years, but honestly, I’m starting to feel a bit disappointed. It’s really a shame because the place could be fantastic if they invested a bit more in fixing these issues.

I am a local with a children’s education company 2 miles from the hotel. I have been in the beautiful lobby before for a meeting or two but never stayed. My 78-year-old mother visited from Northern California and I wanted her to feel a little fancy. I used my titanium elite free night and some points to book a room. I called and spoke to LINA who had some of the best customer service capacity of anyone I’ve met in a long time under the age of 50. She was warm and fun. She spoke to her manager and they did some very nice things for my mother. My mom could not have felt more fancy in the beautiful room they were able to upgrad her to as it was a weeknight with slightly less occupancy than normal. Here is a picture of my mom in her room. It is swallowing her hole, which was fine with her. Also, she said it was the best shower she’s ever been in her life and that 78 years of showers. Gabriel at the front desk was the perfect one to welcome us when we checked her in. Joanna and her joyful spirit was the perfect way to start the day at breakfast. Delicious lattes and maybe the best croissant I’ve had since Paris. Can’t wait to come back for a staycation! Thank you W!

This was the best hotel experience we've had in quite some time. I think the main thing that stood out was that every single member of the staff was so genuine. These are not people just going through the motions for a paycheck, or if they are, give all of them an Oscar because they all seem to truly love what they do. Every interaction we had from the front desk, to the bartenders, to the housekeepers we passed in the hallway, to the awesome concierge (shout out to Thelma, who remembered us every time we saw her even though we were only there 3 days!) really made our stay special. Thelma helped us get a reservation at Musso & Frank when their website said they were completely booked the entire weekend, which was amazing - she's great! I received an email from Lina the day before our arrival asking whether we had any questions or special requests. When we arrived, our room was above and beyond what we expected, with an amazing view and lovely snacks, and a handwritten welcome note. I lived around the corner for 10 years but couldn't stop myself from taking a bunch of photos and video of this room and the view like a total tourist who'd never seen this stuff before. Sorry/not sorry. Our only gripe, if we're being super picky, is that we had some issues with the wifi. Neither of us had to work while we were there, so we didn't care. I'm 100% sure if we'd asked the front desk for help it would've been resolved in a jiffy. So happy with our experience, and would absolutely stay again in a heartbeat. Thank you again to the lovely staff!

Our suite which we got for a $12 upgrade, was spacious and had a decent view. But it was missing a few things I would consider standard in a $700 a night suite. The entry to the bathroom closest to the room entry has no door. That means there is zero privacy for anyone using the bathroom if someone comes to the door. While we are on the subject of the bathroom, there is no towel hook in the toilet room. There is a sink to wash your hands, but nowhere to put a clean dry towel. And because the sink is a pedestal, nowhere to put an extra roll of toilet paper, except on the back of the toilet. There is a towel rack at the foot of the tub, but no towel rack for the shower. There is a closet opposite and nowhere convenient to put a towel. Most surprisingly, there were no complementary robes or slippers. I’ve stayed in $200 a night hotels that have had these; do better Marriott. My breakfast for one cost me $70, or 10% of the cost of the room for the day. The breakfast was fine, but this is obscenely expensive. Our last full day at the hotel on Sunday, we were unable to use any of the common areas of the hotel because unannounced to us the entire area was being used for the Beyoncé tour. I feel like the biggest amenity was taken from us without any advance warning. We couldn’t get coffee at the coffee shop nor could we enjoy the bar area. We got free valet parking with our suite, so I don’t know how much that is. I can tell you that it is extremely unsafe, pulling out of the hotel because of a huge planter that blocks your vision from oncoming pedestrians. The location itself is extremely loud with extensive traffic noise. We also had a lot of noise from our neighbors, especially the people in the room next-door due to an adjoining door room that did not block noise at all. Would I stay here again? With no on-site restaurant other than a coffee shop, a strong focus on appearance versus true amenities, and lackluster service from the cleaning crew when it came to stocking coffee, sugar, and adequate towels, it’s a pass for me. There are too many other great places to stay in Los Angeles for less money.

The "new" W Hollywood is over the top spectacular in the best possible way. They've just had a nearly $200M, world class renovation, and every dollar was well spent. The lobby and common areas are incredible, the rooms are amazing, killer views, a fantastic new gym with everything you could want, and an insane rooftop pool and multi level cabanas + bar. Of course, staff is everything, and the W has an excellent team: Amelia in management is just awesome, there is actually a real concierge (rare in the US these days), Thelma, and she is super knowledgeable, Vlad that runs the very cool Cafe Goldie is great, and Lauren at the rooftop bar Wet Deck was wonderful. There's no other hotel that comes close in the area.