I spent 3 nights at the Beverly Hills in June 2011 along with my wife, daughter and son. This was our second time at the hotel as we had stayed here in June 2010 for the first time. The hotel is, without doubt, the best hotel I have ever been in. The quality of the hotel and its rooms are truly outstanding with nothing but the best fitting used throughout. We all found the staff very warm, friendly and attentive to your every need - nothing was ever too much trouble. We had a few lunches at the Polo Lounge and the quality of the service and food could not be faulted. One of the many outstanding features of the hotel are it gardens which are immaculate and so peaceful. The pool area is just amazing and again the attention to detail is world class. After a day out sight seeing in LA I can't think of a better place to sit and have a cold beer than on the balcony of the bar as the sun goes down - absolute bliss.

From the minute you enter the property, you feel the luxury of your surroundings. Everything about this place is top-drawer. The furnishings in both the public areas and the rooms are lovely. The pool is beautiful and good for celebrity sightings. What sets it apart from the other great hotels in the area is the Polo Lounge, the legendary bar and restaurant. At any time of the day, you might see someone famous. If that gives you a kick, this is the place to be. The service is beyond compare.

After a long flight from Newark, NJ to LAX Christmas night and a problem at the car rental location, driving into The Beverly Hills Hotel was like opening up a Christmas Gift I saved for last.
From the valet who meets you out front to Nancy at the Front Desk, I knew we were going to have a great stay. Nancy, informed us that we had been upgraded to a bungalow, yeah, another gift.
Nancy herself walked my daughter and myself to our bungalow and explained that it had just been newly renovated. When we walked in we were in awe of how big and beautiful it was. Private garden, fireplace and a bathroom that was bigger than my daughter's Manhattan apartment. This was going to be had to leave in 3 days.
A few minutes later Jose showed up with our luggage. He was the most friendly man with big smile at 10 p.m at night on Christmas. He even offered to unpack our luggage. Wanted to bring him home with me. Everytime I saw Jose on the property he acknowledged us by name.
Being the owner of a service company myself, The Beverly Hills Hotel does it right. The get it. It's all about service. Even though security was extremely high because of a special guest staying there when we were, we never felt unimportant by the staff. We always mattered too. The valets are the best in town. (and my daughter says very cute too). Don't miss the opportunity to stay there if you can. Worth every penny. Have stayed at many hotels in the LA area and by far I will not stay anywhere else again.

I have mixed feelings about the Pink Palace.

I absolutely loved the room, a bungalow suite, which was both spacious and luxurious. The quality of the fittings was second to none. The bathroom was possibly the best I've ever experienced, though the cheap portable TV in there seemed like a hasty afterthought. Breakfast, served in the Polo Lounge, or brought to the room, was fabulous. The quality of the food was second to none.

We were highly amused to see the star tour buses pass by the bungalows - no doubt we have appeared in several pictures where people were hoping to star-spot. Bad luck, it was just us!

The cachet of staying somewhere as famous as the Beverly Hills Hotel makes it worth a visit, once at least. We never boasted, but when people ask where you're staying... well... they did ask! It's worth it just to watch their reaction.

Unfortunately, I think the hotel is let down by the level of service provided. It is inconsistent and I wonder if there is a tacit two-tier system in operation.

We had some problems at check-in, which did get resolved satisfactorily but it took a long time (3+ hours) and a complaint to the duty manager to get it fixed. We had to change room and until this happened we couldn't unpack or settle in. Until I spoke to the manager, I felt that my complaint wasn't being taken very seriously and we were being fobbed off. I am certain that would not have been the case if I was a celebrity and we wouldn't have had to wait several hours to have problems resolved. I'm confident that the problem would not have arisen in the first place if I was a celeb. Having said that, once the manager was on the case, things happened swiftly and we were adequately compensated for the inconvenience caused.

I sometimes got the distinct impression that the staff were only being nice because they expected a very large tip. Although this is relatively common in the United States, that doesn't make it acceptable. I certainly wasn't expecting it to be overt at the Beverly Hills Hotel and it left a bad taste. However, in other cases, the staff couldn't have been nicer - especially the bell-staff, parking valets and gardening teams.

In summary, the Beverly Hills Hotel is a fine hotel, but something is missing. It lacks the class of other top hotels, which really excel on service. It feels like they've bought all the right stuff and that should make it the best hotel in the world - but it doesn't.

Would I go back? Maybe.