A friend and I stayed at the W Hollywood while in town for the weekend for the Emmy Awards. I’ve never stayed at a W Hotel before, but I certainly would again! The hotel is in a good location in Hollywood. Right on the Walk of Fame, across the street from the Pantages Theatre, the Capital Records building, and about a 10 minute walk from Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and a large outdoor mall with lots of dining. I wouldn’t recommend taking the walk to the mall at night though, it’s a bit of a shady area further down Hollywood Blvd. The hotel is also on the same block as the L.A. Metro station, which is an easy way to get around the area. We took it from Universal Studios and found it to be simple, fast & inexpensive. There is a Trader Joe’s grocery store right on the same block if you want to grab some liquor or groceries. We also had our hair done at “Blo” Drybar (on the same block as the hotel) before we attended the Emmy’s. They don’t cut or color hair, they just curl and style it, so it’s perfect for a night out. It was handy to have the salon so close, even though it isn’t advertised on the hotels website.

The W Hollywood is very modern / trendy and attracts a young, hip crowd. They offer a live, local band every Sunday night that draws a huge local crowd including some celebrities. It was a lot of fun, but get there early to get a seat! The employees at the hotel seemed to fit in with the W “theme” and were young, attractive & helpful. We found that the front desk staff, concierge and everyone else who worked at the hotel to be friendly & fun. I really liked the Acura Service offered by the hotel. It’s basically a free car service offered to hotel guests where they can drive you anywhere within a 5 mile radius of the hotel. It can be booked in advance, or you can walk up to the desk & see if they’re available.

The lobby here is large, with a great outdoor seating area with lots of comfy lounge areas/outdoor fireplaces, etc. The lobby offers free WiFi, but you have to pay for it in your room. One thing I wasn’t a big fan of was that there aren’t any coffee makers in the room. You have to come down to the lobby to get your coffee. Also, we tried to get into the restaurant one night at about 10:30pm, but they were just closing down. Besides room service, there wasn’t a whole lot open in the area if you want to have something to eat later in the evening. The pool / lounge on the roof was neat and very popular with guests. The pool itself wasn’t very large, but there were lots of chairs & pool beds for lounging.

The rooms were nice & very modern. I really liked the window seats! They were large enough for a couple people to sit down and have a drink at while checking out the view! The beds were really comfy & the bathrooms were fairly large. I also liked the steam shower and all the Bliss amenities. We heard people yelling down the hallway in the middle of the night once, but otherwise found the room to be very quiet. There is lots of liquor in the room if you’re interested, but you’ll pay a premium for it.

Overall I really liked this hotel & would certainly stay here again & recommend to others (especially to the trendy, beautiful 20’s - 30’s age group!)

Such a fun place to stay if you want to feel the full glam of LA. Great customer service and great on-site partying! We ended up extending our stay an extra night because we were enjoying ourselves. Great design and rooms look fabulous.

My weekend stay-cation could not have been any better. I've always loved the W hotels, but my experience at this one was compelling enough to create a Trip Advisor account just so I could write a post.

I'm pretty confused by some of the other reviews people have written. It's a W hotel in Hollywood, what were you expecting? Aside from the bar/lounge in the lobby there is a private (seperate establishment) club called Drei's in the building. If you are staying in Hollywood at a chic hotel, you best expect a Hollywood crowd. That's not to say they are bad people by any means, it is just an entertaining group. Consider going to the lobby bar a tourist attraction more than anything. I think any deviation from the great bar, crowd, and design would be a misnomer to the "W in Hollywood".

Best - the value. For the rates you get, the location is prime for any LA activity. I'm not sure that of any comparable hotels with the same location and price point as the W (I think the Standard Hollywood would be below par). It was so nice not having to drive anywhere, we could do everything we wanted to do either at the hotel or just a few blocks away.

Worst - Cost of things such as the food and valet, but that is something expected of most any high end hotel.
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In more detail review notes:


Location - this is in a prime location, most of Hollywood is a less than ideal destination, but the W is central to everything you would want to go to. The Pantages, Katsuya, Palladium, Hollywood and Vine, & WeHo are all within walking distance. There is also a public train station just underneath the building, hence the bar named "The Station".

Facilities - Everything was designed to the T, even the valet area. You know it is a good place to be if they are able to rent out apartments to full-time residents.

Service - Never have I interacted with an entire team that was so pleasant. The valet girl, front desk person, bar tenders, and even the individual who delivered our room service wanted to make sure we were enjoying our stay. Normally I would expect that type of service to only be given to the high rollers, master suite guests, but even us average joes got 5 star service. After checking into our room, we were not happy with the view and wanted to see the Hollywood sign and downtown as opposed the entryway. The front desk staff were very helpful and switched our rooms right away. The associate that helped us even left us 2 drink tickets for their bar downstairs. We later started talking with an individual named Lauren, who turns out was the Marketing Manager for the hotel. I was surprised to see her relaxing at work after work. I think it speaks volumes that someone who works for a brand can also love and enjoy the brand for themself.

The Room - The beds were GREAT!!!! Later on my vacation I stayed at the St. Regis, I preferred the beds at the W hands down. It took a lot for me to get up and out of bed to go about our LA adventure just because of the comfort. Everything else was what you would expect - nice TV, clean room, etc. The multi-plug charger was a nice touch.

Nightlife - Both nights we pretty much stayed at the Station for the whole evening. The bartenders are able to speed through the lines pretty fast, and the drinks are made well. I personally had a fun time just hanging out there. For those that are looking for a different experience, Drei's is upstairs. Most people should learn that Drei's is a separate establishment, consider it a bar that is renting the top floor of the building. It's a pretty sweet spot since it is on the pool deck, looked like a set from Entourage. From what I can tell, simply staying at the Hotel does not give you preferential treatment - which I think is completely reasonable since there are other venues in the building. If downtown or West Hollywood are more your taste, they are just a short reasonable cab ride or bus ride away. We didn't get a chance to use the Acura service since it was already booked up.

The most important question though, would I stay here again? Yes!

So let me begin by saying I never felt like LA or Hollywood was much of my scene. Coming from San Francisco, I have an automatic image and expectation of LA/Hollywood. However, I love the W brand and prefer to stay at a W whenever possible. I was HIGHLY impressed with this W. The service was impeccable.
-Walking in you automatically feel super posh - (the valet entrance has me at hello)
-I was upgraded upon request to a "wonderful room" due to low occupancy (beautiful view of downtown LA and Hollywood Hills
-The Welcome Desk staff were all very nice and welcoming. I enjoyed the nice banter and innocent flirtatiousness from the staff. The staff were all very in tune with the vibe of the hotel. Amanda at the Welcome Desk really went out of her way to make sure my stay was amazing.
-The Station Bar was awesome. Cool/hip vibe. Wasn't nearly as pretentious as I originally thought it would be.
-The rooms were very chic in design. I loved the nice balance between masculine and feminine decor. The beds were very comfortable. The showers had a partial glass wall that was shared by the bedroom - Very sexy :)
-The valet (wheels) service was so speedy. They were also very very nice and helpful.
-The W Insider (concierge) named Zachary was truly cool. He made sure I knew all the hot spots in the area based on my specific personality. I'm pretty positive he's the man for any demographic.
-Last but not least.. Lauren, the Marketing Manager -- what a gem. She greeted me in the Living Room and insisted on hosting me and my friends in the bar for a cocktail. She was very interested in what we thought of the hotel and how they could improve. You could tell she was focusing on getting feedback to help brand the hotel in order to offer a better product. I love branding, so I recognized this right away. When I returned to my room, I found a kinky little amenity from the hotel to my partner and myself. Very nice touch and SO W!

All and all I saw people from many walks of life having a great time. One of my favorite memories was being on the elevator with a couple who were at least 80 years old. They looked at my friends and I and told us how cool they felt being there and how they were headed to bar to enjoy the fun! This speaks so much to anyone who feels like W is not their brand. Get out and live a little!

Thank you W Hollywood for such an amazing weekend! I'll definitely be back!