I stayed at this property for two nights June 26 and June 27. I had previously attempted to get this property on Priceline, but paid the corporate rate for this stay. The location on the corner of Pico and Beverly is not walking distance to much of anything, however, it is quiet and near enough things by car. One big upside is Factor's Jewish Deli almost directly across the street from the hotel which serves large, delicious, reasonable meals.
The hotel claims to have recently remodeled and I believe it has been. My room (711) was large and clean with all of the usual Residence Inn amenities. I met a guest who has been staying at the hotel for 15 months. He moved to Los Angeles, but after seeing the high rents, decided to go this route and is satisfied.
The hotel offers a lite dinner each night including three kinds of wine and beer. The breakfast selection is the best I have seen including made to order omelettes. The workout room is marginally acceptable with the usual bare basics; i.e. bike, treadmill, universal etc. However, there is a very large indoor hot tub.
According to the hotel staff whom I spoke with, the property is usually close to capacity, and while there were a significant number of guests at breakfast each morning, there was never a wait for anything. By the way, the front desk staff were very accomodating at all times.
The only downside which is completely avoidable is the $18.00 indoor parking. The charge is for self parking or valet. However, the surrounding area is virtually all meter parking which ends at 6:00 p.m. and doesn't begin until 8:00 a.m. the next day. There was plenty of street parking each day within yards of the property and there is absolutely no reason to pay $18.00 unless you are sleeping in late each day.
While the online rates are pricey by some standards, you can easily sleep 4-6 in a room, with all of the available space, and the fact that you can eat two meals there plus the use of a kitchen with all the amenities is hard to beat.
Be aware that if you bid this hotel on Priceline, there is the possibility that you will be upgraded to the Hyatt on Sunset. While I was pleasantly surprised by my stay there, you don't get half of the amenities of the Residence Inn plus you will definitely pay for parking.
Overall, a very nice stay and I would stay here again.
Cheers.
Marius









