Review: the W Hollywood hotel, Los Angeles (recently refurbished)

This is our review of the W Hollywood hotel.

15 years since opening on Hollywood Boulevard, W Hollywood has undergone a full top-to-to renovation to bring it in line with the latest, more sophisticated W brand look.

By now I think I must have stayed at close to ten W hotels, both old and new. The new look is a big step up from the old, slightly tacky, style so I was looking forward to my stay.

Marriott arranged my stay for review purposes, as part of my trip of Los Angeles to review the SAS long haul busines class product.

The W Hollywood website is here.

Where is the W Hollywood hotel?

Even if you’ve never been to Los Angeles you’ve surely heard the stories of a sprawling city with endless traffic. I can confirm they’re all true. Depending on what you want to spend your time doing, picking a neighbourhood is crucial.

When it comes to iconic Hollywood attractions, W Hollywood is clearly well located.

Exit by the rear entrance and you’re literally walking along the Walk of Fame. A number of venues are close by, including the Pantages Theatre, Fonda Theatre and Hollywood Bowl.

The Capitol Records building is visible from the lobby and Griffiths Observatory, the Hollywood Sign, Universal Studios Hollywood are all pretty close. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is also not far.

If, however, you prefer to be by the beach, W Hollywood is the wrong shout. It’ll take you at least 45 minutes, if not an hour, to get down there, which is also how long it’ll take you to get to/from the airport assuming traffic is light.

My advice is to pick the neighbourhood that suits your needs best, because nobody wants to get stuck in hour-long traffic jams. If Hollywood is your game, the W is worth taking a look at.

Inside W Hollywood

The W is inside a purpose built hotel building that was built in 2010. I’ll admit it isn’t the prettiest – you’d have thought the architects could have done better – but it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right?

There’s a large interior courtyard featuring a car port for both the hotel and the W Residences next door.

When it comes to first impressions, W Hollywood impresses with a sunken lobby surely inspired by the conversation pits of mid-century architecture in the area:

When I arrived around 6pm it was buzzing with pre-theatre/show guests having a drink, listening to the DJ playing lobby-friendly tracks.

W Suites at the W Hollywood hotel

There are 319 rooms and suites at W Hollywood, which has thankfully opted to ditch the confusing W Hotels nomenclature when referring to different categories. Everything is now sensibly named for ease of understanding.

With occupancy at very high rates I was upgraded to a W Suite and was unable to see a standard room. The W Suite is the hotel’s entry-level suite and at 72 square meters it’s very spacious. Let’s take a look inside.

The layout features an open-plan living room and bed room, with a separate bathroom. The open plan concept would make it an excellent place to host friends, perhaps before dinner or one of the shows.

There are art deco elements throughout, including the chandelier which I accidentally bumped by head on due to the low ceiling height. The coffee table needs to be carefully aligned underneath to prevent this from happening.

Both windows have big padded seating areas:

(Weirdly, one of the blinds was electric whilst the other was manual. I don’t know why both weren’t upgraded and it seems a bit of a wasted opportunity to me.)

I didn’t have much of a view from the third floor, but on the upper floors you should, including of Griffiths Observatory.

Adjacent to the sofa is the fully stocked mini bar which in true W fashion comes with half or even full sized bottles of wine, spirits and more (all of which is chargeable, of course.)

I was surprised to find there were no coffee machines or kettles which I would expect in a hotel of this quality; free coffee is available from a big machine down in the lobby.

Behind the sofa is a large desk to work from with integrated charging sockets:

And, behind that, the large king bed with padded headboard:

On each side you have a mushroom lamp as well as USB-C, USB-A and US two-pin mains electricity.

The marble bathroom is behind the mini bar and has access from both the bedroom as well as the entry way.

It features a separate toilet as well as a large bath and shower:

The water in the shower never got that hot. I think there may have been an issue with the controls and reported it to staff on check-out. Toiletries are the classic MOMO brand for the W.

Pool and gym at the W Hollywood hotel

W Hollywood features the largest rooftop pool deck in Hollywood, I’m told. Whilst it wasn’t quite the weather for it during my stay, I can see it being lively during the summer with a range of loungers, cabanas and, most of all, fantastic views across the entire skyline.

Also on this floor is a large flexible event space with an immersive surround sound system which was very cool to experience. Think Dolby Atmos but even punchier.

The gym, meanwhile, is on the ground floor and definitely one of the largest and best equipped gyms I have seen with multiple squat racks. If you’re into fitness, then you’re in good hands (and there’s also a ‘proper’ LA Fitness gym round the corner).

Food and drink at W Hollywood

Whilst there is a streetside space on the ground floor earmarked for a restaurant, it has not yet been refurbished and I’m told won’t be for some time yet.

In the meantime, W Hollywood is serving a range of food and drink from its lobby bar in The Living Room – the large conversation pit I mentioned earlier – as well as the tropical outdoor terrace:

My stay crossed over the introduction of a new menu for both breakfast and dinner. For breakfast, I tried the fried egg sandwich ($28) which was, well, huge:

I don’t think I’ve ever stayed at a hotel in the US that doesn’t serve a copious amount of potatoes with every breakfast dish, and this was no different. They were great, but did I really need them on top of the hash brown inside the sandwich?!

You can also enjoy dinner in The Living Room. Confusingly, the dining menu is called ‘There There’. The food, however, was very good and exceeded my expectations. Here are some oysters, prawn cocktail with some huge prawns as well as a salad to go with it:

Conclusion

If you want to stay in Hollywood, it’s well worth taking a look at the renovated W Hollywood hotel. The refurbished rooms are smart and the location is very central.

As always with Los Angeles, however, your top priority should be staying in the area where you want to be because you will be spending a lot of time stuck in traffic otherwise.

Room rates start at around $300 per night or 40,000 Bonvoy points.

You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

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