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As a city that hosts over 20 million tourists per year, Los Angeles is awash with hotels that cater to all crowds, from budget travelers to luxury guests. While many hotels offer quaint little family-style restaurants with a beer and wine bar, most offer larger, more Hollywood-style options, like full restaurants and swanky lounges. Some of LA's most famous restaurants and bars have a hotel to call home, and even hotel guests find themselves needing reservations for the lounge in the lobby. One of the most beloved aspects about Los Angeles' hotels is the distinct theme or ambiance provided. Hip, '40s era hotels offer glamorous speakeasies, modern-art styled hotels offer retro dens of jazz and Andy Worhol, and luxury hotels feature regal sanctuaries where a celebrity sighting is as common as a martini.
1160 Bar & Lounge
1160 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood, California; Tel. 323.315.1845
The 1160 Bar and Lounge, a basement lounge located inside the throwback styled Hollywood Hotel, recalls a hip '40s era Los Angeles drinking hole with a casbah flair. The 1160 Bar and Lounge has nightly live music by some of LA's best indie, soul and funk acts or check out this lounge on Sundays for 1160's hilarious comedy night. Be forewarned, however, if there's not a show going on at the 1160 Bar and Lounge in Hollywood, the bar shuts down around 11pm and you'll just have to grab some late night cocktails and entertainment at one of Los Angeles' 50-million other bars. |
Bar 1200
1200 Alta Loma Rd., West Hollywood, California; Tel. 310.657.1333
It's VIP access only at this indoor-outdoor hotel bar that's right off Hollywood's famous Sunset Strip. Located inside the Sunset Marquis Hotel, Bar 1200 caters exclusively to the rich and famous. This cozy, plush little bar won't be found on any of LA's hot spot lists—those who are in the know already know about Bar 1200. The place only holds about 50 people, or 150 supermodels. A hotel stay guarantees access to Bar 1200, so even a nobody can become a Mr. Nobody—even for a night.
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Bar Noir at Maison 140
140 S. Lasky Dr., Beverly Hills, California; Tel. 310.271.2145
About as Beverly Hills as a hotel bar in Los Angeles can get, Bar Noir at Maison 140 caters to industry types and fashionistas kicking back in this LA bar's East meets West small, but Parisian swank confines. The designer opulence of Bar Noir works incredibly well with the boutique hotel Maison 140 that houses it and this hip little Los Angeles lounge gets pretty hopping later on in the night with the Beverly Hills set that prefer quiet, sometimes romantic and in-crowd drinking over club kids and DJs. |
Bonaventure Brewing Company
404 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, California; Tel. 213.236.0802
Sitting in downtown Los Angeles there is a hidden treasure in the Bonaventure Hotel. The restaurant and bar of Bonaventure Brewing Company is great for lunch and dinner as well as sitting down for a couple of cold brews—brewed on location—during their long happy hour. The view of LA at nighttime is a highlight at this fourth floor LA hotel bar and brewery. While businessmen relax here after work, there are still the occasional hotel guests and USC students that get their drinking fill at this elegant brewery. It's worth a visit to the Bonaventure Brewing Company for the original beers and Los Angeles skyline view. |
Cameo Bar at Viceroy Hotel
1819 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, California; Tel. 310.451.8711
Nothing but class, Cameo Bar is a lush bar at the Viceroy Hotel with fabulous cocktails and is conveniently located between the hotel lobby and the lavish Whist restaurant. Watching the prestigious clientele is the highlight of the bar's location and regulars Owen and Luke Wilson occasionally find their way into this Los Angeles hotel bar and lounge to perhaps imbibe cocktails in one of the poolside cabanas. The white linen chairs certainly have seen many posh celebrity derrières to enjoy a drink at this swank LA bar. |
Gallery Bar
506 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, California; Tel. 213.624.1011
The elegant and historical Millennium Biltmore Hotel has a bar that just as elegant as the hotel. The Gallery Bar in downtown Los Angeles is one of the best places in LA to have a cocktail and enjoy classic Los Angeles. The lounge has a full bar, fine wines, and exclusive liqueurs that patrons can sip under the eyes of carved angels floating about the polished granite bar. Every Saturday night live jazz adds to the class of this Los Angeles hotel bar where it seems only right to dress up for a night on the town. |
Noe Restaurant & Bar
251 S. Olive St., Los Angeles, California; Tel. 213.617.3300
In the Los Angeles Downtown Theatre District, the exquisite Omni Hotel houses Noe Restaurant & Bar. Businesspeople come to the bar to conduct business and take advantage of the bar's selection of martinis and cigars while others stop by after a day of enjoying the area's museums and culture. The restaurant serves Japanese-French fusion food with high attention to detail of the dish and presentation. For a well-mixed martini at the end of the day, the Noe Bar can do the trick. |
Roof Bar at the Standard Downtown
550 Flower St., Los Angeles, California; Tel. 213.892.8080
The Jetsons have come to LA—well, not quite. The Downtown Los Angeles Standard is one of those hotels that are fashionably retro. The girls all teeter on stilettos at night, but during the day they were probably sun worshiping beside the rooftop pool and bar on top of the hotel. The Standard's Roof Bar is the go-to destination for spotting trendy fashionistas amid other Hollywood types. The view of the Los Angeles City skyline is unbeatable and so are the views of the beautiful women who come to see and be seen. Before the night explodes at the bar high above LA, business folk come to enjoy the perks of a bar by the pool. Many hot celebrities have a tendency to show up, so get there early before you're beat out by the crowd. |
Splash Bar
4222 Vineland Ave., North Hollywood, California; Tel. 818.980.8000
Splash Bar is a cool retro lounge and bar. It's a hot North Hollywood spot, made even hotter by two-for-one drinks everyday and the beautiful girls who sip signature drinks like the "decantini's," a decadent drink served in a stylish martini glass. |
The Standard Lounge on Sunset
8300 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, California; Tel. 323.650.9090
If you've ever wondered where all the beautiful people in LA go, then you haven't been to The Standard Lounge on Sunset Boulevard. A Los Angeles model is displayed behind glass at the lobby, and that does mean a living, breathing person. The full bar in the lounge is surrounded by people in expensive clothes meant to look vintage, but they aren't fooling anyone with that perfectly styled "bed head" or constant five o'clock shadow. Good thing the Standard Lounge's menu is reasonably priced gourmet bar food, otherwise those LA blondes might starve to death—oh wait—that's right, they're supposed to look like that. In any case, the lounge is a very hip hang out for hipsters and fashionistas alike. As long as you have impeccable style, you're in. |
The Veranda Bar at Casa del Mar
1910 Ocean Way, Santa Monica, California; Tel. 310.581.5533
One of the best and most elegant seaside hotels in Santa Monica, situated right on the sand, also has a matching elegant bar and lounge right off the lobby of the hotel. The Veranda Bar inside the Casa del Mar Hotel is nothing short of luxurious indulgence in Los Angeles style. The bar and restaurant overlook the Pacific Ocean and Santa Monica Pier down the way. The hotel and lounge have a swanky 1920s theme giving homage to the 1926 opening of the beach club and hotel. LA's elite and Hollywood VIPs called the hotel home when it opened, but over the years it converted into other types of housing from military to serving as a drug therapy program center. Finally, in 1999 the Los Angeles hotel had a $50 million makeover and reopened to Hollywood and LA elite. The Veranda bar has nightly live entertainment and a menu that changes with the acts. 20-foot tall windows look onto the beach as people wine, dine, and share laughs in the historic hotel. |
Trader Vic's
9876 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills; Tel. 310.274.7777
Clamshells and candlelight make the Beverly Hilton's pseudo historic restaurant, Trader Vic's, a romantic Beverly Hills hot spot. The tropical drinks are liable to put anyone at ease in the Polynesian themed restaurant and bar. The menu for the restaurant is a combination of Pacifica Island, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai flavors, one of the only places in Los Angeles County that can offer so many exciting flavors on one menu. The hotel bar has been open since 1955 and often is visited by Hollywood celebrities looking to go to a classic place. The tropical cocktails make Trader Vic's known throughout LA as a one of a kind tiki bar. |
Tropicana Bar
7000 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, California; Tel. 323.466.7000
Pure retro Hollywood lounge awaits the lucky patrons of the Tropicana Bar next to the calming Roosevelt Hotel pool. Palm trees, glowing blue water, and plushy seating offers the best of Los Angeles under the stars and mere steps away from an oasis of a bar. Even during the occasional chilly Southern California nights, the bar is warm with a fireplace to make the Tropicana Bar just a little cozier. The poolside area is where the party is at with a DJ spinning although there is limited dance space if you want to get down. There are plenty of choices when looking for a Los Angeles bar, but when Paris Hilton has been known to party there—as she has at the Tropicana Bar—it's like putting a seal of approval on an already glamorous spot. |
Twist
1755 N. Highland Blvd., Hollywood, California; Tel. 323.497.1000
Located at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, this family-style restaurant offers a full sushi bar, good drinks, happy hour specials and California cuisine. Twist has sort of a mid-century modern look and is on the mezzanine level. The best thing about this place is the unique menu that's structured so patrons can order lots of different items, sampling them all without ordering any one particular entree. |
Veranda Bar
1910 Ocean Way, Santa Monica, California; Tel. 310.551.5533
Housed in the elegant Casa Del Mar Hotel, this beachside bar is a serious hot spot, especially on the weekends, when there are so many pretty women, decked-out to the nines. Sexy waitresses slither around the lounge, between the people sipping martinis and gazing out at the sometimes moon-lit ocean. The Veranda Bar is definitely the spot to hook up with an attractive and weary traveler and take a long walk on the beach. |
Whiskey Blue at W Hotel
930 Hilgard Ave., Westwood, California; Tel. 310.443.8232
The W Hotel might be on UCLA's sorority row, but it's hard to remember once you're inside the swanky Los Angeles bar. Private rooms and trendy furniture give the place a calm vibe and hip appeal. Big names are always stopping by the Whiskey Blue bar for a little refreshment and to enjoy the beauty of the crowd. The bar staff wear sleek black and bare skin as patrons dress their best for the Westwood nightlife. The Whiskey Blue is an ideal Los Angeles bar to take a girl out if you want to impress her and there are plenty of dark intimate corners to get comfortable in. |
Writer's Bar at Raffles L'Ermitage Beverly Hills
9291 Burton Way, Beverly Hills, California; Tel. 310.278.3344
The Raffles L'Ermitage in Beverly Hills puts the class in classy in this Los Angeles County city famous for its 90210 zip code. The bar in this hotel, the Writer's Bar, is just as beautiful as the rest of the hotel and attracts customers who fit into this beautiful theme. There are youngish business types mingling in the comfortable space over cocktails, but there aren't many writers sweating over new works. The Writer's Bar is upscale and perfectly divine. |
—Los Angeles bar and club reviews by Alanna Lee, Ryan Osterbeck and Buddy Seigel
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