Hotel Angeleno, a Joie de Vivre Boutique Hotel

Not what I expected for the money

I expected more based upon the overnight rate. No hot water in the shower, non working phone near the bed and an in room coffee maker that overflowed all over the floor. In addition to the room problems, the restaurant and bar were overpriced as was the parking fee. The hotel sits next to an interstate highway, so expect noise.

Mediocre to the core

Do not be fooled. This hotel is no more than a Holiday Inn in Sheep's Clothing. From a distnace it loks improved, but up close, there is absolutley nothing special about this place. Everything about it (other than the restaurant) was 100% mediocre. Nothing was "impressive" and there were a few disappointing moments. 405 location is convenient, but very noisy.

Guest did not leave a comment.

Noise issue overwhelms fancy decor

Hotel Angeleno obviously benefited from a recent redesign that looks very nice. However it appears that all he money went into the 'looks' while a key aspect - noise insulation - was totally disregarded. This is the kind of hotel where you will be awoken by your room neighbor flushing at 4:30am. Also the A/C is provided by antiquated, very noisy in-room units. Maybe these were selected to mask the noise of the freeway since the windows were not updated with double/triple pane glass as you would expect. Too bad because the rooms look very nice...

Expected Way More

This hotel use to be a holiday inn but it was updated, and had the name changed. I know this because of how the building felt and how it was shaped. The room was extremly small but the furnature was new. The bed was very comfortable even though it took up the whole room. But HBO here is free :) The hotel has plenty of room to park your car, however you must vallet. The upstairs bar had nice views and plenty of people to mingle with if you like that sort of thing.

Nice but...

The physical hotel is well worth experiencing. Its great location, great in house amenities, and beautiful views make it a beautiful place to stay. But, the service personnel suck. The hotel only allows valet parking, but doesn't place any signage to let you know. We decided to park ourselves, had started to walk with our bags to the lobby when we were stopped by a valet who let us know that our car needed to be checked. So we had to walk back, pack our stuff back in the car, drive back to the front of the hotel...sucked. We arrived in the lobby around 4pm (normal check in time for most hotels) and found no one at the front desk or in the lobby to help us. We waited 10-15 minutes before being helped with check in by a person who made no attempt to be friendly with us. Later, we went to WEST (the restaurant on the top floor) to have dinner. Once again we hung out about 5-10 minutes at the reservation desk waiting to be seated. We eventually had to wander into the kitchen to ask for help. The host came out, gave us a mild greeting (think an underwhelmed "hey guys..."), asked how many were in our party, then informed us the restaurant wasn't open yet and it would be a 10 minute wait. We wandered into the lounge, which was the best part of that dining experience. Our bartender was fast, informative about the area, and friendly. The rest of the dining experience was alright, but not worth the $16 cost for my burger. They forgot to bring part of our meal and made no attempt to address it. The wine list was provided, and when I tried to order a couple of glasses for our table, the waiter then told us most of the wine was unavailable and we'd only know if our choices were unavailable after we ordered it. He came back a couple times to get a new choice from me. The next morning, we were woken up 3 times by room cleaning staff who were checking to see if we were still in the room. They knocked on our door at 8:00, 8:30, and 10:30. This was strange and irritating because

A Disapointment

I was very disapointed with the hotel. The location was surrounded by freeway and large roads and we could not walk to anything. There was a small cafe adjacent to the lobby that had a limited selection and never had a daily newspaper. Someone's bright idea for the bathroom and the glass door between the toilet/shower and the sink area left very little privacy. It's as if it was missing a door to separate this area from the rest of the room. There were no washcloths in the bathroom and we were left with only 2 towels on 2 different days. Our privacy tag you place on the door handle went missing and housekeeping never replaced it. The place seems to want to cater to the nightclub crowd as there is a nightclub/restaurant on the top floor.

Guest did not leave a comment.

Guest did not leave a comment.

Noisey

Water pressure in shower horrible

Needs Improvement

The staff was not obliging und unfriedly, especially in the hotelrestaurant (which is to expensive). The rooms are like the pictures, but they are dilapidated, they have to buy some new furniture. Because of the area of the hotel it is to loud at night.

This facelift just isn't working

Let me start by saying that for the price I paid, this place wasn't bad... it was very cheap. That being said,the 'hip' and the 'new' seem worn out and tired. The pillows were not down, and were uncomfortable. The once trendy but poorly constructed furnature is worse for wear. The hotel is located directly on the freeway, and that's the scenic view (and noise!) you get from the balcony. All in all, not a super nice experience. The rooftop bar seems nice, but it closes very early. I didn't try the food. At the right price (which I paid this time) I would stay here again. But I would not pay up for a chic urban getaway here.

Needs improvement

Hotel is really old, and despite the renovation, it still shows. A facelift does not make a prestige hotel. The pool was cold. The wi-fi signal was patchy, unreliable. Someone charged a $31.00 bar tab to my room.

Beware understaffed reception and valet

Room was very nicely decorated with good amenities. Restaurant has very nice view over Los Angeles. Noise from nearby freeway is acceptable. Location is central. 1 problem: understaffed reception at night and a $18 valet parking fee that is excessive for the location with no other options. Beware of the long wait with understaffed valet. Hotel should provide self park at a reduced rate the way it used to be when this hotel was a Holiday Inn.