Review: SLS Hotel Beverly Hills

I have to say the decor is disturbing. Excellent review, Ben!

Looks you had a handicap accessible room. Did you ask for that, or was it assigned to you? I personally dislike those rooms as the bathrooms are never as nice as regular rooms (the handheld shower usually produces far elss water pressure.

Can you really get Starpoints and benefits when you book through a thing like Virtuoso or Amex Luxury Hotels?

@ Nathan -- Yes, you sure can!

@ Ryan -- Hmmm, can't say I noticed much of a difference compared to the standard room. Didn't ask for it, but maybe all the double bed suites are also accessible?

@Lucky, did the standard room have a shower curtain or a shower door?

wasn't a big fan of the nikko when it occupied this space but hate, hate, hate the interior design of the rooms here now. it's quintessentially LA in that it's all some sort of perceived style over substance and it's almost like they expect people to be filming amateur porn in there with all the mirrors strewn about. totally obnoxious.

but bazaar is a hell of a restaurant, especially blanca. and i love the surrounding neighborhood.

That bathroom screams 'hire an escort' LOL

How can you give an honest review when you ask for compensation? It would be like a food critic saying his steak was over cooked so he asked for a few dollars off his meal and then he would give a good review. It is a hotel where people pay $$ to sleep. Having music going till 2 am should be a variable that pushes a reviewer to say he did not have a good stay and question if they would stay there again.

@ Brent -- Huh? I didn't ask for compensation. At check-out I was asked how my stay was. I shared honest feedback.

I stayed at the hotel before for one night. It was def style over substance and appropriately LA. I didn't find the area all that interesting, however, since it was very residential. Maybe as I live in NYC, where everything is a lot more accessible, I have a different definition as to what is "walkable". We did have a car though, and our goal for that trip wasn't really Beverly Hills. I'm glad that I experienced the hotel, however, would probably not return again.

My apologies,
Though I am curious why the noise was not a deal breaker? Because your previous stay did not have the same issue?

@Brent - Seriously? Lucky already pointed out that he didn't ask for compensation, so I'm going to address the second part of your comment. Your analogy seems totally off base. First of all, so what if he asked for compensation and got it? That seems like an important part of customer service - seeing how the hotel reacts to complaints. Also, Ben is completely transparent about the fact that he got compensation, so anyone reading the review knows this and is able to take this into account when assessing the review. Finally, I didn't read this as a particularly "good" review. Ben even said he's not going to stay here over the Andaz going forward, so how positive could the review be?

You were in my neighborhood (well, sorta...I'm right in the eastern portion of the 1.9 square miles of City of West Hollywood proper), and you didn't stop by to say hello?

FYI, you can get coffee in our area before 7am. Most of the Starbucks around here do open at 6:00am, but a few open at 5:30am and a few open at 5:00am or earlier. When you stay at the Andaz, the Starbucks just east of the hotel opens at 6. If you walk about 1/4 mile to the 8000 Sunset complex where the Crunch gym is, they open at 5:30, and if you drive about a mile further east to Sunset & La Brea, they open at 5:00.

And from the Beverly Center area, there is one at Robertson & Beverly which opens at 4am. There's another one over on Melrose & Stanley that opens at 5am (that's a nice one with a large outdoor seating patio, and it even has 8 parking spaces. Nice baristas who gladly help me feed my green tea addiction on a near-daily basis.).

Kitchen24, in the heart of the "Boystown" section of WeHo next to the Ramada, is 24/7, and they offer a full coffee bar for dine-in or take-away. Food is really good there too, and there are always interesting folks inside and on the massive outdoor heated patio. Parking, which is always a challenge in WeHo, especially in that area, is easy. They offer free validated parking in the adjacent and convenient Ramada garage

And if you're just looking for mediocre diner coffee, Norm's coffee shop on La Cienega, a few blocks north of the Beverly Center, is 24 hours. So is the uber-glamorous IHOP at Santa Monica Blvd., a block east of La Cienega. The French Market (at Santa Monica & Laurel), while not open early, stays open really late on weekends, so if you need a coffee or something at 3am Sunday morning, they're still open (catering to the folks who've stumbled out of the bars and clubs).

Can't get a coffee before 7am, oh dear my heart bleeds for you.
Ever consider that excessive coffee consumption might not be doing your body any good?

We'll be at the Bazaar this weekend for my birthday...and even though I'm SPG Plat, we are staying at the Andaz ($200 cheaper rate). Also, the Andaz is dog-friendly, whereas the SLS is not (despite calls attempting to get an exception made for us since we're local, I'm Plat, and the Andaz allows us to bring our dog). The Bazaar is amazing (my favorite restaurant in LA), but I have never had a great experience at the SLS. The Andaz, on the other hand, is always a pleasure.

We definitely prefer the Andaz, too. Only if you can get a great rate at the SLS is it worth it over the Andaz in my opinion.

Ben, from what I have heard -- and from LA legend -- all the smoked mirrors in the bathrooms are meant for people to snort rails off of. Which leads to a good question: what's the best credit card you'd recommend for cutting lines of blow?

@Nick: It's been a while since I've awarded a Comment of the Day prize, but you just won it. The hotel itself doesn't sound that great. Way back in the day, and before they tore the place down, I used to stay at the Del Capri on Wilshire Boulevard . . . .

Have been evaluating Hyatt and Starwood options for our short LA stay. Am I crazy for wanting to stay at Hyatt Regency Century Plaza? Seems more convenient if you want to do some touristy things.

@ Ivan Y -- It depends what touristy things you're looking at, but in general Century City is pretty boring, though there's a nice mall nearby. Not where I'd choose to be necessarily, but also a decent option.

@ Brent -- The noise sucked. But I'm also used to loud noises in the West Hollywood area, so it didn't shock me as much as if I were in another city, for example.

I wish more hotels had a mirror in the shower (though I could survive with just one). I shave in the shower at home, so I always make a mess of the sink at hotels since I'm so out of practice...

Loud music until 2 AM and you weren't expecting anything? Why? I would expect something.

Dude, you're the best, but-- you were in LA, and you chose to wander around the Beverly Center? Really?

I imagine that if some 21st century religious movement dedicated to consumerism decided to build a mega-church, and then got the Corrections Corporation of America to build it, the result would be exactly the Beverly Center. I won't say I never go-- there are a few things you can only get there-- but for recreation, I think I'd rather "wander around" a bed of nails.

That area of town is a bit of a shitshow, honestly, but can I recommend, should you find yourself there again, that you wander up to the Pacific Design Center? It's truly and weird and wacky and wonderful. And it's not a mall, which is a plus.

@ Rose -- To be clear, we were tired and I was expecting it to just be 30 minutes or so. The idea was just to kill a short amount of time somewhere waiting for our room to (hopefully) be ready.

I had a similar check in problem at the SLS South Beach booked through AMEX FHR. Had to wait an hour before we coudl check in no directoins on its limited breakfast option for FHR guest. When my wife and ordered an egg and toast the next day (for $90), at check out I was told we were limited to the Breakfast Table -- except they never told us this and never gave us an "instruction card." I was adamant about beign credited the $90, which they eventually agreed to credit $75. Jose Andres' restaurant was really the only good thing about the hotel.

Did you used the spa credit?

@ Vini -- Ah, yes, my dad had a massage which he really enjoyed. 🙂

thanks for posting, gonna gook this for next week instead of the Bev Hilton. is that an amenity kit on the shelf in the bathroom ?

"...Instagram selfie whore." hehehe *snickers* #whatfilterdoyouuse?

I really liked this property. The interior is designed wholly by Philippe Starck. It shows.
By the way - the horse in front of the check-in desk - haven't you seen that elsewhere (hint: at an airport)?

@ Travelista -- Indeed, love that!

@ nathan -- Yes, but they charge for some of the things in it.

k, will have to ad an SLS amenity kit to my collection. Trying to get my hands on a JAL red TUMI, not easy.

You should give some of your readers the card for the breakfast. hahaha

It’s rather a myth people don’t walk in LA
Downtown is very up and coming , lots of new hotels , galleries , the Music Center , museums and excellent transport. West Hollywood , Hollywood , Santa Monica , Pasadena, Westwood
In general anywhere between downtown and the westside which has fairly decent public transport including the metro ( which us being extended ) have lots of areas where you don’t need a car
Believe it or not I’ve never driven in LA. been dozens of times and walked, used cabs , trains and buses I’ve even walked 12 miles down Wilshire in mid summer when it was 100 degrees ( 35c) There’s the cyclavia where roads are closed off for bikes and pedestrians.
True if you need to go further a field and be independent a car is great but never say people don’t walk since they do