Los Angeles
California


The Experience

Located right at the foot of the designer shops of Rodeo Drive and the Golden Triangle, the Beverly Wilshire, part of the Four Seasons, has a long tradition as one of the premier places to stay in Los Angeles, although in recent years its faintly stuffy air had sent many to its newer, younger sister hotel, the Four Seasons Los Angeles. But now the landmark Mediterranean-style hotel (with a modern high-rise at its rear) is once again the place to stay. It's dropped the Regent and returned to its original 1928 name, but that's all that's old about the place: Inside you'll find newly renovated rooms, new restaurants, a bar and an of-the-moment spa that looks like a cross between Philippe Starck and a Zen retreat.

The Rooms

Most of the renovated rooms and suites have butterscotch walls and new dark-wood furniture that's more spare than the usual Four Seasons, with an almost Asian feel to it. Rooms and suites in the older Wilshire Wing start at 400 square feet, with architectural details like crown molding, while in the modern high-rise Beverly Wing many have quite spectacular views -- of either the city or over the Golden Triangle to the Hollywood Hills (especially from the one-bedroom corner suites, which start at 850 square feet).

The Service

Service at the Beverly Wilshire is discreet, gracious and fast, a bit more formal -- almost European -- than it is at many Los Angeles hotels. Everyone on staff has an air of competence that inspires a feeling of being well cared for, even if you have no particular special requests. Still, if your goal is to lunch with the celebrities on Friday at Spago, ask the concierge desk; if anyone can get you a good reservation, it's them.

The Highlights

The buzz around the hotel's new Wolfgang Puck steakhouse restaurant, Cut, is bringing in the celebrities. Designed by the Getty Center's award-winning architect, Richard Meier, the restaurant has massive windows, skylights and light mesh-seated Eames chairs. But all of the Wilshire's spaces have made a name for themselves, from sidebar, the cocktail lounge (which is usually packed with people who look like they've been shopping on Rodeo Drive), to Blvd, the new casual-dining restaurant with a distinctive 180-feet-long onyx bar. Upstairs, frosted-glass-covered walls and a water wall that changes color are signatures of the new spa, where steam room ceilings have lights that resemble stars.

--Laurel Delp

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