You’re headed to a show at the Hollywood Bowl, or maybe a day at nearby Universal Studios, and you want to make it an overnight adventure. Where to stay? The one with sex toys in the lobby merch cabinet? The one with free popsicles? The one between Universal and the Brady Bunch House? I know. It’s a tough call.
And if you don’t live nearby, bear in mind that the streets of Hollywood harbor more pathos and pandering than glamour and romance. But the hotel landscape has been changing, and there are several solid possibilities in the area that might surprise you — mostly smallish properties whose names don’t include the words Hilton, Holiday Inn, Hyatt or Marriott. The nine hotels here (listed alphabetically) are all within two miles of the Hollywood Bowl and east of La Brea Avenue — a territory that’s also convenient to Universal Studios, the Greek Theatre and the Hollywood Pantages Theatre.
While a couple of them might be walkable from the Bowl, using a rideshare will be a better option for most. Over the last few weeks I have looked at each of these hotels (guest rooms and public spaces), eaten in some of their restaurants and spent a night at one (the Garland, where I wanted to see its kid-friendliness in action). All the rates quoted here are before hotel taxes, which add 14% in the city of Los Angeles.
But these rates do include resort fees, amenity fees and assorted other hotel fees. Since July 1, California hotels have been required to include those charges.
