Need a hotel near the Hollywood Bowl? 9 cool, Angeleno-approved picks
Youâre 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. Itâs a tough call. And if you donât 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 â mostly smallish properties whose names donât include the words Hilton, Holiday Inn, Hyatt or Marriott.
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The nine hotels here (listed alphabetically) are all within two miles of the Hollywood Bowl and east of La Brea Avenue â a territory thatâs 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 in their initial rate quotes.
If you want all things Hollywood, try The Adler
From Universal Studios: 3.1 miles
If youâve seen the Hollywood sign, youâve probably seen this place. Itâs the freeway-adjacent hotel near Beachwood Canyon with the words âLast Cappuccino Before the 101â painted on its side. Itâs not fancy, but itâs got a pool, a hip coffee shop and an impressive collective of autographed 8-by-10 glossies.
The Adler has 86 rooms. The four-level main building (with the 101 sign) includes the Clark Street Diner, which trembles with Mid-Century Modern vibes and was a key location in the 1996 movie âSwingers.â On the walls of just about every room, hall and stairwell landing, youâll find photos of Hollywood stars and movie scenes. You might hear rock ânâ roll piping through the lobby sound system.
The hotelâs second building (with parking below) wraps around a pool and is just as drenched in showbiz tchotchkes. (A life-sized Esther Williams covers one wall of the pool-adjacent elevator. A life-sized black-and-white Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dominate the wall of some guest bathrooms.)
From the hotel you can walk up Beachwood Canyon for a fine Hollywood sign view (or a people-watching meal at the Beachwood Cafe). Or stroll east on Franklin Avenue to the trendy commercial strip that includes the Daily Planet bookshop, Birds restaurant, La Poubelle Bistro and the Oaks market and cafe. Be warned that traffic can get tight on Franklin.
In recent weeks, its website has often been down for redesign; the hotel has been directing travelers to reserve through booking.com.
Rates: Summer weekdays start at about $220. Overnight parking: $35 by valet.
If you want a grown-up oasis of calm, try Cara Hotel
From Universal Studios: 4 miles
Cara is a hotel, bar and restaurant in Los Feliz, even closer to the Greek Theatre than it is to the Hollywood Bowl. Itâs easy to miss, because itâs on Western Avenue, surrounded by uninspiring mid-city commercial jumble.
But inside, itâs elegant â an upscale couples sort of place, beginning with the checkerboard marble floor of the lobby. Beyond that lies a courtyard with plenty of greenery and a water feature that looks like a lap pool but isnât. Itâs a reflecting pool, about a foot deep, occasionally used by guest pets.
The hotel opened in late 2020, upgrading the former site of the Coral Sands Motel. A pair of 100-year-old olive trees throw shade on two secluded patio areas. The bar offers live jazz on Sunday afternoons, salsa on Wednesday nights, most cocktails $18. The restaurant, whose tables are in the open-air courtyard, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, brunch on weekends. The eclectic dinner menu (pasta, shawarma, steaks) runs $24-$78 for most main dishes.
The hotel has 56 rooms (including one suite) on two levels, with shades along the outside walkways to keep guests focused on the bright elegance within, not the urban jumble all around. Most guest rooms have wood floors and measure 215 square feet. (The owners are Irish and Cara is Gaelic for friend.)
Rates: Summer weekday rates start at about $290. Parking (by valet) is $38 overnight.
If you want a family-friendly option with '70 vibes, try The Garland
From Hollywood Bowl: 3.8 miles
Now let us travel to the San Fernando Valley, circa 1972.
Thatâs when veteran TV and movie actress Beverly Garland (who played Fred MacMurrayâs wife on âMy Three Sonsâ in the early â70s) teamed with her husband, Fillmore Crank, to open this hotel on a spacious seven-acre plot near Universal Studios. (And because this is L.A., the former owner was Gene Autry.)
Garland and her husband are gone now, but the hotel has remained in the family, shedding a former affiliation with Holiday Inn. Nowadays itâs a more upscale space, leaning hard into its â70s roots (youâll see a lot of orange) and very much family-focused.
Roaming the property, youâll find a swimming pool (about 20 by 40 feet) neighbored by the hotelâs emblematic outdoor fireplace. The property has about 270 guest rooms, which begin at about 250 square feet. Near the pool, thereâs a courtyard full of games like Foosball, Jenga and cornhole, a lobby bar, a well-curated shop full of souvenirs and housewares made in California and a lively main restaurant, the Front Yard, that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.
By far, the Garland is the family-friendliest option on this list. And in the restaurant, poolside, in the shop, on a neighborhood tour and in the lobby, we got excellent service.
Thereâs daily yoga, âdive-inâ movies in the pool on summer nights, two hot tubs (one adults only). On summer Tuesday mornings, staffers lead a two-mile neighborhood walk through several leafy residential blocks of Studio City (including the Brady Bunch House on Dilling Street).
A note: The hotel backs up to the 101, so if your room faces that direction, youâll want to keep the window closed to avoid the dull roar of traffic.
Rates: Summer weekdays begin at about $305. AAA and AARP discounts available. (Dog fee: $75 per week for one dog up to 40 pounds.) Parking: $36 self-parking overnight or $39 by valet. A free shuttle runs frequently, taking guests to Universal Studios and the Universal City Metro station.
If you're looking for a rooftop pool that's buzzing with action, try Godfrey Hotel Hollywood
From Universal Studios: 3.4 miles
This hotel, opened in 2021, has one of the busiest rooftops in Hollywood: It includes two bars, swimming pool (4 feet deep), fire pits and an enormous wall for screening movies. Thereâs room for 750 people.
Downstairs, the hotel begins with a small lobby and ample bar and restaurant ALK (breakfast, lunch, dinner and frequent live events, including jazz on Saturday nights).
It has 220 guest rooms, which start at a snug 194 square feet. Sales and marketing director Tiffany Young noted that corner rooms are 295-320 square feet. Many guests are business travelers headed to the Netflix offices across the street.
If you join the Element Lounge (which adds $35-$75 to your bill), you get access to snacks, games and lounging chairs in a central courtyard area.
The Godfrey name may be new for many travelers, but the brand has hotels in Boston, Chicago, Detroit and Tampa.
Rates: Summer weekdays start at about $240. Parking: $50 valet overnight. Or park across the street in the public structure for $35.
If you want a pet-friendly respite with views of the hills, try Kimpton Everly Hotel
From Universal Studios: 3.3 miles
Hereâs one place where you can get a room with a Hollywood sign view.
The hotel, built in 2017, has 216 rooms, a contemporary design and generous public space on its lower levels. That includes the Living Room, which has a bar, pool table and sometimes live music; and JANE Q restaurant a level below. (If youâre in the Living Room between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., you can get a complimentary happy hour beer or glass of wine.)
Guest rooms begin at about 350 square feet â much larger than the industry average â and the propertyâs 11 suites are even larger. Every room comes with a yoga mat. For best Hollywood sign views, ask for a high-floor room on the north side of the hotel.
Also â are you listening, pet owners? â the hotel charges no deposit or advance cleaning fee for guests arriving with pets. Thereâs also no limit on the size or number of pets, which sounds to me like the set-up for a Disney movie.
On the fifth floor of the 15-story hotel is a swimming pool, along with a poolside bar looking out over the flats of Hollywood. The hotel is one block east of the Capitol Records building, a block north of the Pantages theater. Itâs also less than a block south of the Hollywood Freeway, but even in a north-facing guest room, I heard no freeway roar.
Rates: Summer weekdays start around $280 nightly. Parking: $60 overnight.
If you want access to the Magic Castle (and free popsicles!), try Magic Castle Hotel
From Universal Studios: 3 miles
Many of Magic Castle Hotelâs customers are there because a booking gives you access to the one-of-a-kind Magic Castle next door. But the hotel also puts you close to many other Hollywood assets. Once a 1950s apartment building, itâs painted bright yellow, with an 88-degree pool, pool toys, games and free soft-serve ice cream and snacks.
Most rooms are suites with kitchens and a fold-out sofa in the living room.
Itâs a quirky hotel. The furniture and grounds are worn, the interiors plain; I wouldnât suggest a romantic weekend here. But the emphasis on families is unmistakable, the rates are relatively low and I found the service snappy and upbeat.
Next to the pool is a red phone. Anytime during the day, you or your kid can pick it up and someone at the other end will answer âPopsicle hotline!â Free delivery follows. On Fridays and Saturday nights, the hotel often screens kid-friendly movies on a wall above the pool.
Also, the hotel is a five-minute (uphill) walk from Yamashiro Hollywood, the Japanese restaurant famed for its city views.
Rates: Summer weekdays start about $280. Weekends often book up months ahead. Parking (self): $28
If you want a little spice, try Mama Shelter
From Universal Studios: 3.2 miles
Donât come here on a Friday night looking for peace and quiet. This is a place to start the party before a show and continue it afterward.
The hotel has 70 rooms (each with one king bed), along with a ground-floor restaurant and a rooftop bar with views of the Hollywood Hills.
Stepping inside from disheveled central Hollywood, you see colorful lamps dangling and a blackboard ceiling covered with festive chalked-in words and symbols.
Beside your bed, you may find a copy of âScar Tissue,â a memoir by Red Hot Chili Pepper frontman Anthony Kiedis. In the merch cabinet downstairs, youâll find not only shirts and hats but penis rings and anal play gel ($15). If youâre headed to the rooftop bar, a security guard will probably wand you first.
âWe donât get a lot of families here,â said rooms division manager Gerald Dobard. âWe do get business travelers.â
The Mama Shelter brand was born in Paris in 2008 and the Hollywood hotel (its only U.S. location) opened in 2015. Though itâs a new name to many Americans, the chain now includes 18 hotels worldwide.
âItâs exciting,â said Dobard, who added that many guests are thinking in terms of concerts and nightlife. âIf theyâre going to a show, they donât just want to go to a normal hotel. They want a little spice.â
Except for two suites, rooms measure about 215 square feet.
Rates: Summer weekdays start about about $229. Parking: $55 overnight.
If you want modern 'Dwell' vibes, try Palihotel Hollywood
From Universal Studios: 3.4 miles
This hotel, part of the fast-growing Pali empire, is urban marvel â proof that you can conjure glamour in a former Days Inn. The hotel opened in 2023 with 74 rooms, a big courtyard pool and a breakfast-and-lunch cafe and bar (Bennyâs on the Blvd.).
The two-story building, first a 1950s motor lodge, later a Days Inn, is basically a big two-story rectangle with Spanish-style red-tile roof and a pool in the middle. It shouldnât be confused with its more architecturally distinguished and pricier sibling the Palihouse West Hollywood, yet itâs so cleverly redone that Dwell did a story on it.
Around the central pool you find peach-and-white checkerboard tiles and striped chaise lounges under peachy umbrellas. Upstairs rooms have balconies overlooking the pool. Thereâs plenty of floral-print wallpaper. From above the bar, a vintage painting of a beguiling woman looks out at the lobby.
âSheâs whoever you want her to be,â a server explained.
Guest rooms start at about 300 square feet (but the six suites, which include sofas the size of twin beds, are larger). A handful of units have two double beds, but most have a single king.
The menu at Bennyâs includes five kinds of breakfast taco and five kinds of lunch taco. (It doesnât serve dinner.) Hotel staffer dinner recommendations include Lâantica Pizzeria de Michelle, two blocks away, but thereâs also an In âNâ Out Burger next to the hotel.)
âWeekends are party friendly,â said general manager Sirley Cuevas. âWeekdays, we get the families on vacation.â
Cuevas also said many guests walk to the Hollywood Bowl, which takes about 35 minutes. When you consider that the drive can take as much as 45 minutes on a rough night, thatâs not a bad option.
Pali is an L.A.-based, design-driven hotel management company, founded by Avi Brosh in 2007, that focuses on properties under 150 rooms.
Rates: Summer weekdays begin at about $195. Parking (by valet) is $48 overnight. (If you become a member of Palisociety, which is free, and book direct, you get free valet parking.)
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