1 Hotel, West Hollywood.
Where is it?
Right on Sunset Boulevard, the most goddamn sexy street on earth, with the Hollywood Hills right up there up some very steep lanes, and the (LGBTQ) bit of Santa Monica Boulevard right down there down the very steep La Cienega Boulevard, and Mel’s Diner (possibly/definitely our favourite diner ever) five minutes walk that way (and now serving planet-friendly Impossible Burgers!), and sun-spangled views of downtown LA, like, everywhere.
Why so lovely?
It’s the newbie from 1 Hotels, who have put the hot damn gorgeous into sustainability. Which means every element of the hotel – and your stay – puts the planet first. All materials are recycled, reclaimed, sustainably sourced, or just generally kind to trees. There’s no plastic, so your keycard is in fact a wooden poker chip (recycled and recyclable), and no paper (so instead of a note pad and pen by your bed, it’s a wipe-clean slate with a chalk pen, so clever). Even the hangers are made from recycled newspapers – even more clever. And everything is just really, really beautiful. Staying here makes you good people, people.
First impressions?
Damn, that light. Damn, those views (ask for poolside if you fancy gawping over Downtown). Damn, those organic cotton linens and that baby-soft sofa that Conran wished he’d designed, right there by the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the planters full of native greenery that anywhere else would be naff but here it’s just, perfect. And that marble bathroom? Damn! And damn, if someone else is paying, those penthouses, the stuff that West Hollywood fantasies are made of.
And the accommodations?
Damn, that light. Damn, those views (ask for poolside if you fancy gawping over Downtown). Damn, those organic cotton linens and that baby-soft sofa that Conran wished he’d designed, right there by the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the planters full of native greenery that anywhere else would be naff but here it’s just, perfect. And that marble bathroom? Damn! And damn, if someone else is
paying, those penthouses, the stuff that West Hollywood fantasies are made of.
And the food?
Right, here we go. So there’s 1 Kitchen by Chris Crary – he’s off the telly and everything – which serves sustainably sourced farm-to-table SoCal (that’s Southern Californian in new money) food via the hotel’s on-site garden and beehive. And they do very good vegan because of course they do. Oh and order the crispy Brussels sprouts with everything, trust us. Then there’s Alice, which straddles Sunset, which is always a good idea and which is so beautiful you’ll want to lick it. Here you can get oysters from the raw bar or Cali-classics in the dining room or a breakfast burrito if you’re that way inclined. Then there’s Juniper, for casual chomping, lobby-side or, for cocktails/nibbles with a view, the seriously spectacular Harriet’s rooftop lounge. We’d go on but we’re running out of room.
What is there to do?
It’s LA, people! Take a bike ride through gay ol’ West Hollywood (WeHo, if you prefer) right over to Marilyn Monroe’s old gaff on Doheny Drive, on the right side of the WeHo/Beverly Hills border and chosen because Maz preferred the naughtiness of the former (we always knew we liked her). Visit the seriously spectacular Getty Museum. Take a hike up Runyon Canyon. Do the ‘murder tour’ (so much more fun than the stalk-y celeb houses one). Buy edgy fashions on Melrose, or Real Housewives fashion on Rodeo or Robertson. Check out Downtown, which is properly cool now. Ask us if you need more.
And the LGBTQ bit?
It’s still mostly all about the WeHo stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard, whether it’s boy-heavy Micky’s, or old-school Mother Lode, or Lisa Vanderpump’s PUMP (gay glamour), or hipster-ish Fubar, or, in from San Francisco, Hi Tops, or The Abbey, probably after you’ve been to the gym. And you can walk there in ten minutes from the 1 Hotel which, trust us, you’ll be grateful for.