On April 24, 2024, the MICHELIN Guide announced its very first Key hotels in the United States — a brand new distinction recognizing the most outstanding hotels in the country. Out of 124 hotels that received at least one Key in the United States, nearly fifty percent make their home in the Golden State. Of those, you’ll find almost half in the Los Angeles area.
Below, a quick guide to all our hotels in L.A. and just beyond.
The Hip and Historic: Downtown and Hollywood
Let's start in Downtown L.A. (Soho Warehouse DTLA, Downtown L.A. Proper) and Hollywood (the Aster, the Prospect): four Key hotels with some of the coolest, best-executed public spaces of any city in the States. Expect: rooftop lounges, pools, gardens, restaurants, bars, and inviting, Bohemian design by stars like Kelly Wearstler.
Then, a cluster in West Hollywood, where hotel buildings intertwine with the stories of Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Charlie Chaplin, and — at the Chateau Marmont, in particular — everyone from Hunter S. Thompson to Anthony Kiedis.
For locations nearest the famous West Hollywood nightlife on the Sunset Strip, check out the Chamberlain West Hollywood, Soho House Holloway, Sunset Tower Hotel, and Pendry West Hollywood. Still, these hotels provide so much style and activity within their own walls that outside nightlife is almost besides the point.
Soho Warehouse DLTA
Soho Warehouse DTLA — One Key
DowntownLike the other Soho House locations it’s a club first, and a hotel second, but overnight guests earn the benefits of temporary membership — this means access to the 50-foot rooftop swimming pool, as well as the House’s public spaces, including the Rooftop Terrace and Bar, the House Kitchen, and the Garden, an impressive indoor-outdoor dining and drinking venue. There’s art everywhere, including a massive mural by Shepard Fairey, and the lavishly outfitted gym spans two floors of the building.
Book Soho Warehouse DTLA with The MICHELIN Guide →
Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel
Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel — One Key
DowntownAs with all of the Proper hotels — and all of Kelly Wearstler’s previous interior work — the design is singular and unmistakable, a riot of patterns and colors that nevertheless feels cool and composed, never busy. The combination of Southern California sunshine and near-full-length windows makes for light-filled spaces, and the comforts are luxurious, especially the spa-like tiled showers.
Book Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel with The MICHELIN Guide →
The Aster
The Aster — One Key
HollywoodThe Aster is, before anything else, a private club, a much-needed oasis at the very public intersection of Hollywood and Vine. The obvious way in is to become a member — but the Aster’s 35 suites are open to overnight guests as well, and it’s perhaps no surprise that they’re up there with the finest suites in town — a bit bohemian, a bit retro, more than a bit warm and welcoming, understated in their luxury and, above all, memorable.
Book the Aster with The MICHELIN Guide →
The Prospect Hollywood
The Prospect Hollywood — One Key
HollywoodThe days of monochrome minimalist “design hotels” feel very remote indeed from within these sumptuous spaces, with their ultra-saturated colors, their bold graphics, and their touchable textures. The garden courtyard, with its fireplaces and fountains, is a delightful place for a cocktail, and surrounding it are the Prospect’s 24 rooms. Individually they vary in style and layout, but all are similarly lavish and maximalist, right down to the Diptyque bath products and the Revival New York linens.
Book The Prospect Hollywood with The MICHELIN Guide →
Chateau Marmont
Chateau Marmont — Two Keys
West HollywoodThe building is pure movie set. Constructed along the specifications of the Loire Chateau Amboise, it is a perfect eighteenth-century replica, fluted pillars graced by ivy and untouched by mold, with a swimming pool to boot. The lobby is dramatic, with gothic vaulted ceilings and dark wood. The restaurant is the perfect refuge from the cutthroat LA world outside; it seats about twelve, serves upscale gastro-pub fare from the new version of the Bar Marmont next door, and is always quiet and never rushed.
Book Chateau Marmont with The MICHELIN Guide →
The Sunset Tower Hotel
Sunset Tower Hotel — One Key
West HollywoodThe décor is seemingly tailor-made for the golden afternoon sunlight that brought the film business to LA in the first place. It’s not quite high luxury, but it’s pleasantly upscale, with high-end Egyptian linens and Kiehl’s bath products. And if there’s any incongruity, it’s between the classic elegance of the Sunset Tower and the very modern inelegance of the Sunset Strip. It’s a locale that’s best enjoyed with a raised eyebrow, and then escaped, with a trip to the Sunset Tower’s day spa or to the Tower Bar and Restaurant, a clubby, classic eatery on the site of what used to be the apartment belonging to the gangster Bugsy Siegel.
Book Sunset Tower Hotel with The MICHELIN Guide →
Pendry West Hollywood
Pendry West Hollywood — Two Keys
West HollywoodThe design, by Martin Brudnizki, is influenced by the Art Deco interiors that are synonymous with Hollywood’s Golden Age, but the Pendry is no retro experience — instead it’s a fantasy version of contemporary L.A., full of dazzling colors and textures, beginning with Anthony James’s mind-bending Icosahedron, a fractal-like sculpture in the lobby which draws the viewer’s eye into a seemingly limitless interior world.
Book Pendry West Hollywood with The MICHELIN Guide →
Soho House Holloway
Soho House Holloway — One Key
West HollywoodIts location places it close to the storied nightlife of the Sunset Strip, but that’s almost secondary; Holloway House, like any Soho House establishment, doesn’t need to be close to the action — it is the action. Its Club restaurant, its Mandolin Mezze rooftop terrace, and its Club-adjacent Bar and Library are among the hottest tickets in town, and they’re for members only — which, if you’re an overnight guest, includes you, for the duration of your stay.
Book Soho House Holloway with The MICHELIN Guide →
Chamberlain West Hollywood
Chamberlain West Hollywood — One Key
West HollywoodFrom the outside, this ’70s apartment building doesn’t attract much attention — though someday this architectural style will be back in fashion, at which time West Hollywood will be its Mecca. Inside, though, it’s a different story; rooftop swimming pools, for example, are always in style, especially with panoramic views of LA and the Hollywood Hills, and the lobby sets the tone.
Book Chamberlain West Hollywood with The MICHELIN Guide →
The Charlie
The Charlie — One Key
West HollywoodThis particular corner of West Hollywood has changed a bit over the years, to say the least, but back when Charlie Chaplin owned it this jumble of English-style bungalows fit right in to the pastoral landscape. Chaplin left LA over sixty years ago, of course, and it’s a minor miracle that these houses still stand — but thanks to an enterprising hotelier, they do, in the form of the Charlie, a truly unusual boutique hotel. (We always mean that as a compliment.)
Book the Charlie with The MICHELIN Guide →
Hotel 850 SVB
Hotel 850 SVB — One Key
West HollywoodIt’s set in (and behind) a century-old bungalow on San Vicente Boulevard, just off Santa Monica, in a slightly paradoxical location — it’s a residential street, but it’s barely a block from the Pacific Design Center in one direction and the Sunset Strip in the other. With just 23 rooms and suites it’s aiming for an atmosphere that’s even more private than the Tower, and the accommodations are impressively luxe and quite stylish, in a welcoming, low-key way.
Book Hotel 850 SVB with The MICHELIN Guide →
Palihouse West Hollywood
Palihouse West Hollywood — One Key
West HollywoodAs you’d expect based on the Palisociety brand’s previous form, the Palihouse West Hollywood is a vintage-inspired stunner — its design incorporates L.A.’s plentiful European influences and encompasses a multitude of eras on the way to delivering a blend that ultimately feels fresh and fully realized. In its comforts it’s in the happy middle between boutique minimalism and hyper-luxe ostentatiousness; custom-made furniture, Diptyque bath products, and well-stocked SMEG mini-fridges set the tone.
Book Palihouse West Hollywood with The MICHELIN Guide →
Neighborhood Opulence: Beverly Hills, Silver Lake, Bel-Air
Start in Beverly Hills, this historically upscale suburb of Los Angeles, where a group of four hotels are designed with great opulence for great discretion. At the L'Ermitage hotel bar, decor includes framed pages from the Godfather and the Graduate, just a couple screenplays said to have been written in the building, and which may give you an ideal of the clientele in the best Beverly Hills hotels. The Maybourne, the Peninsula, and the Beverly Hills Hotel (also known as the “Pink Palace”) have their own illustrious references to Hollywood royalty, and the same spare-no-expense ethos.
Over in Silver Lake and Bel-Air, the Paramount Estate and Hotel Bel-Air are completely singular experiences, both with several acres to work with and histories that date back to old Hollywood.
L'Ermitage
L’Ermitage Beverly Hills — Two Keys
Beverly HillsIts exterior is somewhat nondescript by local standards, but it’s what’s inside L’Ermitage Beverly Hills that matters. It’s returned to its roots as the only independent luxury hotel in town, and it remains the quintessential Hollywood insider’s hotel — and it’s designed to be at its best when you’re inside looking out. This means discretion, this means privacy, and above all, this means the intimate scale of a boutique hotel; with a little over a hundred suites, it’s not the sort of place where you’ll feel overlooked — don’t be surprised if the staff knows your name and your preferences, down to the smallest detail.
Book L’Ermitage Beverly Hills with The MICHELIN Guide →
The Maybourne Beverly Hills
The Maybourne — 2 Keys
Beverly HillsThe Maybourne is just about as Beverly Hills as they come, eight floors of classic Californian luxury, paying direct homage to Hollywood’s heyday, right in the heart of the Golden Triangle. The property is the namesake of the Maybourne Hotel Group, joining Claridge’s, The Berkeley, and The Connaught, all members in good standing of the top tier of classic London luxury hotels.
Book The Maybourne with The MICHELIN Guide →
The Peninsula Beverly Hills
The Peninsula Beverly Hills — 2 Keys
Beverly HillsThe Peninsula Beverly Hills is almost impossibly opulent, even by Hollywood standards, a cinematically pristine Renaissance mansion of the sort that takes offense at sparing expense. A favorite of industry bigwigs, the hotel means it when it boasts of executive-level service — from the fleet of Rolls Royces, Infinitis, and MINI Coopers to the lavish “programmes” with celebrity stylists and gurus, this is LA at its shiniest.
Book The Peninsula Beverly Hills with The MICHELIN Guide →
Beverly Hills Hotel
The Beverly Hills Hotel - Three Keys
Beverly HillsThe Pink Palace has, in true Hollywood fashion, had some work done; nothing shocking, just a hundred-million-dollar renovation in an effort to stay competitive with a new generation. It’s a success—this place could have slid gently into self-parody, but it’s every bit as fine as when Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand stayed here (ostensibly separately) in 1960.
Book The Beverly Hills Hotel, Dorchester Collection with The MICHELIN Guide →
The Paramour Estate
The Paramour Estate — One Key
Silver LakeThis 1920s estate in LA’s hip Silver Lake began its life as a Mediterranean Revival mansion for a now-forgotten silent-film star. Later it was a girls’ school, and still later a convent for Franciscan nuns. And when interior designer Dana Hollister bought it, she intended for it to become the kind of luxury boutique hotel that we’re all familiar with. But the neighborhood had other ideas, and in the end, what it became is something much more unique: part film set, part event venue, part dream house for Hollister herself, and — most relevant for our purposes — home to nine of the most unforgettably stylish rooms, suites, and cottages in Los Angeles.
Book The Paramour Estate with The MICHELIN Guide →
Hotel Bel-Air
Hotel Bel-Air — Three Keys
WestwoodBuilt in 1946 in a style that can only be described as romantic Mediterranean, the Hotel Bel-Air, with its rose-colored mission-style bungalows, is about as elite a hideaway as you can find. Hidden by bougainvillea, ficus, orange blossom, and fern, on eighteen acres right in the middle of LA’s most exclusive suburb, the grounds are mapped by terracotta passageways, and the reception area lies just beyond an arched stone bridge.
Book Hotel Bel-Air with The MICHELIN Guide →
The Beach Life of Santa Monica
We're often surprised how difficult it is to find a hotel in the Los Angeles area set right on the beach. In Santa Monica, you have two: Casa del Mar and Shutters on the Beach. But you’re never far from that iconic ferris wheel at the Santa Monica pier. The lush gardens of Fairmont Miramar and the historic facade of the brand new Georgian Hotel are just steps from the sand.
Worth noting, too, is the Santa Monica Proper — with its beloved, eclectic design by Kelly Wearstler. A short walk from the waves, its rooftop pool deck is, to our knowledge, the only one in a Santa Monica hotel.
Shutters on the Beach
Shutters on the Beach — One Key
Santa MonicaWe’re accustomed to viewing the hospitality world through a critical lens, but every now and then a hotel lives up to the fantasy, and then some. Shutters on the Beach is exactly what you would want a Santa Monica luxury hotel to be, if you were designing it from a blank page. And the best part about it is that you don’t have to — it actually exists, and Michael S. Smith has already gone to the trouble of designing it, in a style that combines the barefoot ease of the West Coast with just a bit of Northeast elegance.
Book Shutters on the Beach with The MICHELIN Guide →
Casa del Mar
Casa Del Mar — One Key
Santa MonicaCasa del Mar shares something more than ownership with its sister hotel, the neighboring Shutters on the Beach — as surprising as it may sound, they’re the only two hotels in the Los Angeles area that open directly onto the beach. But while Shutters is clean-lined and contemporary, Casa del Mar is a period piece, an authentic 1920s Italianate palace that’s played host to Hollywood royalty for as long as there’s been such a thing.
Book Casa Del Mar with The MICHELIN Guide →
Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows
Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows — One Key
Santa MonicaThis century-old luxury hotel has seen Santa Monica change from bohemian beach town to upscale enclave; and though it’s just a few minutes’ walk from the beach itself, it’s even closer to the mall that is Downtown Santa Monica. No matter — a stay at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows is what you make of it, and can be as private as you want it to be. The grounds themselves are planted with lush gardens overlooking the Pacific; the hotel’s own private beach club is accessible via a shuttle.
Book Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows with The MICHELIN Guide →
The Georgian
The Georgian — One Key
Santa MonicaA rare piece of Old Hollywood glamour in modern Santa Monica, the Georgian is nothing if not distinctive — this turquoise-and-gold Art Deco mini-skyscraper stands prominently on Ocean Avenue. Its history since its Thirties opening is not unbroken, but under new owners — and with the help of some skilled local designers — it’s been restored to an approximation of its former glory, and it immediately established itself as one of Santa Monica’s hippest hotels.
Book the Georgian with The MICHELIN Guide →
Santa Monica Proper
Santa Monica Proper — One Key
Santa MonicaThe Proper Hotels brand debuted in San Francisco with a classic building, a vibrant contemporary design by Kelly Wearstler, and high-luxury details that elevated it above typical high-end boutique fare. And for the brand’s second installment, it’s a similar story: though the Santa Monica Proper Hotel is a new build, designed by Howard Laks Architects with interiors by the very same Kelly Wearstler, it incorporates a 1920s Spanish Colonial building on Wilshire Boulevard, updating a century-old classic for the boutique-hotel era.
Book Santa Monica Proper with The MICHELIN Guide →
Top image: Paramour Estate
