Two listed towers, from 1931 and 1927, one on the Strip and one on Hollywood Boulevard. Sunset Tower Hotel, from about $595, if you want 81 rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and live jazz in the walnut-panelled Tower Bar; The Hollywood Roosevelt, from about $235, if you would rather swim over David Hockney's painting in the hotel of the first Academy Awards, with the Walk of Fame at the door.
The classicA 1931 Art Deco tower on the Sunset Strip, with the Tower Bar downstairs and the city spread below the south-facing windows.
$$$From about $595 a night
Choose Sunset Tower Hotel if
The catch
The room rate is not the whole price. A nightly amenity fee of $52.43, tax included, is added to every stay, parking is by valet at $75 a night, and 16.695% hotel tax applies to the room.
The pool oneThe 1927 tower on Hollywood Boulevard where the first Academy Awards were presented and David Hockney painted the pool.
$From about $235 a night
Choose The Hollywood Roosevelt if
The catch
Noise is part of the deal. The hotel runs restaurants, bars, private events and pool programming, music and pool activity can be audible in the cabana rooms around the pool, the Tropicana is shared with day-pass guests aged 21 and over, loungers are first come, first served, and the pool can close for private events or film shoots.
| Best for | Sunset Tower Hotel | The Hollywood Roosevelt |
|---|---|---|
| Best pool hotels in LA | Not on the list | On the list |
| Best design hotels in LA | On the list | Not on the list |
| Best value hotels in LA | Not on the list | On the list |
| Best central hotels in LA | Not on the list | On the list |
| Best hotels with a view in LA | On the list | Not on the list |
Sunset Tower HotelThe Hollywood Roosevelt
Sunset Tower Hotel
The Hollywood Roosevelt
The verdict
Two listed towers, from 1931 and 1927, one on the Strip and one on Hollywood Boulevard. Sunset Tower Hotel, from about $595, if you want 81 rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and live jazz in the walnut-panelled Tower Bar; The Hollywood Roosevelt, from about $235, if you would rather swim over David Hockney's painting in the hotel of the first Academy Awards, with the Walk of Fame at the door.
Questions people ask
Two listed towers, from 1931 and 1927, one on the Strip and one on Hollywood Boulevard. Sunset Tower Hotel, from about $595, if you want 81 rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and live jazz in the walnut-panelled Tower Bar; The Hollywood Roosevelt, from about $235, if you would rather swim over David Hockney's painting in the hotel of the first Academy Awards, with the Walk of Fame at the door.
Book it for the Tower Bar, the Art Deco tower and the city through the glass, and pay the step to a Studio Suite, asking for the south side, for room to enjoy it. Budget for the amenity fee and valet, and expect to drive to the beach. Old Hollywood still in use: an Art Deco tower on the Strip where the Tower Bar is the room and the city lies below the south-facing windows. It is dear before the fees, needs a car for everything beyond the boulevard, and has a small pool and no spa.
It has an outdoor pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.
Book The Hollywood Roosevelt to swim over a Hockney, step out onto the Walk of Fame and sleep in the hotel that hosted the first Academy Awards. Take a Cabana Garden King for the pool without the front row, and count the $37 fee and the $79 valet before you commit. A historic Hollywood hotel built around a famous pool, where the scene, the address and the history are the point and the rooms are compact. Expect company on the deck and music from the bars.
It has an outdoor pool. There is no beach; the nearest is a drive away.