Made for couples: 81 rooms on the Strip or 47 on Carbon Beach. Sunset Tower Hotel, from about $595, for live jazz in the Tower Bar and the city from the south-facing rooms; Malibu Beach Inn, from about $755, for fireplaces in most rooms and sunrise from the sea-facing balconies.
The classicA 1931 Art Deco tower on the Sunset Strip, with the Tower Bar downstairs and the city spread below the south-facing windows.
$$$From about $595 a night
Choose Sunset Tower Hotel if
The catch
The room rate is not the whole price. A nightly amenity fee of $52.43, tax included, is added to every stay, parking is by valet at $75 a night, and 16.695% hotel tax applies to the room.
The romantic oneForty-seven rooms on Carbon Beach, each with a balcony, all but a handful facing straight out to the Pacific, most with a fireplace.
$$$$From about $755 a night
Choose Malibu Beach Inn if
The catch
Pacific Coast Highway runs directly behind the building, and some guests mention hearing traffic over the surf; the King Pier View Rooms have the highway in view. Ask for a sea-facing room on the third floor, away from the street entrance.
| Best for | Sunset Tower Hotel | Malibu Beach Inn |
|---|---|---|
| Best beach hotels in LA | Not on the list | On the list |
| Best design hotels in LA | On the list | Not on the list |
| Best hotels with a view in LA | On the list | On the list |
Sunset Tower HotelMalibu Beach Inn
Sunset Tower Hotel
Malibu Beach Inn
The verdict
Made for couples: 81 rooms on the Strip or 47 on Carbon Beach. Sunset Tower Hotel, from about $595, for live jazz in the Tower Bar and the city from the south-facing rooms; Malibu Beach Inn, from about $755, for fireplaces in most rooms and sunrise from the sea-facing balconies.
Questions people ask
Made for couples: 81 rooms on the Strip or 47 on Carbon Beach. Sunset Tower Hotel, from about $595, for live jazz in the Tower Bar and the city from the south-facing rooms; Malibu Beach Inn, from about $755, for fireplaces in most rooms and sunrise from the sea-facing balconies.
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 Malibu Beach Inn for the balcony over the Pacific, the fireplace and the 34 steps down to the sand, and accept that the highway is behind you. Pay the step up to a King Premier Ocean Front Room, ask for the third floor and treat the rest of Los Angeles as a day out by car. A small, polished beach hotel where the room, the balcony and the sand are the offer, and the rest of Los Angeles is a long drive away. A couple's hotel with a highway at its back.
There is no pool. A public beach is within walking distance.