The catch at Hotel Figueroa
Hotel Figueroa is a restored 1926 building with a heated courtyard pool, and much of its case is the price. Five things are worth knowing before you book it: the size of the entry rooms, what comes on top of the rate, who the pool suits, where you eat on a Sunday and how far the sea is. None of them is hidden, and none outweighs a first downtown stay on foot.
On our shortlists
The entry room is small, at about 187 sq ft.
The 1 Queen Bed room is about 187 sq ft (17 m²), sized for individual travellers or couples. The 1 King Bed is about 270 sq ft (25 m²) and adds a sitting area, and the 2 Queen Beds room is about 316 sq ft (29 m²). The suites start with the Junior Suite at about 353 sq ft (33 m²) and the 1 Bedroom Suite at about 443 sq ft (41 m²). On Tuesday 8 December 2026 the queen was $258 a night before tax and fees, the king $265, the Junior Suite $346 and the 1 Bedroom Suite $360.
What to do. Take the king for $7 more, or the 1 Bedroom Suite, which has a living room and costs about $100 a night more than the queen.
A $35 fee is added to every night, and overnight parking is extra.
Every reservation carries a Hotel Amenity Fee of $35 plus tax a night. It covers coffee at Bar Magnolia from 7am to 11am, a coffee maker in the room restocked daily, internet, two boxed waters a day, use of the heated pool and the gym, and discounts at local museums. Los Angeles hotel tax is 14%, and hotels of this size can add a 2% tourism assessment, so plan on about 16% on top of the rate and the fee. That turns the $258 entry room into about $340 a night. Overnight parking is by valet and costs extra.
What to do. Use what the fee pays for: the lobby coffee, the pool and the museum discounts. Without a car, Pico station on the A and E Lines is nine minutes away and saves the valet charge.
Guests must be 21 to check in, and the pool is too deep for young children.
A guest must be 21 or over to check in, with photo ID, so anyone younger cannot. The pool is at ground level, heated to 82°F (28°C) and open from 7am to 7pm, and at 4 to 8 feet (1.2 to 2.4 m) deep it is too deep for young children to stand in, even at the shallow end. The deck is also sold to people who are not staying: non-guests can book cabanas, through a day-pass service from Monday to Thursday and for $600 from Friday to Sunday. Loungers are first come, first served. There is no spa, and the 24-hour gym on the second floor has one toilet and no shower.
What to do. Cabanas for hotel guests need no reservation from Monday to Thursday and cost $300 from Friday to Sunday ($400 on holidays).
Sunday and Monday dinners are not served in the hotel, apart from the lobby bar menu.
Florence by the Water, the Tuscan restaurant, serves dinner from Tuesday to Saturday and is closed on Sunday and Monday. Cafe Fig serves breakfast and lunch, from 7am to noon and noon to 3pm on weekdays, with brunch from 7am to 3pm at weekends, and then closes. That leaves Bar Magnolia, the lobby bar, whose bar menu runs from 3pm to 10pm every night. La Casita, the poolside lounge, shows as closed for the season. Dinner out is easy within a short walk, but the hotel's restaurants are shut for dinner on two nights of the week.
What to do. Book Florence for a Tuesday to Saturday if you want dinner in the building, and plan Sunday and Monday elsewhere: L.A. Live is two minutes' walk away.
It is a downtown base, and the sea is a 21-minute drive with the roads clear.
Hotel Figueroa stands in South Park, beside L.A. Live and Crypto.com Arena. By car, off-peak and with the roads clear, the Hollywood Walk of Fame is 15 minutes away, Santa Monica Pier 21, the Getty Center 23 and LAX 26. Those times lengthen at rush hour: LAX can take 30 minutes to an hour in traffic. Figueroa Street and L.A. Live are busy on event nights, and rooms can cost more then. The Grammys are at the arena on Sunday 7 February 2027.
What to do. Check the arena calendar before you choose dates. If you are car-free, the E Line runs from Pico station to Santa Monica; if the sea is the point of the trip, stay at the beach.
Who should skip it
Anyone under 21, who cannot check in. Anyone who wants the sea within reach, a spa or a pool where young children can stand. Anyone who wants a big room at the entry price, because the entry room is about 187 sq ft (17 m²).
Who should book it anyway
Anyone who wants a restored 1926 hotel with a heated courtyard pool, L.A. Live two minutes' walk away and the Metro nine minutes off, for entry rooms from about $260 before the fee. Take the 1 Bedroom Suite for the space, use the coffee, the pool and the gym that the fee pays for, and book Florence on a Tuesday to Saturday. For a concert night, a Convention Center week or a first Los Angeles stay without a car, it earns its place.
The catch elsewhere in LA
- The Beverly Hills HotelBeverly Hills
Extras sit on top of a four-figure rate. Beverly Hills hotel tax is 14 per cent and the hotel's other city and state levies bring the total to roughly 15.5 to 16 per cent, and parking is $70 a day, which you will want because almost everything is a drive.
- Shutters on the BeachSanta Monica
A $60 nightly resort fee plus tax is added to every stay, and overnight valet is $90 a night, so a room that starts around $740 comes to about $930 with the 15 per cent hotel tax, the fee and $11.25 in nightly tourism fees, before the car.
- Malibu Beach InnMalibu
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.
- Terranea ResortPalos Verdes
A $75 resort fee and $75 for overnight valet add up to $150 a night on top of the room rate and the Rancho Palos Verdes hotel tax; the one- to four-bedroom bungalows, casitas and villas carry a $90 resort fee.
- Sunset Tower HotelSunset Strip
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.
- Santa Monica Proper HotelSanta Monica
A $55 nightly destination fee plus tax is added to every stay, and valet parking is $90.27 per vehicle with tax, so the room rate is not the nightly cost, least of all for a guest with a car.
- The Hollywood RooseveltHollywood
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.
- The GarlandStudio City
The 101 freeway runs along the north-east edge of the grounds, and some rooms hear it. The hotel had its balcony doors replaced in 2013 to cut the noise, so keep the door shut at night and ask for a room away from the freeway side.
- Silver Lake Pool & InnSilver Lake
Noise is the recurring complaint: thin walls let through footsteps from the floor above and the corridor, and street-side rooms hear Santa Monica Boulevard traffic into the night, so ask for a quiet room away from the boulevard.
Questions people ask
Good questions about Hotel Figueroa
What are the downsides of Hotel Figueroa?
Hotel Figueroa is a restored 1926 building with a heated courtyard pool, and much of its case is the price. Five things are worth knowing before you book it: the size of the entry rooms, what comes on top of the rate, who the pool suits, where you eat on a Sunday and how far the sea is. None of them is hidden, and none outweighs a first downtown stay on foot. The entry room is small, at about 187 sq ft. A $35 fee is added to every night, and overnight parking is extra. Guests must be 21 to check in, and the pool is too deep for young children. Sunday and Monday dinners are not served in the hotel, apart from the lobby bar menu. It is a downtown base, and the sea is a 21-minute drive with the roads clear.
Who should not book Hotel Figueroa?
Anyone under 21, who cannot check in. Anyone who wants the sea within reach, a spa or a pool where young children can stand. Anyone who wants a big room at the entry price, because the entry room is about 187 sq ft (17 m²).
Our verdict
Book it for a restored 1926 hotel, a heated courtyard pool and L.A. Live on foot, and pay the step up to the 1 Bedroom Suite for space. Skip it if you want the sea within reach or a pool shallow enough for young children.
Last checked: October 2026