Roxy goes to the Hollywood Standard
Jul 8th, 2004 | 09:58 PM
#1
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 833
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Roxy goes to the Hollywood Standard
Spent another weekend in Los Angeles, my hometown, in a hotel with my boyfriend. This time we tore up the Hollywood Standard on Sunset Bl. About us: we are in our midtwenties and like to think we are pretty hip and more attractive than not in our skinny whiteness and tousled hair. Key points are in bold. Not-so-key points are also in bold.
The Standard: where the hip meet the hipper and they fight about their haircuts by the pool. God bless the attractive staff and I hope they all find agents soon. This place has quite a scene all day long and I expected more "attitude" than I actually got. The front desk was quite helpful and professional and helped us switch rooms right away when we asked (more on that later). Everyone else there, despite their seething good looks, was quite nice to us. I really got a kick out of the mostly gruff-looking Latina maids being made to wear cute little pink 'n' black numbers. And I'm SURE that the girl sleeping in the glass box behind the check-in desk in the evenings was really nice too. But she was asleep.
It's a real party place on Friday and Saturday nights, the lobby packed with LA's longest legs and shortest skirts. The atmosphere is a lot of fun (and really not very pretentious either), with a DJ and plenty of places to strike a pose, including the pool area, a separate lounge, the diner/bar, and the open lobby area with its low-slung furniture, shag carpet, and modular chairs suspended from the ceiling. The thing my boyfriend and I vowed never to speak of again: $50 with tip for a double mojito and a double Maker's and coke. This made my hipster bone hurt.
The Standard is a three story hotel that was converted from a retirement home. It's a big white thing with tiny blue lights at night. Parking is valet only, and is $18 a night. When we arrived back one hopping Saturday night to find the parking lot "full" they let us in because we're guests, which was cool. We didn't ever have to wait very long at all for the car either. They also have a barber shop/beauty salon/sundry shop/tattoo parlor right off the lobby, with tattooed types being made pretty.
The third floor is graced by a surly spa. I was considering getting a massage so I sauntered up there to check it out. The front area is tiny, and I don't know what the treatment rooms or the rest of the place looks like, but right from the start the smallness and odd, slightly sickly lighting made me feel weird. When I walked in, the young man and woman there just kind of stared at me, to the point at which I wasn't even sure if they worked there (they did). Finally the woman approached me and made cool, short shrift of the few questions I had. It wasn't at all conducive to relaxation. I went back with my boyfriend just to show him how weird it was and the experience of poking our heads in was equally cold.
Noise doesn't bother us too much generally but...wow, what a noisy room we got. We reserved a "Sunset" room, which faces Sunset Bl. It was on the second floor, directly above the comings and goings of the front door and valet, and all the noise of Sunset in general. It was loud with the balcony door shut, it was crazy loud with it open. And there's only three floors, so you can never be high above it all. But we went down to join the party and got in late so it didn't bother us. Until the next morning. Saturday. Morning. Seven AM. Window cleaners across the street cleaning a four story building of all glass panes, with the CONSTANT "boop, boop, boop" of a truck backing up. We got up. (Ha!) They gave us a room on the other side of the hotel (for $20 extra, I wasn't in the mood to argue, although I probably could have), a room overlooking Sweetzer Ave, which is quiet. I'd avoid rooms over the pool (or god forbid, on the level with the pool) because it is open for your lounging pleasure from 8am to midnight, and it's a noisy scene at night.
We liked our second, "upgraded" room better than the first. Both were very neat and clean, with a small balcony. The first room had the whole bathroom in one room, the second separated the sink from the bathroom and shower in another room, and the second also had a tub/shower combo. The towels were bigger and softer than most and they provided us with only ONE bathrobe each time (they were nice and waffley though). The decor is modern and simple, with clean lines; white and light blue in the main room and orange and white in the bathroom. If you're looking for brightly lit, this ain't it. Lights were few and a little difficult to use; there were TWO I couldn't figure out how to turn on. The natural light was good though. The bed was comfortable enough and the pillows were good, one bigger and firmer and one smaller and softer. The second room was bigger, both wider and longer, and included a big silver bean bag chair. It just felt better to us, more natural light and not as cramped. And yes, the A/C control really does say BLOW-HARDER-STOP.
Our one experience with trying to eat in the 24 hour diner went like this: around 2am, we decided to pop in for dessert and coffee. We tell the waiter our order and he informs us that they have NONE of the four-odd desserts on the menu. We settle for some scoops of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. They bring us out two spoons and a single bowl with two small scoops of vanilla and one of chocolate. And the coffee was never really HOT; the first cup was lukewarm. We didn't go back and we didn't order room service. I'd recommend driving over to Farmer's Market at 3rd and Fairfax for an excellent variety of good, cheap, wonderful food.
We spent our last day lounging by the pool. The area is nice, covered in short blue astroturf. The pool itself is on the small side, and mostly no one went IN it. I did, and what a float I had all by myself in a big pink inner tube. There's lots of lounge chairs and a patio area with tables and umbrellas, and they'll serve you food/drinks in either area. There's two small raised patches of grass out there too, a little odd. There's a view of the city, but it was pretty smoggy when we were there. All in all, a nice little place to be.
The smaller room on Sunset was $165/nt and the larger, quieter room was $185/nt, through their website, although hotels.com offered the same rate.
If you're young and looking for someplace upbeat, this is the place. It's nice to be right in the middle of things on Sunset, and it's cool to be able to party downstairs and then stumble up to your own room. You're definitely paying for the atmosphere, but to us the atmosphere works. It's a bright, pleasant place to be during the day and lots of fun at night. In this way, it feels a lot like a lively dorm (a well-decorated one)at an art school actually. Whoa, that just occurred to me and that's exactly what the feeling is. It feels like this sunny little capsule of sparkly irreverent fun. Did I just write that?
love
roxy
The Standard: where the hip meet the hipper and they fight about their haircuts by the pool. God bless the attractive staff and I hope they all find agents soon. This place has quite a scene all day long and I expected more "attitude" than I actually got. The front desk was quite helpful and professional and helped us switch rooms right away when we asked (more on that later). Everyone else there, despite their seething good looks, was quite nice to us. I really got a kick out of the mostly gruff-looking Latina maids being made to wear cute little pink 'n' black numbers. And I'm SURE that the girl sleeping in the glass box behind the check-in desk in the evenings was really nice too. But she was asleep.
It's a real party place on Friday and Saturday nights, the lobby packed with LA's longest legs and shortest skirts. The atmosphere is a lot of fun (and really not very pretentious either), with a DJ and plenty of places to strike a pose, including the pool area, a separate lounge, the diner/bar, and the open lobby area with its low-slung furniture, shag carpet, and modular chairs suspended from the ceiling. The thing my boyfriend and I vowed never to speak of again: $50 with tip for a double mojito and a double Maker's and coke. This made my hipster bone hurt.
The Standard is a three story hotel that was converted from a retirement home. It's a big white thing with tiny blue lights at night. Parking is valet only, and is $18 a night. When we arrived back one hopping Saturday night to find the parking lot "full" they let us in because we're guests, which was cool. We didn't ever have to wait very long at all for the car either. They also have a barber shop/beauty salon/sundry shop/tattoo parlor right off the lobby, with tattooed types being made pretty.
The third floor is graced by a surly spa. I was considering getting a massage so I sauntered up there to check it out. The front area is tiny, and I don't know what the treatment rooms or the rest of the place looks like, but right from the start the smallness and odd, slightly sickly lighting made me feel weird. When I walked in, the young man and woman there just kind of stared at me, to the point at which I wasn't even sure if they worked there (they did). Finally the woman approached me and made cool, short shrift of the few questions I had. It wasn't at all conducive to relaxation. I went back with my boyfriend just to show him how weird it was and the experience of poking our heads in was equally cold.
Noise doesn't bother us too much generally but...wow, what a noisy room we got. We reserved a "Sunset" room, which faces Sunset Bl. It was on the second floor, directly above the comings and goings of the front door and valet, and all the noise of Sunset in general. It was loud with the balcony door shut, it was crazy loud with it open. And there's only three floors, so you can never be high above it all. But we went down to join the party and got in late so it didn't bother us. Until the next morning. Saturday. Morning. Seven AM. Window cleaners across the street cleaning a four story building of all glass panes, with the CONSTANT "boop, boop, boop" of a truck backing up. We got up. (Ha!) They gave us a room on the other side of the hotel (for $20 extra, I wasn't in the mood to argue, although I probably could have), a room overlooking Sweetzer Ave, which is quiet. I'd avoid rooms over the pool (or god forbid, on the level with the pool) because it is open for your lounging pleasure from 8am to midnight, and it's a noisy scene at night.
We liked our second, "upgraded" room better than the first. Both were very neat and clean, with a small balcony. The first room had the whole bathroom in one room, the second separated the sink from the bathroom and shower in another room, and the second also had a tub/shower combo. The towels were bigger and softer than most and they provided us with only ONE bathrobe each time (they were nice and waffley though). The decor is modern and simple, with clean lines; white and light blue in the main room and orange and white in the bathroom. If you're looking for brightly lit, this ain't it. Lights were few and a little difficult to use; there were TWO I couldn't figure out how to turn on. The natural light was good though. The bed was comfortable enough and the pillows were good, one bigger and firmer and one smaller and softer. The second room was bigger, both wider and longer, and included a big silver bean bag chair. It just felt better to us, more natural light and not as cramped. And yes, the A/C control really does say BLOW-HARDER-STOP.
Our one experience with trying to eat in the 24 hour diner went like this: around 2am, we decided to pop in for dessert and coffee. We tell the waiter our order and he informs us that they have NONE of the four-odd desserts on the menu. We settle for some scoops of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. They bring us out two spoons and a single bowl with two small scoops of vanilla and one of chocolate. And the coffee was never really HOT; the first cup was lukewarm. We didn't go back and we didn't order room service. I'd recommend driving over to Farmer's Market at 3rd and Fairfax for an excellent variety of good, cheap, wonderful food.
We spent our last day lounging by the pool. The area is nice, covered in short blue astroturf. The pool itself is on the small side, and mostly no one went IN it. I did, and what a float I had all by myself in a big pink inner tube. There's lots of lounge chairs and a patio area with tables and umbrellas, and they'll serve you food/drinks in either area. There's two small raised patches of grass out there too, a little odd. There's a view of the city, but it was pretty smoggy when we were there. All in all, a nice little place to be.
The smaller room on Sunset was $165/nt and the larger, quieter room was $185/nt, through their website, although hotels.com offered the same rate.
If you're young and looking for someplace upbeat, this is the place. It's nice to be right in the middle of things on Sunset, and it's cool to be able to party downstairs and then stumble up to your own room. You're definitely paying for the atmosphere, but to us the atmosphere works. It's a bright, pleasant place to be during the day and lots of fun at night. In this way, it feels a lot like a lively dorm (a well-decorated one)at an art school actually. Whoa, that just occurred to me and that's exactly what the feeling is. It feels like this sunny little capsule of sparkly irreverent fun. Did I just write that?
love
roxy
Jul 9th, 2004 | 12:38 PM
#5
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 833
Likes: 0
Aww, you guys are too much!
Upcoming trip report: next weekend in SF at our favorite little Union Square/Tenderloin (!) hotel, the Commodore, and hopefully a trip to the Conservatory of Flowers and the pedal boats, and a birthday dinner for someone special (me).
love
roxy
Upcoming trip report: next weekend in SF at our favorite little Union Square/Tenderloin (!) hotel, the Commodore, and hopefully a trip to the Conservatory of Flowers and the pedal boats, and a birthday dinner for someone special (me).
love
roxy
Jul 12th, 2004 | 09:00 AM
#7
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 316
Likes: 0
when we were in SF in April we spent an hour in one of those funky little boats on Stow Lake and made a pilgrimage to the Conservatory of Flowers. Stow Lake highlights: trying to pretend we were in good enough shape to peddle around for an hour and seeing all the ducklings rocketing around in the water after mom.
the Conservatory is a little jewel box! if you are a tropical foliage junkie "stuck" in a big city, this is the place for you! it's much smaller than i imagined, but that doesn't matter at all. extra bonus: the guy who plays the saxaphone under the bridge outside!
the Conservatory is a little jewel box! if you are a tropical foliage junkie "stuck" in a big city, this is the place for you! it's much smaller than i imagined, but that doesn't matter at all. extra bonus: the guy who plays the saxaphone under the bridge outside!
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Jul 12th, 2004 | 09:52 AM
#8
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 5,440
Likes: 0
Thanks for the report. I love that area of LA. Fun to see how the "beautiful" people live. A few years ago we had a balcony room at the Sunset Hyatt right across from the Sky Bar. I was up all hours watching the crowd and the limos pull up. We did go to Sky Bar for a drink and wow, the prices were sky high. It was fun to check it out. Also went for a drink at the Argyle. Luckily, though, when I closed our patio door our room was quite quiet. Sunset is one happening place on the weekends, all night long. Fun place, though, and we really had fun checking out the action.
