The InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown was the perfect mix of California love and urban jungle for this city girl. I loved this hotel so much! Here’s more about my stay.
If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw that I traveled to LA for both work and some play. It’s trips like this that make me so grateful to do what I do and be able to travel and work anywhere in the world. This particular trip was focused on one of my most high-level clients. Here were my takeaways from working with her and in LA.
The below photo is at Spire 73 and done by/property of Anna McNaught Photography.
Location
Perhaps my least favorite part of Los Angeles is how spread out it is. Having lived in Manhattan for a decade, I don’t have a driver’s license, I barely remember how to drive and I LOVE being able to walk most places. So, I knew I wanted to stay in Downtown LA for this trip.
Once I knew I wanted to stay downtown, it was between the InterContinental Downtown Los Angeles and the Ritz-Carlton. Both are beautiful, but I chose the InterContinental for the views. There’s NOTHING I love more than a rooftop (as. you’ll. see. on. all. of. my. Instagram).
But I digress. This hotel is RIGHT downtown and in a perfect, walkable location. There’s tons of restaurants and bars nearby. And, there was a shopping center next door with a food court. This was a great option for a quick and healthy lunch (fresh poke!) and it had a Target for forgotten toiletries.
Behind the hotel is is the highway, which makes it really easy to get in and out of downtown. A few times during my trip I took cabs to other parts of LA, and appreciated being on the outskirts of downtown to as to avoid downtown traffic.
Staff
All of the staff was lovely. The door and elevator men in the lobby were especially incredible. They went above and beyond to make sure I was comfortable and didn’t need any help with anything every single time I came and went. I had never seen such genuine hotel staff!
Other than that, I only really interacted with the front desk staff and they were perfectly nice.
Food and Bars
The fact that the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown had the highest bar in LA is what sold me on it. Yes, I am that obsessed with rooftops! (See all the Instagram references above.)Â
Spire 73 was absolutely beautiful and pleasantly warm enough to be outside, despite my February visit. But the unexpected gem was the lobby bar. Typically, I would hear lobby bar and think it’s sort of just where you check in. But, considering the lobby here is on the 70th floor, the Lobby Bar was incredible and had a great view. It was quiet and a great place to keep a little work done with outlets aplenty.
The below photo is at Spire 73 and done by/property of Anna McNaught Photography.
Rooms
The InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown has two main types of rooms: Classic Rooms and Suites. I booked a Classic Room. When I checked in, there was an available upgrade for a corner room. As you can see below, the view was beautiful! I even had a view of the Hollywood Sign!
The room was one of the best parts of the hotel. It was immaculately clean and incredibly spacious. Even in the one single room, it felt like there was a big difference between the living room area, the desk and office area, and the bed. The floor to ceiling windows were amazing, as were the black out curtains at night. I could have stayed here for forever, it was heavenly!
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Pool and Spa
The pool is on the 7th floor of the hotel. At first, I thought this would feel like the ground floor, given that the hotel is 70 floors high! However, the rest of Downtown LA is relatively low rise, so 7th floor was absolutely a rooftop pool here!
As I was here in February, it wasn’t typical pool weather in California. But, it was coming from New York! So, the weather felt great to me. We loved the pool and the view from the hot tub was beautiful. There was a bar right around the corner for any drinks or snacks you might want while there. Overall, I was overly impressed by pool!
I also have to make a note that I was extremely pleasantly surprised by the gym there! I am a loyal member of Equinox here in New York so I pretty much planned on just using the Equinox in Downtown LA. I went there once and it was a nice space, but nothing to ride home about and it was quite crowded. And, the main reason I love Equinox here in NYC is for the great classes, which they had very few of in LA.
After just a few minutes at the gym in the InterContinental, I was hugely impressed. It was very clean, large, not crowded, and just a luxurious atmosphere. The locker rooms had a steam room and sauna, plus individual large showers. There was NO ONE in this locker room at any point while I was there. It ended up being one of the most lavish parts of my stay!
Transportation
One of the reasons I chose this hotel during my stay in Los Angeles was because of the ease of walking. I was thrilled about how mobile I felt during the whole trip between walking and taxis.
I took a taxi to and from the airport and it was only about 20 minutes and about $30. Both are much easier than in NYC so I considered it convenient! There was no transportation to and from the airport included with the hotel. There was a large parking garage for those that drive there. The garage also serves as a pickup location for taxis which is great. It makes it really easy to find your cabs and have them right at your doorstep.
Cost
In my opinion, the price was spot on. It wasn’t inexpensive, but you pay for the quality, cleanliness and service that they more than deliver on. At the same time, it wasn’t nearly as pricey at places like the Beverly Hills Hotel or the Four Seasons. You get the same luxury service and experience for quite a bit less.
Entrepreneur Rating
The hotel really knocked this out of the park for me. As you can see from my photo below, I had the most amazing view from my desk in my room! Beyond this, the entire hotel had amazing wifi, which made it easy to work from anywhere. Which, I did! I worked out of the lobby, which had the amazing Lobby Bar. And, I even worked a bit out of the rooftop bar, Spire 73.
Overall, it was quiet, had good wifi, and most importantly, was inspiring everywhere I went!
This was one of my favorite hotels and I will stay there again during my next trip to LA.
