Review: W Los Angeles West Beverly Hills (Westwood/UCLA)

Background:

Since I went to UCLA, I’ve always wanted to stay at the W Los Angeles West Beverly Hills (Westwood) as I often passed it during my time on campus. Interestingly enough, the hotel was formerly a dormitory for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). But in 1999, the W Los Angeles West Beverly Hills opened and has been one of the posh properties in the area.

Now, the W Los Angeles West Beverly Hills (Westwood), has 297 rooms, with 162 of them being suites. As of this post, standard cash rates for the W range from approximately $275 to $425 per night before taxes or from 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points depending on the date of stay.

This visit marked my 2nd stay at a W-branded property, with my previous stay being over 10 years ago when the current Aloft Silicon Valley was still a W. Time flies!

Entrance Sign

Entrance

W Los Angeles West Beverly Hills Takeoff Points:

Date of Stay: November 2023
Room Type: Wonderful One Bedroom Suite
Pros: Nice hip & modern common areas, great location, plenty of suites
Cons: Overpriced breakfast, rooms are a little on the outdated side.
Overall Takeoff Score: B+

Fora Travel Benefits at the W Los Angeles West Beverly Hills:

I work with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays. Fora is partnered with Marriott Stars & Luminous. With this, you can get special perks when booking with me. The W Los Angeles West Beverly Hills offers:

• Room upgrade upon availability on arrival
• Daily breakfast, for two guests
• $100 USD Property Credit
• Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability

If you are interested in getting these perks and want to stay at the W Los Angeles West Beverly Hills, feel free to email me at takeofftotravel@fora.travel or fill out the contact form at the bottom of this post if you have any inquiries.

Location:

Los Angeles is a huge place, and the W Los Angeles West Beverly Hills is located on the west side, in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. The UCLA campus is just a few minutes walk away, and Westwood Village is at your fingertips. Other nearby points of interest include Beverly Hills Rodeo Drive (2.7 miles) and Santa Monica Beach (6 miles). Los Angeles International Airport is 10 miles away, while Downtown Los Angeles is about 14 miles away.

You’ll definitely need a car in the area, or rely on rideshares like Uber and Lyft as the public transit in Los Angeles is not great. Thankfully rideshares here aren’t too pricey when compared to places like New York. We had a friend in town who drove us around and then picked up a rental car in Beverly Hills to head down to Orange County on our last day.

Valet parking is available at the hotel for $55 a day. If you’d like to self-park instead and don’t mind a bit of walking, UCLA parking lots do offer overnight self-parking for $20-$30 depending on the lot.

W Los Angeles Exterior

Arrival + Lobby:

I messaged the hotel in the app to ask if our room was ready for a noon check-in, and to my delight they said it was! There are a lot of different room types at the W and we were booked into the standard “Wonderful Studio”. I recently got the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant AMEX Card, which comes with Bonvoy Platinum Status. As a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum, I was happy to see we were upgraded to a “Wonderful 1 Bedroom Suite”. I was also asked if I’d like bonus points or a breakfast credit as my welcome gift. I took the breakfast, which was $25 each for 2 people ($50 total). Sadly, it didn’t go very far at this property as you’ll see later in the review.

Check-in was easy and the hotel felt quite calm, as Thanksgiving weekend seemed to be off-season for this property as UCLA is quite empty for the holiday. We were given water bottles and headed up to our room on the 10th floor.

The lobby, or “living room” as W likes to call it was very “W-esque” being modern and hip. W Hotels are known for being a modern party hotel, and the lobby gives off those vibes. But, since we visited during Thanksgiving break, the hotel was quite empty. There is also a water feature and a small art exhibit.

Reception and Lobby

Lobby Art Exhibit

The Room:

On our way up to the room, I found the guest room hallways quite posh, which was a good sign.

Guest Room Hallways

Upon entering our Wonderful One Bedroom Suite, there was a large sofa to the left with a TV, and to the right was a desk area with two chairs.

Wonderful One Bedroom Suite Living Room

Desk Area

In front of the desk area, there were snacks for purchase, as well as a minibar for drinks.

Wonderful One Bedroom Suite Mini-Bar

Bathroom:

The bathroom is located on the way to the bedroom and is on the smaller side. Nonetheless, it was nice and the only issue I had was with the sink. The faucet is way too low considering the basin is so high, leaving too small of a gap between the faucet and sink.

Wonderful One Bedroom Suite Bathroom

Cabinet + W/C

Showerhead + Toiletries

On the bright side, the water pressure in the shower was solid. Toiletries were provided by Davines and body wash, conditioner, and shampoo were provided in the shower while face wash and lotion were provided near the sink area. I liked the toiletry scent but found the refillable bottle to be quite flimsy. Definitely not a fan of that.

Also, bathrobes were provided which was nice. The towels were clean, so another plus as well.

Bedroom:

The bedroom contained a king-sized bed and a small TV. Also, there was a full closet area with iron/board. The bed was quite comfortable and allowed for a good night’s rest.

Wonderful One Bedroom Suite Bedroom

Interestingly enough, there was a sheer curtain and shutters at the windows, rather than having curtains. It didn’t pose an issue for us, but it was no blackout curtain and you could tell when it was morning by the sunlight. Our windows overlooked the hotel, so 1/2 of our view was of the hotel, and the other half you could see parts of the city towards the right side in the distance.

Overall, it was a nice suite to stay in for the night. I enjoyed having the separate bedroom, and I enjoyed the large couch in the living room.

Dining:

The main restaurant at the hotel is STK, which is an upscale steakhouse chain with numerous outposts around the country. The indoor portion is open for dinner daily.

There is also “The Hideout” and all meals of the day are served here, outdoors right next to the pool. Interestingly enough, it shares the same menu as STK. We had breakfast at the Hideout to use our Bonvoy Platinum Breakfast benefit. Unfortunately, our $25 per person didn’t go very far.

The Hideout

The lowest-priced brunch item on the menu was the French Toast which went for $31. Since I wanted something salty I went for the Hot Chicken and Waffle which was $36, and my travel companion went for the Eggs and Avocado On Toast which was $35.

Eggs & Avocado on Toast ($35)

Hot Chicken & Waffle ($36)

Both items tasted fine but were overpriced.

The lobby also features the Living Room Bar that’s open in the evenings, and complimentary coffee/tea is offered in the mornings right next to the reception and “Whatever, Whenever” Concierge desk.

Lobby and Lobby Bar

Lastly, room service is offered at the property.

Amenities:

You can take a swim in the outdoor, ground-level WET pool that is surrounded by cabanas. It’s a bit minimal for a “W” and I expected a bit more, but I guess it did the trick if you want a quick dip or get a tan.

WET Pool

Also, the fitness center, FIT, is located one level above the lobby. Upon a quick glance, it looked like a solid gym to get a workout in.

FIT Fitness Center

The Verdict:

Overall, I’m glad to have given the W West Los Angeles Beverly Hills (Westwood) a try. If you’re trying to visit UCLA, or the westside of Los Angeles, the location is great, and the hotel offers a lot of larger suite room options. It’s a tiny bit dated, but nothing too intense, and I would consider staying here again if the opportunity presented itself.

Have you stayed at the W Los Angeles West Beverly Hills? How was your experience? Comment below!

Cheers,

Ty

If you are interested in getting Fora perks and want to stay at the W Los Angeles West Beverly Hills, feel free to email me at takeofftotravel@fora.travel or fill out this contact form below. If you have other trips you’d like for me to help plan, feel free to reach out as well!