Hotel Review: SLS Beverly Hills

When asked to describe my travel habits, I would say I am a weekend warrior. Yes I travel a lot. Yes I have a full-time job. So in order to fill in my passion to travel into my work life, I tend to take a lot of weekend trips.

Los Angeles is a fun weekend getaway from Austin. Southwest, United, American, and Delta all have several non-stop flights each day (and jetBlue flies to Long Beach) so you can leave town Friday afternoon/evening and back Sunday afternoon.

On a recent weekend getaway to LA, we decided to stay at the SLS Beverly Hills. It is part of Starwood’s The Luxury Collection and is a Category 6 hotel requiring 20,000 starpoints per night. The hotel was going for $374 a night, so we thought this was a good use of points.

We rented a car at LAX and the drive to the SLS Beverly Hills only took about 35 minutes (traffic wasn’t too bad). In my opinion, the exterior isn’t too special.

The hotel entrance is adjacent to the street and car valet drop-off. Jose Andres’ Bazaar restaurant is in the hotel, but you can’t access Bazaar from the hotel. Follow the red carpet up a few steps, through an outdoor seating area, and into the hotel.

As you enter to the right is the concierge desk. The registration desk is inside the entrance and an immediate U-turn to your left.

The check-in process took about five minutes, giving the clerk the opportunity to recognize my partner’s SPG Platinum status, offer a Platinum amenity (we chose the extra points), how to access the free wifi, and confirmed that the room had been upgraded to a Lifestyle Suite.

We took the elevator up to the 3rd floor. Immediately outside of the elevator was a room with a pool table. We meandered down the hallway, around a few corners, to the assigned room, 332.

As I previously mentioned, we had been upgraded to a Lifestyle Suite. The Lifestyle Suite includes a 500 square foot room (which was very spacious), an oversized shower, and a state-0f-the-art Technogym system. Of course the room featured the standard hotel items including a king size bed, desk with chair, mini-bar and flat screen TV.

The bathroom was good sized, with a sink, walk-in shower, and toilet. Unfortunately I was unable to get a good shower photo because it was all mirrors and I’m pretty sure you don’t want a photo of me in the shower.

The bathroom featured Ciel-branded toiletries.

Overall, the room was great. It was interior room facing a courtyard and I really liked the open feeling of the room. The in-room gym equipment was a odd novelty, though.

The gym was on the second floor and was quite big. It featured lots of cardio machines, free-weights, and other machines (of which I have no idea how they work).

The highlight of the SLS Beverly Hills is the roof-top pool. While it can be quite the scene, the afternoon we were there, it was rather tame. There was one large pool and one large, shallow dipping pool. The pool area was surrounded by chaise lounges and private cabanas (for rent). I liked how they pool area is surrounded by large oversized picture frames, some with colored glass, some with art, and some with mirrors.

Watching the sunset from the roof with a glass of wine was phenomenal.

I think the only way to really describe the SLS Beverly Hills is that it is pretty much like a W Hotel, but with the quirky level turned way up. The property and rooms were quirkily decorated. I’d definitely stay here again, and maybe I’d actually use the gym equipment if I were to be upgraded to the Lifestyle Suite.

Have you stayed at the SLS Beverly Hills? If so, what was your experience?

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