Greg Bruce stays at the Beverly Wilshire, a luxury hotel known for its grand style.
Location: Beverly Hills, baby. Right on the doorstep of Rodeo Drive.
Style: The Grande Dame, the embodiment of Beverly Hills glamour and old Hollywood splendour. The place you know from when Richard Gere and Julia Roberts got together in Pretty Woman.
Price: Starting at about NZ$1500 and rising vertiginously.
Perfect for: Feeling like you’re better than you are, while simultaneously ruining your ability to ever again stay at a regular luxury hotel.
First impressions: Please don’t ever make me leave this place. Please.
Rooms: Approximately 400 rooms including a wide range of suites, several of which run into the tens of thousands per night. A highlight and relative bargain is the Insta-friendly Veranda suite ( about $6000 per night), which opens out onto a 200sqm rooftop terrace featuring a wildly romantic yurt complete with queen bed, crystal chandelier, marble lamps and fur rugs.
I stayed in the spectacular but surprisingly functionally named One-Bedroom Beverly Suite with Balcony and View ($3000 per night). On arrival, I sat on that balcony, looking straight out at the Hollywood sign and wondered what my family were up to, but not for long because I was too busy being overawed. Inside, the room was utterly silent, as if I was not high above the vigorously beating heart of one of the most expensive retail districts in the world.
The One Bedroom Beverly Suite at the Beverly Wilshire.
Bathroom: Large and functional with a good-sized bath. Decor is tasteful but not flashy, except for the Frederic Malle toiletries: The handwash alone retails for $107.
Food and drink: Restaurants include the legendary Wolfgang Puck steakhouse Cut – where meat is queen and priced to suit – and the looky-looky Blvd, where you can enjoy both your $100 plate of black truffle gnocchi on the patio and the thought that passers-by might be mistaking you for someone. The Cut Lounge is an elegantly old-worldy-style bar where you can feel cool while drinking cool cocktails in low lighting.
Facilities: Everything you could imagine and more: state-of-the-art gym, private yoga classes, super-luxury spa, elegant old Hollywood-style pool deck (with bar and private cabanas), elegant boutiques and multiple seating options in the lifts.
The Mediterranean-style pool at the Beverly Wilshire.
In the neighbourhood: The hotel is just metres from every luxury item you’ve ever wanted. There are plenty of great eating places within a five-minute walk, including the incredible Dante’s at the Maybourne Hotel. The neighbourhood is ferociously surveilled and patrolled and couldn’t feel safer.
Family friendly: When you are paying this much money to access this level of luxury and service, there is no doubt you could bring your kids and that everyone would ensure they would have a great time. The question is: would you?
Accessibility: Four types of accessible rooms available, including two types of suites. All accessible rooms feature lowered peepholes in door and TTY / TDD phones with keyboard connection and vibration plate in place of ringer (available upon request). There’s a special drop-off cut-out on Wilshire Blvd for ease of access. In-room check-in is available.
Sustainability: Linens and towels are replaced every third day as standard, unless guests request otherwise. Toiletries come in large pump bottles instead of single-use disposables. The hotel is part of the Chefs to End Hunger programme, which donates food to agencies serving people in need across Los Angeles and it also donates old linens and uniforms to local non-profits.
