Where to Stay
Although West Hollywood can be pricey, its wealth of hotels has led to
sufficient competition to keep rates relatively reasonable. Here's a
sampling of top-notch, gay-friendly places to spend a weekend.
Owing to its location near the gay-licious Beverly Center shopping mall,
the Hotel Sofitel has long been popular with lesbians and gays. The
management is one of the few outside West Hollywood to market
aggressively to the gay community (although the property is just steps
from the West Hollywood border). From top to bottom this is a first-rate
property with a distinctive facade and upscale French furnishings. The
15-story Sunset Tower Hotel is a 1929 art deco icon. Formerly home to
fabulous stars like Truman Capote and Errol Flynn, it contains 64 rooms
with stunning period reproductions, flat-screen TVs, iPod stations, and
floor-to-ceiling windows offering some of the best views in the city.
A secluded all-suites property just off the Strip, on the edge of
Beverly Hills, Le Montrose Suite Hotel has huge, meticulously clean and
well-decorated rooms with fireplaces, kitchenettes, and private
balconies. Enjoy amazing views of the skyline from the fab rooftop pool
and hot tub. Another gay-friendly all-suites hotel close to the bars,
the Valadon sits high above Santa Monica Boulevard and has a rooftop
terrace and pool commanding fine views of the area. Rooms (some with
kitchenettes) are large, with VCRs, refrigerators, and, in most cases,
private balconies.
The well-tended Ramada Plaza Hotel West Hollywood is the most
gay-popular mainstream hotel in metro Los Angeles; it's in the heart of
the bar district and has a sleek art deco look and a cruisy pool and
sundeck out back. Most of the stylish and spacious suites have sleeping
lofts, and all have kitchenettes. Arguably West Hollywood's hippest
address, and a nice value to boot, the Standard has ultra-cool rooms
with down pillows, silver bean-bag chairs, TVs with VCRs, Warhol
poppy-print draperies, high-speed Internet, and private balconies -
plenty of nice amenities considering the reasonable rates. The swish bar
is a favorite place to see and be seen.
The quintessential clothing-optional men's resort, complete with
foliage-choked lanai and toned and tanned guests, the San Vicente
Inn-Resort has, thanks to the hard work of its friendly owners, become
one of the top gay guesthouses in Southern California. All
accommodations are either in large suites or detached cottages with
tasteful contemporary furnishings. The rates are quite fair, given the
excellent location close to the restaurants and gay nightlife on Santa
Monica Boulevard. Of course, if you're unable to meet a cute guy at
East/West Lounge or Rage, it's nice to know you can always return to the
San Vicente and, on a typical evening, find someone cute lying around
the pool.
Andrew Collins is the
author of Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA and as well as numerous other
guidebooks.
The Hunk
