Spring 2017
A friend of ours decided to take voluntary redundancy and went travelling around the world. His last leg arrived in Los Angeles and we decided to take the opportunity to fly out and meet him. It was the first time in some considerable years that either of us had visited the US and our first time together as well as to the West Coast.
We initially stayed at “The Standard” in Downtown LA, a modern hotel centrally located (standardhotels.com/la/properties/downtown-la). It was good value considering it’s city centre location with a decent sized room and plenty of storage space. The highlight of the hotel was the rooftop bar and pool. Now as it will become more than apparent, Ian loves craft beer- especially IPA and Pale Ale. The Rooftop bar had a good selection of craft beers and prior to our arrival, we had no idea the scene would be so prevalent.
Another benefit to the hotel was the bar food, which was from a “pop up” restaurant called banh oui (banhoui.com). Several afternoons we sampled their dishes- they were absolutely fantastic but the most memorable were the caramel wings and prawn toast.
We spent most days by the pool, although we did take the metro over to Hollywood one day and did the touristy elements- Hollywood Walk of Fame and Chinese Theatre. We also made a trip over to Grand Central Market which was in walking distance of the Standard hotel. When you arrive there- you will immediately recognise the area from various TV shows and films with the Angels Flight Railway opposite particularly distinctive.
When in the market, we took the opportunity to visit G & B Coffee (gget.com) where Ian experienced a “Dark n Stormy” with espresso replacing the rum, a first but memorable experience. As it was breakfast time, we noticed a queue circling around one stall, egg slut (eggslut.com). We joined the queue and sampled a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich- which sounds simple but was fantastic.
In the evenings we sampled different burger and bar establishments, the notable favourite was Karl Strauss (karlstrauss.com/visit/downtown-los-angeles). It had a vast selection of beers, the burgers were delicious and Natalie enjoyed the mac and cheese- a favourite of us both.
We should highlight that walking around Downtown can be quite daunting, there is a lot of homelessness and individuals walking around with mental health issues. It is quite uncomfortable and we did end up taking a lot of cabs when we could have walked, especially at night. It is predominantly the business district during the day but at night the challenges are plain to see. The disparity of rich and poor is magnified in this city.
Half way through our trip, we checked out of the Standard, picked up our friend and went to rent a car from Sixt. Just prior to this trip, Ian had been with some friends in Spain and experienced a scam with a car rental firm and had his guard up as a result. Fortunately car rental in the US is the complete opposite to Europe- with very little hidden extras and great customer service. We had booked the equivalent of a BMW X5 but were given the choice of not just this but a Volvo XC90. Following advice from the booking agent we, took the Volvo. We then made our way to Las Vegas.
The car journey took 5 hours but given the comfortable car, this passed quite quickly. We had always wanted to do the American fly/drive experience and this definitely facilitated this. The drive is very straight forward and there is a spectacular feeling seeing Las Vegas 20 miles in the distance as you drive closer and closer, with the hotels and casinos becoming increasing larger.
Now, we are again fortunate to have family friends who have connections with the Aria Hotel (aria.mgmresorts.com). As a result, despite booking the basic room we were upgraded to a suite which overlooked the main part of the strip. Now, in terms of the location- the Aria is great, we wouldn’t want to be any further south but in terms of luxury it fits the bill whilst being in walking distance of all the main hotels and casinos. Our room was stunning, came with it’s own living room with both the bedroom and bathroom having an amazing view of the strip, facing north. The benefits to the upgrade also meant we had our more exclusive check in and concierge, so avoided the big check in queues.
The friend we were meeting and Ian, are old school friends and love to gamble. So naturally, they wanted to visit the Bellagio. 10 minutes later and $100 lighter, the novelty had worn off and a concentration on lower stakes gambling was established, settling on Paris and the Flamengo for our chosen favourite game- 3 card poker.
The weekend we arrived coincided with Memorial Day, a public holiday in the USA or the second May Bank holiday to us Brits. As a result the City was very busy but we spent a lot of our time simply walking the strip and visiting all the major hotels. It sounds boring but seeing the opulence of one hotel and then walking into another one where it is outdone, is enjoyable. Don’t get us wrong, there are some very dated hotels but even visiting these have their benefits e.g. Flamengo- gaming room.
As our friend was on the last leg of his trip, his budget was near complete. We therefore mainly just had fast food around the strip but our friend busied himself one lunch time and we took the time to visit Wolfgang Puck Bar and Grill- at the MGM hotel (mgmgrand.mgmresorts.com/en/restaurants/wolfgang-grill-bar-restaurant). The meal was okay, relatively expensive but not necessarily memorable. We also tried the buffet at the Aria but equally this had the same feedback as Puck’s establishment although we have a low opinion of buffets as a whole anyhow.
Now, prior to coming to Vegas, Ian had been quite cynical of the place, expecting it to be tacky. However, his opinion changed dramatically and all three of us thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. We drove back on the Monday but experienced an extremely large amount of traffic, the five hour journey taking eight. Upon our return, we had booked to stay in West Hollywood, at the London Hotel (thelondonwesthollywood.com).
All rooms at the London are suites, they are of impressive size and come with a balcony and a good seating area. The hotel is very plush and was a step up from the Standard which we stayed at previously but without question we were paying for this.
As it was the last night of our friend’s trip, we were insistent that we were going to go for a nice meal. We spoke with the concierge at our hotel and was recommended BOA Steakhouse (boasteak.com).
BOA was the perfect steak restaurant; the setting, service, food and wine ticked all the boxes. We cook a lot at home, especially Steak- so it needs to be exceptional for us to be impressed and we can honestly say we were. It was a perfect send off for our friend and following a quick bit of lunch at Third Stop (thethirdstop.com) the next day, our friend headed home- leaving us with two more nights.
Following the good advice at concierge, we sought their guidance for the next meal and was recommended Deliah’s (delilahla.com/). This was a very trendy restaurant a short taxi ride from the hotel. Unfortunately the restaurant operates a close together table policy which is a pet hate of us both. So, close that is in difficult to get up from the table without interrupting the adjacent table or not get distracted by their conversation- no matter how hard you try not to. The food was pleasant but unremarkable, the service was swift and as a result we were in and out in just over an hour.
For our last meal, we booked Bazaar by Jose Andres (thebazaar.com/beverly-hills). This was a fantastic experience- we have a soft spot for Spanish cuisine and this certainly took us back to San Sebastian. It was the perfect mix of designer restaurant, great food and superb drinks. The croquettes came in a glass trainer and were a highlight. They have a dessert bar, where you are encouraged to move from your table to eat at. An industry trick to process more covers in an evening which we first noticed at Pollen Street Social in London. Nevertheless, the deserts were just as good as the savoury dishes and the change of table was not a problem.
Having stayed Downtown and then in West Hollywood- the difference was substantial. West Hollywood was much more comfortable to walk about at night but this comes with a price- almost double in hotel costs. It is definitely worth visiting again and we are looking forward to heading back, most likely fly there and do a fly drive up to San Francisco or down to San Diego.
The Fullerton sounds perfect.