In an era of minimalism and modernism in luxury hotels, a historic grand hotel dating back to the Gilded Age remains vibrant in a quiet neighborhood of Pasadena, California. My family truly enjoyed The Langham Huntington, a treasure in our backyard.
The Langham Huntington, Pasadena, Los Angeles Review
Who would have thought such a lovely hotel was only 15 minutes from our home?
History
In 1907, a new hotel in Pasadena opened called The Wentworth. Designed by General Marshall C. Wentworth, a Civil War veteran, the Spanish Mission Revival-style hotel offered luxury accommodations to both short and long-term guests.
In 1911, railroad tycoon Henry E. Huntington purchased the property and rebranded it as The Huntington Hotel. He acquired more land and constructed bungalow cottages and California’s first outdoor Olympic-size swimming pool. The hotel property grew to over 20 acres.
In 1954, the hotel was sold to Sheraton and became the Huntington-Sheraton Hotel. During that period, the hotel continued to grow. After the massive 1985 Mexico City earthquake, the hotel was partially closed due to structural integrity concerns. Years of wrangling ensued over what to do about the historic buildings, now deemed unable to withstand a major earthquake, and eventually, the main building was torn down, but rebuilt in a similar manner.
In 1991, the hotel reopened as The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel. It was sold in 2007 and has been operating as The Langham Huntington, Pasadena since then.
Booking
Nightly rates vary wildly, but during my tree saga we spent a night here when rates dropped to $300. This hotel is part of the Capital One Premier Collection. By booking with my Capital One Venture X card, we were able earn 10 points per dollar on the booking and enjoyed extra benefits like:
- $100 resort credit
- Daily breakfast for two
- Room upgrade (based upon availability)
- Early check-in and late check-out (based upon availability)
- Complimentary wi-fi
Hotel Grounds
Spread over 20 acres, the hotel is nestled in an upscale residential neighborhood of Pasadena and yet feels like you are stepping into another world.
After dropping off your car (valet only, at $42/night), the grand lobby includes chandeliers and a portrait of Mr. Huntington. Outside the lobby is a courtyard with a fountain and pond. Afternoon tea is served here.
The common areas form a square around this courtyard, with the hotel bar and steakhouse overlooking a vast lawn and scenic views of the San Gabriel mountains.
We loved the well-landscaped grounds of this hotel.
Outdoor Activities
What I enjoyed most of all at this hotel was the family-friendly activities outdoors. Those included table tennis, a bean bag toss, and miniature golf, which my kids particularly enjoyed. There were even wooden blocks, which kept my daughter contentedly occupied until I dragged her back to the room kicking and screaming.
Guest Room
We were assigned room 660, a large room with two queen-sized beds and a view of the grassy “backyard” below. The room included a seating area and a desk, plus a large bathroom with a tub.
The room itself was just fine; there was nothing particularly spectacular about it and the lighting and furnishing was rather drab, but I appreciated the extra space and we did not spend much time in the room considering all the hotel amenities.
Picture Bridge
One of the cool features of this hotel is a covered bridge that depicts scenes from California (including local scenes from Pasadena, Cathedral Spires in Yosemite, the Seventeen Mile Drive in Carmel, the Mt. Wilson Observatory, and Avalon Bay on Catalina Island).
Per the hotel, each of the 41 paintings were done by resident landscape artist Frank M. Moore who was paid $10 per painting and all the food he and his wife could consume at the hotel, a handsome compensation during the Great Depression.
Food + Drink
With the valet-only parking along with our resort credit, we had both dinner and breakfast at the hotel.
Room Service
After hours of swimming and mini-golf, we returned to the room for dinner. I ordered pasta for the kids (spaghetti with tomato sauce) which is always a reliable option for them.
Heidi ordered salmon and I ordered short ribs. On the side, we ordered a green salad and Brussels sprouts.
The dishes were hearty and we enjoyed dinner. It was nice not to have to go out.
Breakfast At The Terrace
The Terrace serves “California” cuisine and overlooks the pool. I took the kids to school early in the morning and Heidi and I had breakfast at 11:00 am at The Terrace. Predictably, we both had omelets with coffee and berries.
Breakfast menu:
The Terrace offers a breakfast buffet on Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 am to 1:30 pm and is something I would return for…
I also found out that had we eaten dinner here, the kids would have eaten free, which would have been a good reason to go downstairs.
The Royce Steakhouse
A fancy steakhouse with a wood-fired grill, this is somewhere I would Heidi on a date, but not the kids.
The Tap Room
One of the coolest areas of this hotel is the Prohibition-era bar called The Tap Room. The chandeliers, couches, dark paneling, and piano make it one of the coolest bars in LA. There’s also a beautiful terrace overlooking the “backyard” during the warmer months.
Cool fact: this bar was used in the filming of Saving Mr. Banks, one of my favorite movies (in hte movie, it was the bar of the Beverly Hills Hotel). The hotel ballroom was used in another favorite movie of mine, Charlie Wilson’s War, also starring Tom Hanks.
Free Coffee + Tea In AM
Finally, I appreciated that the hotel had a coffee and tea station in the lobby in the mornings, which was far better than the in-room coffee.
Fitness + Spa
Another highlight of this hotel for me was the fitness center and Chuan Spa. This area of the hotel is located in a different building and outside membership is sold, meaning that non-hotel guests come here to use the facilities.
The fitness center was always crowded, such that I could not get many pictures of it, but I’d say the only downside compared to other luxury hotels is that it is only open from 5:30 am to 8:00 pm. While the early opening time was appreciated, I do like working out late sometimes when I am at a hotel. The gym features TechnoGym cardiovascular and strength training equipment.
Next door is the Chuan Spa, which features a wellness area with a sauna and steam room that I took dull advantage of.
I happen to be rather happy with my YMCA gym a few minutes away from my house, but if I lived a little closer I would strongly consider joining this club.
Pool
I mentioned already that this hotel featured the first outdoor Olympic-sized pool in Los Angeles and it is a focal point of the hotel. Heated and deep (it seems that most modern pools at hotels are not deep at all for liability reasons), my kids loved this pool. There’s a jacuzzi too.
In fact, they loved it so much that we returned here after school at 2:00 pm and the hotel graciously gave us a late-checkout so we could spend more time swimming.
CONCLUSION
This hotel is a grand old dame and a Los Angeles treasure. For three decades I have lived just 15 minutes away from this hotel and it was the first time I had ever stepped foot in it. Now we’ll make staycations out of it.
As much as I love being loyal to Hyatt, this is a very special hotel and the sort of property that makes being a free agent fun.
Amazing photos. What a place! I live in LA too and never been there. Thanks for letting us live vicariously.
We love this property too, especially the kids. The rooms are a bit dated, and the pool is well past it’s prime. The entire property could use a long overdue overhaul. We booked using AMEX fine hotels/resorts to get the perks.
When we lived in the Pasadena area, we used to enjoy the Royce steakhouse for Anniversaries, B’days etc., although on our recent stay my younger one did quite well in the restaurant and enjoyed the mac/cheese and truffle fries.
In my opinion, breakfast is underwhelming when compared to properties in Asia/Europe.
Our family stayed there numerous times when it was the Rirz Carlton and we thought it was lovely. We stayed there again a couple years ago under the Langham banner and thought it was dumpy and really in need of a refresh and we found the staff really aloof. The Langham in Chicago is ten times nicer than the Huntington.
The only other Langham I have stayed at was in Auckland (many years ago) and it was very nice.
I think the langham is the best hotel in Chicago if you ever want to check out another one.
Not to mention the (entirely forgettable, save for trademark Chris Farley slapstick) 1997 comedy Beverly Hills Ninja!
Great review! It is rare to see a sauna/indoor hot tub that’s free, so props to the Langham hotel for keeping it free.
Very romantic. The lovely pool and grounds are so rarely seen anymore. Coupled with good food and service makes what’s not to love.
My wife and I stayed here in August for a few days. Very nice pool area. Thought the rooms were a bit dated and drab but the rest of the grounds were nice. We borrowed bikes and rode to the Huntingdon library which was really nice. Amazing old documents and galleries. Worth visiting.
Also, there are some great restaurants within a bike or short Uber ride.
The food prices are ridiculous. Adding BS fees makes it even more disgusting.
You always compare the US to Europe and I agree, Europe is (almost) always a better value. But these are typical US prices. It’s hardly a surprise, right?
Let’s forget the price of the food which you already know is absolutely insane when compared to Europe. I am talking about the BS fees and taxes you paid on top on the food. Assuming you gave a 22% tip you basically paid $96 for food and $74 for extras. Absolutely armed robbery.
Exactly. Even if you were to somehow justify all those rubbish fees, the suggestion that you should calculate the value of the tip on an admin fee, a delivery charge or a room service charge is preposterous (even the tax bit is questionable if it’s presented as a separate line). The thinly veiled expectation to do so on all three of them is just an insult to the customer’s intelligence.
I didn’t tip on top of the fees. Sorry, not going to do it.
Santastico imagine this was close to your home. A beautiful hotel to celebrate a milestone with your wife. I find it incredibly romantic, reasonable, and memorable. Sometimes we have to overlook the stupid fees to rediscover the love. Even for only a night. All the best.
LOL! You are funny. Matthew was staying there because a tree destroyed his house. Not sure where you see the romantic part on it.
I was thinking the menu prices look fairly reasonable until I saw the outrageous $10 a coffee.
Yeah, the coffee prices were ridiculous – I didn’t want to push the breakfast benefit and just had one. It was fine, by the way, but nothing special.
Is the breakfast benefit based on a $ limit?
$40 each. I’ll add that to review.
The room service fees are a joke as Santastico said. 6 dollar delivery charge, 4% admin fee, 20% room service fee and then on top of that they want you to give an a 25 dollar tip. 25 dollars I guess goes to the guy who rolled the food up. Who gets all the other fees? Tipping really is a joke. I wonder what the guy who rolled the food up gets paid for an hourly wage.
The fees esp on restaurant food is over the top.. And to add the admin fee/20% fee service charge fee..nuts// we were just in a hotel in Cabo and they charged fees and taxes on fee… A $10 had a 16% VAT tax, a service charge and a flat fee to add to the food bill… totally over it/.. esp since we are so helpful do their people who cross-over to us.
IF you do decide to make another visit, try to get one of the free standing bungalow rooms on the property.
+1 on staying in the bungalows if you can swing it — they are big, secluded, and quiet. A different experience from staying in the main building.
How much more are they? I’d love to try it.
Sir,
The typos in this post suggest you’re departing from your customary standards.
“Cool fact: this bar was used in the filming of Saving Mr. Banks, one of my favorite movies (in hte movie, it was the bar of the Beverly Hills Hotel).”
“Next door is the Chuan Spa, which features a wellness area with a sauna and steam room that I took dull advantage of.”