Heidi and I recently had a “date night” and decided to spend the night at The West Hollywood EDITION, an upscale Marriott property and my first time staying with that brand. Our stay was largely positive, though I found the cost difficult to justify.
The West Hollywood EDITION Review
We had an expiring Anniversary Free Night Award from the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Brilliant Card, good for a one-night stay for up to 85,000 points. The card also bestows Platinum Status, though that did make any difference at this property. Originally we booked at The Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara with the award night, but with both of us so incredibly busy right now, we canceled that and found ourselves wiht only three days to use the expiring free night. The West Hollywood EDITION is more than 85,000 points on most nights, but on a quiet Wednesday at 8:00 pm I booked it for 82,000 points.
Valet Parking + Lobby
After dropping the kids off at my parent’s house, Heidi and I drove to the hotel, an easy journey from our house especially after rush hour. Valet parking is $70/night, which is about normal in West Hollywood. The hotel is located on the corner of West Sunset Boulevard and North Doheny Drive, steps away from the Beverly Hills city limits.
I love all the plants outside the hotel entrance and I loved the lobby itself, which was spacious and minimalist, with a bar on one side, a little patio with a fire pit, plenty of seating, and even a pool table.
This hotel also had a great scent, which is apparently a signature touch of EDITION hotels.
Check-In
Staff were quite kind, but there was no upgrade to a suite or even a room with a terrace. I wasn’t in the mood to pushback because it was already after 9:00 pm and I just wanted to get to dinner. Platinum members are offered a 4:00 pm late checkout, but we only needed until 2:00 pm because we had to pick up the kids at school.
Destination Fee
While this hotel does have a $35 resort fee, it includes a $35 discount at Ardor per day as well as a $50 voucher for use in the spa. I’ll never be a fan of these sorts of fees, but at least it was essentially $0 for us since we would have eaten at Ardor anyway.
Room
Our room, 606, was a standard room overlooking Sunset Boulevard, but it was both spacious and comfortable. The room included a very comfortable bed, a chair by the window, and a table attached to the wall spanning one side of the room that served as a desk.
The bathroom included a large walk-in tub with Le Labo shower products, a single sink, and a separate water closet.
Some hotels have not brought back minibars after the pandemic, but this hotel had a large minibar with snacks, drinks (including Krug) and even things Master & Dynamics headphones, panties, and a “Temptation Lover’s Kit.”
Boxed water and a Nespresso coffee machine were also included (and complimentary).
Food + Drink
The hotel has a lobby bar, a rooftop bar, a restaurant called Ardor, and a nightclub called Sunset.
Ardor
We had dinner at Ardor, a well-respected restaurant in WeHo, and it did not disappoint. The restaurant and bar itself is beautiful and cozy, with plants throughout and even a cool outdoor dining area.
I returned in the morning to take a few more pictures, including of the terrace:
Heidi had a salad (with avocado, feta, pecans, and pears) and I had octopus to start and both were very good, though the octopus was really delicious.
I had branzino for my main course while Heidi had chicken and while I probably could have had a second or third piece of fish, it was very delicious and the chicken was excellent too.
But the biggest surprise of the meal was the mint chocolate chip for dessert, which included creme fraiche panna cotta, frozen chocolate foam, and fresh mint ice cream. That mint ice cream was absolutely blissful…it tasted like fresh mint and Heidi and I agreed it was the highlight of a great meal.
Dinner…and we only ordered a bottle of sparkling water to drink..was over $200. The hotel adds an 18.5% service fee to everything and my understanding is that 15% goes to the workers.
Breakfast is served here as well, but we skipped it and just stuck to our intermittent fasting. Marriott Platinum and Titanium members do not receive free breakfast at this EDITION hotel.
Lobby Bar
I’m not a fan of Nespresso coffee, so I came down to the lobby for coffee. The bar has a “manual” coffee machine. While the barista could use some instruction on latte art, my flat white was good and I appreciated not having to go far to get good coffee.
Rooftop Bar
There’s also a rooftop bar, common for this part of town, that open at midday and stays open late on weekends.
Room Service
24/7 room service is available.
Pool
Pools in West Hollywood are more about showing bodies than swimming, but this property has a beautiful rooftop pool with plenty of seating and views of the city. Free sunscreen is available and you can rent cabanas. I was surprised that I had the pool to myself at 11:00 am on a Thursday morning, but I guess folks were sleeping in….
Fitness Center
This hotel has a large gym which is open 24/7. You can access the fitness center from the lobby, then head a circular flight of steps to the expansive gym which includes a solid assortment of strength training and cardio equipment.
Spa + Wellness
Adjacent to the lobby and gym entrance is a full-service spa.
I’ve inclued the menu below:
The spa offers wellness access (sauna and steam room) to those receiving treatments or hotel guests for a $50 fee.
The Price…
After we finished dinner, around 10:00 pm, the bar was hopping (there’s also a nightclub at the hotel called Sunset) with young people showing far more skin than clothes. I mean, that’s not a surprise in WeHo, but talk about an expensive evening out…
Is $700-800/night worthwhile for this place? That’s hard to justify when the Andaz West Hollywood down the street tends to be much cheaper. I’ve also heard very good things about The Pendry, also located on Sunset.
$200 for dinner without alcohol, $70 for parking, $10 for a cup of coffee in the morning…my wife jokes that just because people are irrational, she’s not going to follow the crowd.
So this was a nice splurge…but it’s really hard to justify when the $1,000 (theoretically) can go so far elsewhere.
CONCLUSION
Heidi and I had a nice stay a The West Hollywood Edition and particularly enjoyed a delicious dinner at Ardor. Staff was lovely and we are open to returning, though I think the value proposition is not as high as other properties in WeHo.
This was my first taste of The EDITION chain and I hope to try others, particularly in Bodrum and in Singapore. It’s certainly an upscale Marriott brand.
I’m not a fan of Edition personally, but this property has an awfully nice hard product by LA standards (which are generally low). You mention the Andaz as comparable. It’s not. It’s a dump. The Pendry is comparable in price, perhaps a little cheaper.
To be fair, I have not been to the Andaz in three years so it may have declined, but I quite liked it last time.
I was there a few months ago . . . staff were great, but my room was strangely devoid of furniture, the carpet was gross, and the entire floor had a strong musty smell, as if there had been water damage. I left and stayed elsewhere.
Am I the only one that finds the minibar panties next to the Snickers bar awkward?
The West Hollywood Edition truly has a low level of service post-pandemic. I had been doing 20 nights a year there (spaced out throughout the year) as an Ambassador and Lifetime Titanium Elite. Prior to covid they were a full service operation and would always upgrade to a very nice suite. Now, they could care less about most everything. The service is terrible (still as of November 2024) and its essentially a self service hotel with limited services to begin with.
Shame on this property for never coming back to a luxury property it once was.
The Andaz is a MUCH worse hard product but 1/3 of the price at times.
I guess that’s the difference. Even if the Andaz is not as good, it is so much cheaper.
These insane prices are the reason we eat at home and only have this type of night outs when we travel outside of the US. Seriously, $212 for that dinner with no alcohol and almost $11 for a latte is armed robbery. Absolutely outrageous.
@Santastico … +1 . You forgot to mention the $ 18. doughnut . More expensive than Japan or Europe .
I forgot to mention the 18.5 % involuntary “staff charge” added to the dinner and coffee receipts . Greed over the top .
While I haven’t stayed at EDITION, I can vouch for Andaz. It’s become my preferred property in WeHo – spacious rooms, good breakfast for Globalists, and a really great staff. The pool is smaller, though.
Date night by me is going out for supper in a restaurant or even just making a BBQ together. The most it will be is to go to an air B&B for the night out. There’s no reason to use the kind of cash that can easily go to something else…
@Moe . +1 . Exactly correct . Foolish waste of money which could have been kept for a worthy purpose . Even Warren Buffet would have laughed at those prices : $ 18. for a doughnut .
Plus an 18.5 % “staff charge” for the order of doughnut . That will be another $ 2.33 , for a total of $ 20.33 not including tax . Greed over the top .
Did they charge the local sales tax on the Staff Charge???
Damn, did you treat some gays to the sight of a shirtless Matthew?
Nothing special in Singapore – I stayed there earlier this year, also my first with the brand. I did wrestle a suite upgrade out of them but overall a lot of mistakes on staff’s part and I also couldn’t justify the cost. Now I have lost interest.
“Pools in West Hollywood are more about showing bodies than swimming” haha succinct. As for the vibrator in the minibar, one wonders where it’s been recently?
Are the Thong Panties next to the Snickers also edible?
How does a luxury hotel NOT provide turndown service automatically? I suspect almost nobody requests it because they assume it’s going to be provided. That’s fairly incredible. Same for not having a personalized welcome letter at check-in or an in-room amenity for a platinum. It explains why they’re only Four-Diamond with AAA. They should be Five-Diamond.
I thought about staying at the Edition in Singapore recently but location and price had me staying elsewhere. The one experience I had with an Edition hotel was Barcelona last year and I wish I stayed longer than one night to get a fuller experience. Just… elegance, luxury, and good vibes in just the right amount. Still one of my favorite hotel stays ever.
Better to spend the $1000 at luxury hotels in any major city in South-East Asia (except Spore) where both hard & soft product goes a long way.
The prices are eye watering, as someone who used to live in America for a long time but left just right before Covid hit. Really, prices should be shown post-tax which is a 30% markup. Will keep this in mind when I visit the States again after a 5 year hiatus.
You’ll be very disappointed with Singapore Edition if you book cash rate with it.
Room decoration is surely not up to the level of two Tokyo Editions, and it lacks the authentic service of Barcelona / Madrid / Rome Edition, the cash value is also worse than Spanish & Chinese Editions.
Only saving grace is the breathtaking pool and friendly attendants, and the fact it’s bookable with 50K Marriott certificates.