Halfhearted Hotel Review: Andaz West Hollywood. Great, if you’re a rock star.
I recently enjoyed a great getaway weekend in Los Angeles with one of my best friends.
Since we were flying solo (no families, just us!) I had been looking forward to staying at The Andaz West Hollywood, partly because of its illustrious Rock N’ Roll history. (Did you know that I walked down the aisle at my wedding to Led Zeppelin? Well, I did.)
From what I read and heard, this seemed like a fun (and even slightly glamorous) place to stay. However, while the weekend itself was fabulous, our hotel choice was a letdown…at least for the first two nights. Here’s why…
My DYKWIA moment.
I have to admit that I had a “Do you know who I am?” moment when I checked in. Not out loud, but on the inside. It was a personal moment. It occurred because the service I got at check-in was terrible. Especially because I was expecting fabulous service, because of my love of Hyatt, the Andaz brand itself, and the fact that I was checking in as a Hyatt Diamond member.
But instead…ugh.
From prior experience, I knew that when you check in at an Andaz property, they typically offer you a refreshing beverage of some sort. I was really looking forward to this (I was starting a fun vacation!), but it never happened. Add that to the fact that I had to wait for a good ten minutes for the host to finish what seemed like a random conversation with another guest…and I was feeling annoyed. So my stay did not start on the most positive note.
Things continued in a weird way from there. The check-in process was slow and overly complicated. I had booked two nights in a regular room (Thursday and Friday) through TravelPony during a sale, then I booked the last night through Hyatt and used one of my upgrade certificates for a suite (it was expiring, so it was a “use it or lose it” situation). My host was either unwilling or unable to acknowledge that this was all one stay, and informed me that I needed to return on Saturday morning to check in again. He also mentioned that there would probably be a few hours between rooms when I would need to store my luggage with the bellman.
More UGH.
My Bad Sandwich and Missing Wine Moment
I am not one of those people who would ever throw a supreme hissy fit (or even a minor hissy fit) at the front desk, so instead I decided to take matters into my own hands and order my own dang glass of wine at the bar/restaurant to try to get the weekend back on track. I also ordered their “signature” grilled cheese sandwich, because it was lunchtime. Although I was literally the only person in the restaurant, the wine took soooo long to arrive that I had already eaten most of the sandwich by the time it got there. Plus, the sandwich was not very good. ESPECIALLY for a “signature” sandwich. The cheese wasn’t melted and the onions weren’t caramelized. Sigh. Whatever.
And…our room wasn’t ready until 4 pm. I was planning on taking photos, but I was so uninspired by it all that I just didn’t.
Just imagine a generic hotel room and you’ll get the gist.
My “Call Security” Moment
All of the standard rooms in the hotel are connecting rooms, and you can hear EVERYTHING that is going on in the adjacent room. This became a problem for us at around 1 am, so we called down to the front desk and asked what are options were. They told us that they could send security up to quiet our neighbors down, or we could move for the night into a different, but similar, room.
I’m sure you can guess what we chose.
The Moment When Things Changed
All of these minor annoyances magically disappeared on the third night, when we checked into the suite. First of all, we were showered with drinks and snacks.
The suite was large and filled with light. We especially enjoyed the sunny lounge area, which was created from what used to be a balcony back in the Led Zep days, when this hotel was known as “The Riot Hyatt.” In fact, we found ourselves lingering over wine and cheese while lounging on the armchairs that overlooked the city. We didn’t want to leave for our next plan!
The rest of the suite was also nicely laid-out and fun to be in.
I can highly recommend the suite.
I can also recommend the rooftop pool.
But I absolutely cannot recommend the standard rooms.
Have you stayed at the Andaz West Hollywood? What did you think?
Thanks for the honest review. Sorry to hear it was so bad =( I am obsessed with the Andaz brand and it’s good to know I can sit this one out.
Ang – I am similarly obsessed! This hotel was very disappointing!
I would have called diamond line and had them deal with front desk –
– was the travel pony discount really worth not enjoying the great suite for three nights? Unless it saved you $100+ a night or more, bad bad decision
Michael – I wish that I had read my own review before I went. The only reviews I could find ranged from good to glowing. Hopefully this review will save others from making bad, bad decisions. 😉
This property is my only Andaz experience. I wasn’t a diamond when I stayed, so I got a standard room. I was very underwhelmed by my Andaz experience, and so never tried another one. I visited a few Park Hyatts in Asia as a diamond, and that’s where I fell in love.
JP – Yes to the Park Hyatt! I’ve been to the Park Hyatt in Tokyo, Paris, and Chicago…all were excellent. Suggestion if you ever have the chance: try the Andaz Fifth Avenue in NYC. Love it.
I live in NYC so staying there would be too fanciful. But I am sooo curious about the new Park Hyatt…
JP – ME TOO!! 🙂
Actually, back in the day the hotel was referred to as the “Riot Hyatt”, not the “Riot House”. More catchy, I’m sure you will agree.
Robert D – Ha! Yes!! Good catch. I accidentally combined “Hyatt House” and “Riot Hyatt.”
I wrote this post after a long day with a sick kid – feeling a little delirious myself. Correcting the post now. Thank you!!
I had a similar experience several years ago where I had to change rooms midway through the stay – they didn’t have a suite the whole time. Both stays were booked through Hyatt though. The suite was absolutely worth every cent. The standard room — eh. My check in was equally unimpressive. I was very happy with the diamond breakfast and the service when the restaurant was busy, never ate other meals in the restaurant though.
I stayed the weekend there a couple weeks ago and was given a glass of wine at check-in (though it was 7pm, not midday) and an upgrade to a standard room with a view of Sunset strip. The room was nice, but as you said the walls are toooooooo thin.. all of our neighbors were partying all night, and then the maids and the minibar refill man going up and down the hallway started around 8am. I liked the service, the location, and the room.. but the thin walls made us want to pick a new hotel next time.
Jenny – Glad you got 3 out of 4 “hits” (service, location, and room). 🙂
Agree that the thin walls are a deal-killer, though.
I was looking at this hotel for a trip I did with the nieces last year, sounds like it was a good thing we didn’t stay here. Noise from hallways & other rooms is my hotel pet peeve (I always ask for a quiet area away from elevators, ice machines, etc) – would have driven me batty! Bummer on the grilled cheese.
We love this hotel! You crack me up. Sigh. 😉