La La Land

Downtown LA is going through a period of renaissance, with new attractions, restaurants, and bars opening all the time. The many museums, historic landmarks, and architectural gems on display make a day or two walking around the area a rewarding experience. 

Dream

Our preference when visiting LA is to choose a hotel based in either Santa Monica, Hollywood, or Beverley Hills. However, we have previously stayed at the JW Marriott Los Angeles LA Live. It is conveniently located within walking distance of LA Live, the Staples Center, and many restaurants and bars. The hotel is large, with 805 rooms, and accommodates many corporate events and business conferences.

Next door to the JW Marriott at LA Live is the Ritz Carlton. You will find the high-end customer service you expect from the Ritz Carlton chain. And they have a nice lounge on the 24th Floor.

Extremely convenient if visiting the City for a concert at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Conrad is right across the street from the world-famous venue, as well as the new Broad Museum.

Dine

Looking for a great meal while you’re exploring downtown LA, here are two of our favorites:

• Otium: This restaurant next to the Broad museum, has a long list of farm-to-table options to share; the location is perfect if you’re planning on going to the Broad or Walt Disney Concert Hall.

• Drago Centro: Italian food and a nice wine list served in an elegant setting.

Do

Downtown LA has a plethora of cultural and architectural sites to see. Here are a few of our favorites:

• The Broad Museum: Unique architecture with contemporary artworks by renowned artists including Johns, Kelly, Koons, Hirst, Lichtenstein, Warhol, and Yayoi Kusama’s extremely popular Infinity Mirrored Rooms. You can make advanced reservations for free general admission tickets, or queue in the onsite standby line, where wait times of around 45 minutes to an hour are not unusual.

• Walt Disney Concert Hall: The Frank Geary-designed concert hall at 111 South Grand Avenue, opened in October 2003 and is as visually stunning inside as it is on the outside. Any concert in the hall is an experience to be treasured, with its finely tuned acoustics and dominant 6,134-pipe organ, with external pipes resembling a stack of French fries.

• Architectural highlights: Take a walk downtown to see the many fantastic architectural and engineering highlights the City has to offer, including City Hall, Union Station, the Bradbury Building, Angel’s Flight, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, and the LA Police Department Headquarters. Many of these locations will be well-known to movie-goers and TV viewers alike, having featured in many memorable movies and TV adverts over the years.

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