LA Confidential: Your guide to the city's best hotels

Los Angeles is a massive, sprawling city, with some of the world’s worst traffic, so it’s recommended to choose your hotel location wisely. Think of the city in blocks: Downtown (Ace Hotel, the Downtown Standard, the Athletic Club), the West Side, which includes Hollywood, West Hollywood and Beverly Hills (Palihouse, the Redbury, Mr. C, the London), and the beach, i.e, Santa Monica (Viceroy, Shutters).

Santa Monica is the closest of these areas to Los Angeles International Airport, so it makes for a good base, but after a few days of the beach, you’ll probably want to be elsewhere in LA. If shopping is the main thing on your agenda, aim for something north of the 110 (i.e, the West Side), but if culture and a more hip and authentic experience is what you seek, then locate yourself Downtown (this is where we stay when we visit LA). Make sure to get over to the nearby Arts District, a super cool enclave of creativity and great coffee shops on the eastern side of Downtown LA.

The List's Honorable Mentions

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