Sunset Tower Hotel Other News
West Hollywood: Sunset Tower Hotel
Oct 16, 2007 17:04:50
By JANELLE BROWN Published: March 5, 2006
THE BASICS When the hotelier Jeff Klein purchased the historic Argyle two years ago, he announced that he planned to restore elegance to the tacky Sunset Strip. Renamed after months of renovations that took place while many guests had to maneuver a hotel lobby that looked, at times, like a construction site, the chic new 74-room Sunset Tower hotel does hark back to the golden era when this Art Deco landmark was an apartment building housing the likes of Bugsy Siegel (evicted for gambling), Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. But the old-school décor and pretensions come with lackluster service.
THE SCENE The striped silk-and-walnut Tower Bar restaurant is already a retro clubhouse for the mature Hollywood set (think Brian Grazer and Barbara Walters), complete with $13 martinis and the octogenarian former Sinatra pianist Page Cavanaugh tickling the ivories. On a Friday night in mid-December, Anjelica Huston and Courtney Love swanned by to dine with a 30-something crowd far more sophisticated than the teenyboppers roaming Sunset Boulevard outside. Eating dinner as a noncelebrity is another matter. Though we arrived promptly for our 8:30 p.m. reservation, we weren't seated until 10:10, our cocktails were never replenished, and, once we seated, our entire meal lasted less than half an hour, as the busboy swept our table clean before we had a chance to order dessert. No martini can dull that frustration — though our appetizers, served in the bar as we waited for our table, were provided free by the somewhat apologetic maître d'hôtel.
THE LOCATION Smack dab in the middle of the Sunset Strip, across from the Saddle Ranch Chop House and a Hyatt, and countless clubs and restaurants. Request a room on the upper floors to avoid the street noise; all rooms, though, have panoramic views of Los Angeles.
THE ROOMS The standard rooms aren't huge by Los Angeles standards, but aren't tiny either. What they lack is any logic. Even though the décor is understated and refined — polished dark wood set off by brass, peach and silver linens, silk-covered lamps, and framed stills from classic movies on the walls — why is the desk placed directly in front of the flat-screen television — and why is there no desk chair? And the turn-down service missed our room, leaving us with an overstuffed bolster on the king-size bed, but no pillows. Tired, we didn't call down about it.
BATHROOMS The glass-fronted shower would be a winner — with its rainshower head and bench — if the water had warmed beyond tepid. Oh, and a bathtub? Not in our room, though others have them. All that golden stone looks pretty though; and the Bigelow lavender-peppermint products were worth taking home. (The hotel is changing to Kiehl's toiletries.)
AMENITIES The minibar is stocked with top-shelf liquor and one lonely Snickers bar. There's free Wi-Fi and an iPod docking station. Downstairs, the Argyle Spa is a limestone oasis for $190 massages and $240 Romanian mud masks. The pool, closed for renovation during our stay, is now open, along with a hotel gym.
ROOM SERVICE Breakfast arrived in a pokey 35 minutes, but was hot and delicious. It had better be, when you're paying $16 for a bowl of oatmeal and $4.50 for a cup of coffee, with a built-in 15 percent tip. We also paid a $2.50 room-service charge, which the hotel says will soon be dropped. The room-service menu replicates that of the Tower Bar ($32 for seared monkfish, $17 for a turkey sandwich). When we called down for an extra plate and fork, we had to call twice and wait 20 minutes.
BOTTOM LINE The Sunset Tower looks like a classy joint; and at $269 for a standard room, it's decently priced (as long as you don't eat). But would Sinatra put up with the half-baked details?
Sunset Tower, 8358 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood, Calif. 90069; 800-225-2637 Source: The New York Times
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