SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills

It's crazy, quirky cool at this luxe hotel fantasyland.

by Mar Yvette at Citysearch

Drive up to this hulking tower on the corner of La Cienega and you'll soon realize this is far from your average hotel. For one thing, there are separate lobby entrances and dining areas for those staying and those merely visiting. Call it obnoxious or call it genius, but the idea actually makes sense ... at least when you're working with such a highbrow crowd (that also happens to love impossibly expensive lowbrow art--framed monkey paintings and gold gun-shaped lamps, anyone?). Depending on where you look inside this 297-room palace, SLS can mean anything from "Service Luxury Style" to "Savor Life's Sweetness" or even "Satan Loves Sinners." Whatever it is, one thing's for sure: This place treats life like a bacchanalian party, no matter the cost. (And around here, that ain't cheap.) Each floor has its own gorgeous slate-gray billiards table and each room features a floor-to-ceiling mirror-like panel that, with the push of a button, reveals a flatscreen TV. Oh, and don't forget the full-size toiletries (all specially made for SLS) and Christian Lacroix-designed water bottles, thank you very much. There are five onsite restaurants, a museum-like Moss gift shop, a sprawling spa and 24-hour fitness room, and a 6th floor rooftop retreat framed in various-sized floor mirrors, century-spanning furnishings and two pools--one for wading and sunning, the other for swimming. It's all ridiculously and irresistibly over the top.

04/02/09

they missed the mark

by EagleRockGrl at Citysearch

I am sorry to report this, but the designers of this hotel thought it right to take a perfectly BEAUTIFUL hotel and destroy it. It was elegant and calm, and now its just terrible. My mother came to see me two years ago, and I put her in here and it was sweet. One year later as SLS she came back and I was so saddened. Its just horrible. Way too uburgroovy without the groove, or any soul. No more.

• Pros: hummmmm
• Cons: just about everything

04/01/09

Waste of time and money

by TigerDock at Citysearch

SLS was put together by a schizo. The design is terrible, it feels so cluttered and gauche, the cocktail menu is short and boring and the "designer" drinks are a repeat of the regular cocktails. We had a private table and our waitress was an ignorant lier who could have cared less if we were there. Two people in our party (including myself) had wheat allergies. We asked our waitress if she could find out which deserts we could eat, it was a birthday party after all. She returned a quick moment later and said there was nothing we could have so no one ordered desert. We went to the actual desert counter towards the end of our night where the pastry chef told us she never asked about wheat in the deserts and as it turns out there are a number of wheat free desert items we could have indulged in. I won't return if I can help it.

• Pros: kind desert makers
• Cons: insufferable food/drink/service/atmosphere

03/03/09

A huge mistake going here!

by CSMobileUser2 at Citysearch

Unedible food, tiny wine by the glass pours, poor management, and the worst valet service in the city.

Will be closed in six months unless everyone is fired & replaced ASAP!

02/16/09

Claustrophobic and over-hyped.

by myjns at Citysearch

I like modern and trendy which is why I chose to stay at SLS in Beverly Hill. This hotel is a severe disappointment. It reminded me of being thrown in the back closet of a contemporary art museum where all of the worst pieces are being stored. It is completely dark and cramped - lobby and rooms. Our room was small, with low ceilings. Worse yet, the decor was entirely black and gray with indistinct gray tiling and poor lighting. Low ceilings and a miniscule window with tinted glass contributed to the effect of being stuck in a prison cell (just why I came to sunny LA-- to be locked in a darkened closet-like hotel room). I felt sorry for all of the cool modernist furniture which would have looked great anywhere else. Did I mention the long, boring maze-like halls that go on for ever (even the bell hop complained about them)? The nightclub aspect of this hotel may work but the overnight stay experience was beyond terrible and disappointing.

• Pros: Good location, nice furniture
• Cons: Small rooms, cramped, low ceilings

12/18/08

totally outrageous (in a good way) if you can afford it

by marpop at Citysearch

Went here and although I wouldn't necessarily swing the $450 a night, this place really is out of control--like in a crazy, outlandish like-nothing-else sort of way. Of course, it's got the Philippe Starck imprint everywhere--clear glass deer heads, his Flos gold rifle and bigass horse lamps, a million different kinds of priceless chairs, funny anochronistic paintings--so it maintains that tacky-tasteful balance. (Often leaning a bit on the tacky side.) Anyway, the rooms are gorgeous with faux fur throws and Mies van de Rohe-like seats and mirror/TV screens and even the stationary is custom-made with that cute little monkey emblem. BOth the private and public dining areas are very cool and there's so much to see it would take all day just to soak it all in (love those weird voodoo-like doll heads at Moss and the black pig table at the pool). Food is pretty subpar, but the scenery is really worth checking out.

• Pros: magically outrageous
• Cons: it's gonna cost you!

Crazy, quirky, cool: This luxe fantasyland is bringing relaxation to L.A. by way of designer Philippe Starck and the ubiquitous SBE Group.

by Contributor at Citysearch

In Short
Drive up to this hulking tower on the corner of La Cienega and you'll soon realize this is far from your average hotel. For one thing, there are separate lobby entrances (and dining areas) for those staying and those merely visiting. Call it obnoxious or call it genius, but the idea actually makes sense ... at least when you're dealing with such a highbrow crowd (who also happens to love impossibly expensive lowbrow art--framed monkey paintings and gold gun-shaped lamps, anyone?). Depending on where you look inside this 297-room palace, SLS can mean anything from "Service Luxury Style" to "Savor Life's Sweetness" or even "Satan Loves Sinners." Whatever it is, one thing's for sure: This place treats life like a bacchanalian party, no matter the cost. (And around here, that ain't cheap.) Each floor has its own gorgeous slate-gray billiards table and each room features a floor-to-ceiling mirror-like panel that, with the push of a button, reveals a flatscreen TV. Oh, and don't forget the full-size toiletries (all specially made for SLS) and Christian Lacroix-designed water bottles, thank you very much. There are five onsite restaurants, a museum-like Moss gift shop, a sprawling spa and 24-hour fitness room, and a 6th floor rooftop retreat framed in various-sized floor mirrors, century-spanning furnishings and two pools--one for wading and sunning, the other for swimming. It's all ridiculously and irresistibly over the top.