The final stop on our epic California road trip, and to celebrate coming full circle and being back in the City of Angels, we decided to throw the budget to the wind and live it up like A-listers! Welcome to our Kimpton Everly Hotel Hollywood review.

Our starting point 14 days before was an unfussy (but perfectly fine) motel, facing a massive Home Depot. The Kimpton Everly Hotel is a whole world away from that! What did make us giggle is that we were actually less than half a mile away from that motel as we drove up the ramp to the understated but oh-so-stylish Reception.

Hotel location – Kimpton Everly Hotel Hollywood review

The Kimpton Everly Hotel itself sits just on the block above Hollywood Boulevard and opposite the famed (and much destroyed in every Hollywood movie!) Capitol Records building. It’s a great location for Hollywood itself, Griffith Park, the Hollywood Bowl and the attractions of the Valley like Universal Studios and Warner Bros Studio Tour. It is not, however, much use for basically anywhere else in the Greater LA area, as we discovered. It’s 20 miles from The Kimpton Everly to Santa Monica Pier, so we thought, maybe 30 or 40 mins? It took us nearly 2 hours to drive. Lesson learned and for sure not the hotel’s fault. It’s just worth bearing in mind to think really carefully about what you want to get out of a stay in Los Angeles, and to always, always, believe the hype about LA traffic. It is no joke, so perhaps look at Uber.

The look of the Kimpton Everly

First impressions, the WOW factor is strong at the Kimpton Everly! The ‘front door’ is actually the whole glazed wall, swung open by the irrepressibly cheerful valet and reception staff, it’s definitely a Kimpton! It’s a really cool space, soaring ceilings, a nice buzzy mix of tourists and relaxed business meetings, and the SoCal essential feature wall, resplendent with insta-perfect angel wings. The large, open-plan bar and lounge area is minimally decorated, but the vast windows and Hollywood view create an ever-changing tapestry of colour and shimmering reflection from the surrounding buildings.

For me, coming back from a Dodgers game to find live music right there in the Lobby was one of my highlights, there are regular performances year-round, such a cool addition to an already lovely venue.

What else is at the Kimpton Everly?

The Kimpton Everly Hotel has a huge ace up its sleeve for this part of Hollywood (not that we had time to use it, Annie managed a 6 am swim and we pulled in for 5 minutes to watch the sunset), and that’s the 5th-floor pool and deck. The south-facing, cabana packed moment of peace in Hollywood is a place I wish we could have sent more time, but alas, the schedule didn’t allow it this time. It is worth saying that, in sharp contrast to our experience in San Diego, the roof pool was strictly for hotel guests and didn’t have a poolside bar, making it pretty quiet for our whole stay. In fact, given the location, the whole stay was peaceful and quiet. Sure, the hotel is right next to a major freeway, but we honestly didn’t notice at all, even with a bedroom that faced it. 

The Suite review

And the bedroom. It is massively underselling it to just call it a hotel room. As I mentioned, the budget was out the window, we wanted to really enjoy our last 2 days in the Golden State and the City of Angels.

We had booked an Everly Suite, giving us an ENORMOUS space, a lounge, oversized bathroom with freestanding bath and separate shower, sumptuous bedroom, and most importantly for going out in style, an unforgettable panoramic view of the Hills, Griffith Park and the Hollywood Sign. 

As soon as we walked into the room we’d chosen, all thoughts of money disappeared. We had made the right choice. For us, life is about memories and experiences, not coin in the bank. At that moment we both felt genuinely really privileged to be able to take this kind of trip.

This is not your cookiecutter hotel, the kind with bored staff, worn carpets and where you can predict exactly what’s on the room service menu (Club Sandwich, Caeser Salad, Burger, a crappy pizza etc..). It’s a genuine experience. We made the decision to invest in this final stay, and it paid off in spades.

There really is something that feels almost otherworldly, to pull open the curtains to a view that has attracted actors and musicians, artists and dreamers, celebrities and starry-eyed tourists to this sundrenched megacity.

It sounds cliched to be overawed by a view, but the siren song of Southern California is at times overpowering, and quite moving in a strange way (slightly overdramatic, but if you can’t be overdramatic in Hollywood, where can you?!). The Kimpton Everly Hotel is a more than worthwhile entry into this Hollywood story, where you can take memories, and some seriously incredible photographs, home with you.