Detailed Review of The WESTIN BONAVENTURE HOTEL & SUITES! Downtown Los Angeles.

Hotel info:

Hotel Name         :     The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites
Hotel Brand       :      Marriott
Location               :      Downtown Los Angeles, California
Hotel Category           :       6
Award Redemption  :      50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night
Number of Floors      :      35
Number of Rooms     :      1,358
Number of Suites       :      135

Set in the heart of downtown LA, this 367-foot-tall (112m), 35-storey hotel has attracted the likes of U.S. Presidents, dignitaries and stars of television and film industry. This largest, and one of the most photographed hotels in LA is a very-popular film location for Hollywood blockbusters. Movies like Interstellar, In the Line of Fire, Lethal Weapon 2, Showtime, Battle of the Sexes, True Lies, It’s a Living, Rain Man, Nick of Time, L.A. Law, Midnight Madness, Forget Paris, just to name a few have been shot at this hotel.

Below is my full review of the hotel:

How I booked the hotel:
My first booking with this hotel was made three weeks before arrival, and for $210 per night. Here at the points engineer, we’ve learnt to always keep an eye on our upcoming bookings as prices could drop at any time. Two weeks later, that’s a week before arrival, the price actually dropped from $210 to $170 per night. I quickly canceled the first booking and booked a new one. With this, I was able to save about $45 eventually.

I booked a 1 King, City view Guest room. And 48 hours before arrival, check in was available through the app. During check in, I noticed the room type has changed from the 1 King, City view Guest room to Tower Suite. That’s a 1 Bedroom Suite with 1 King Bed, 1 Sofa Bed, 1.5 Bathrooms, with the best view of entire downtown LA. Thanks to my Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite status. This room is valued at $438 per night.

One of the best benefits I have enjoyed as an elite member is being able to check in as early as 8am on the day of arrival. I arrived at the hotel around 10am, and since I intended to video and photograph the entire hotel and its surroundings, I started with my filming before checking in.
Check in was smooth as expected. I used the Marriott Bonvoy Check in Counter. There was no one waiting in line. As noted on the app, I was assigned a 1 Bedroom Tower Suite located in the Green Tower.

The dimly-lit lobby

After getting the keys to the room, I was eager and ready to explore the hotel on the inside. 
Again, this is the largest hotel in LA. No wonder Arnold Schwarzenegger was able to ride on his horse into the elevator going up in “True Lies” the movie. 

Using one of the 3 glass elevators for the green tower, the breathtaking views of downtown LA glazed at you as you enjoy the 10 seconds elevator ride to your room. 

I found the hotel to be pretty straightforward and easy to navigate. The hotel has done a great job color-coding the four different elevators [named in different colors / shapes. Yellow (Diamond), Green (Square), Blue (Triangle], and Red (Circle)]. With Red being the only elevator that goes up to the 35^th floor. Although it is still pretty easy to get lost inside this hotel due to its size, but as long as you use the right elevator, finding your room shouldn’t be that hard. 

THE ROOM:
I’ve had the opportunity of staying at different suites in the past, and I must say only a very few one-bedroom suites has one-and-a-half bathrooms. This 568sqft in size has a separate living / sitting area as expected. There is a sliding door which separates the bedroom from the sitting room for privacy. My favorite part of the room was its windows. With the floor-to-ceiling windows, you could decide to lazy around in your suite and still get to enjoy the best view of downtown LA right inside of your room. 

Living / Sitting Room has a Sofa-Bed and another lounge chair




You can catch up with emails while enjoying the panoramic views


Wet Bar


1 of the 2 Westin Robes in the bedroom


The living room is separated from the bedroom by a sliding door


Westin Signature 10-layers Heavenly Bed




Marble bathrooms featuring Westin Heavenly Towel, Rain Shower Head, and White Tea Aloe toiletries


Views from the floor-to-ceiling windows


Eye-catching views from the suites




Can’t really get enough of these views




From the hotel room, you also get to see the Hollywood Sign not too far away

All rooms at this hotel features the Westin Heavenly Bed. With the ten layers of pure comfort, you are guaranteed a one exceptional sleep experience. And this was my actual experience during my stay at this hotel.
In my own opinion, The Westin Bonaventure Hotel gives you value for the money. I love the fact that the hotel added several bonus touches to the room, and most especially the bathrooms. The bathroom has a shower/bathtub combination. As much as I prefer walk-in showers, the Westin Heavenly Shower System (rain-shower head) in the bathroom gave me a great shower experience as always.

The bathroom also features White Tea Aloe toiletries from Westin Heavenly Spa. I also love the fact that the hotel added other amenity kits like sewing threads and needles with extra buttons, mani/pedi kits, cotton swabs and cotton wool, etc. These additional touches can be useful to some people. There are also 2 Westin robes in the room, iron and ironing board, tea and coffee maker (Starbucks products), 2 complimentary water bottles (which I think is replenished everyday). 

Bathroom Amenity Kits: White Tea Aloe by Westin Heavenly / Spa

The contemporary atrium at the Westin Bonaventure did not disappoint. As a matter of fact, pictures did not do it justice. You need to be there to see it. Looking at the atrium, one can easily say I see why many movie producers and directors can’t resist the Bonaventure.

The contemporary atrium at the Westin Bonaventure

After walking in and around the entire hotel within my first four hours, I was tired but still going. While exploring the 4^th and the 5^th floor, I came across these pods of red leather seats. They look gorgeous from afar off, and I couldn’t say no to getting comfortable on one of them. 

Located on the 4th floor: Pods of red leather seat in a booth

For quite a long-time, the hotel has been a go-to for airlines staff (pilots and flight attendants), and also a go-to place for architectural tourists. 

Take the Red Tower Elevator to the 35^thfloor and you’ve landed in LA Prime. Serving prime beef steaks, seafood, prime wines, etc. The LA prime offers the panoramic city views. Although i found the server at LA Prime to be sluggish and not really friendly.

LA Prime, located on the 35th floor. You can relax here for the best steak or seafood while admiring the panoramic views of downtown LA

One floor below the 35^th floor located the famous BonaVista Revolving Cocktail Lounge. The Bonavista is no doubt one of LA’s most unique first date spots.
The best time to visit this snail-crawling revolving lounge is at sunset. Having visited at sunset, I was able to see the streetlights coming on while gazing at the sunset over the best views in LA.
Although I found the BonaVista Lounge not having much on its menu, but there’s simply something for everyone. I was able to try out their signature  Shrimp Po’boy (crispy spiced shrimp, housemade remoulade, shaved lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, served with crispy French fries) which wasn’t too bad for $21.

Shrimp Po’boy (crispy spiced shrimp, housemade remoulade, shaved lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, served with crispy French fries)


A picture of the Beautiful Sunset while enjoying dinner! So irresistible

Tucked in one of the two robes in the room, it was time to hit the heavenly bed once again. With all curtains spread apart, waking up from la la land to those beautiful views feels heavenly. Living room or bedroom, the views from the suites are breathtaking and eye-catching.

Rated as one-of-the-best hotel’s fitness center in LA, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel gym did not disappoint. The Westin WORKOUT Fitness Studio at Bonaventure is a full-gym, and also has a couple of Peloton Bikes. You can also find disposable headphones, lockers, cool towels, complimentary water, etc. Don’t be surprised if you see kids working out with their parents here, as there’s equipment available for everyone.

Peloton Bikes


Full Gym


The Westin WORKOUT Fitness Studio at Bonaventure

Breakfast is served from 6am to 11am at the Lakeview Bistro. Since the hotel does not have a concierge lounge, Marriott Bonvoy Elite guests (Platinum and higher) are offered breakfast voucher if and only if you choose breakfast as your Welcome Gift instead of the 1000 points.
And I think this is a negative on the Westin Bonaventure. Usually, the thousand points is in addition to breakfast, but that wasn’t the case at this hotel. Other Westin Hotels do offer Welcome Gift in addition to breakfast for Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador.

Since I wanted to try the breakfast at this hotel, I ditched the thousand points for breakfast. The breakfast at this hotel cost $35 per person. But with my Titanium status, my breakfast is always their treats. 

During breakfast, I requested for chicken / turkey sausage which wasn’t available at the buffet. They were delighted to make it for me and bring it to my table. 

I found the server at the Lakeview Bistro to be very attentive, and always willing to help. Especially Armen, a young old-man full of energy.

(French toast, hash browns, chicken sausage, broccoli, egg, fresh fruits and yoghurt)

There are also a couple of shops and restaurants on the 4^th and 5^th floor where you can grab breakfast or lunch at a fraction of what the hotel is charging. Being a Labor Day Weekend, most of these shops were closed. Hence, I wasn’t able to try any of them.

The pool and the plaza deck is located on the fourth (4^th) floor. In my opinion, the pool is way too small for a hotel of that size. I found this outdoor heated pool to be packed, even though there were not too many people there. 
The plaza deck is another place to relax after a long day of activities around downtown LA. Surrounded by different skyscrapers, the plaza sure makes for a good relaxation spot.

The Westin Bonaventure is a popular LA wedding location. With the panoramic views in the backdrop, this charming and elegance outdoor garden-space creates an ideal setting for a contemporary wedding. 

Outdoor heated pool


Wedding with a view


Bonaventure Brewing Co

Parking:
Parking in downtown at every major city usually comes with a very high price tag. The Bonaventure is no exception. This hotel charges a whopping $49 per night for parking. While exploring around the hotel, I found there are several parking options available. In my opinion, you actually don’t have to pay up to half of that ridiculous $49 for parking. There are few metered (street) parking around the hotel. There’s also a World Trade Center parking garage next door which charges between $26 to $28 for maximum daily parking.

I had reserved a parking space for $11 per night on SpotHero, about 3-blocks away. But luckily for me, I was able to get a free (street) parking. And since I was staying during the Labor Day Weekend, there were no restrictions enforced. I was able to park my car on the street for almost 72 hours for free. I ended up canceling my reservation with SpotHero. By the way, SpotHero is quite generous and flexible with their cancelation policy. You can cancel your reservation with them up until the last minute. They were able to cancel my reservation with full refund, even though the reservation had started, but since I haven’t parked my car at the garage yet. Excellent customer service there.

WiFi:
The WiFi speed is relatively fast for a hotel. The download speed is 42.17Mbps, while upload speed is 35.23Mbps. That’s an unbelievable speed, and I was very impressed. Connecting to the WiFi did not require me to login to my Marriott account nor confirm my last name and room number. So, this has nothing to do with my elite status.

I found it amazing that the WiFi did not require you to confirm your last name and room number as you would at other Marriott hotels. Not sure if the WiFi is free for everyone, or it was just so in the suites. 

WiFi at the speed of light

Final Thoughts:
Despite the fact that the Bonaventure Hotel has been destroyed in many disaster movies, I must say that the hotel still stands out above other skyscrapers / hotels in downtown LA. 

The servers at Lakeview Bistro are very attentive, and eager to help. Especially Armen, this young-old-man is extraordinarily friendly and full of energy.
Although I found the room rate to be reasonably priced for the location of the hotel, but the thoughts of serving breakfast for $35 per person is ridiculous to me. 

Being upgraded 48 hours in advance without having to request for it is a plus for the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. The suites have plenty of space and can accommodate a family of four. The one and a half bathrooms is another plus for this hotel. 

On the negative side, there are no bedside power outlets. And although the towels in the bathroom were very clean, I found them to be getting old. But The Points Engineer loved the fact that the hotel added some extra touches and provided extra amenity kits in the bathroom. The threads, needle, and buttons can be very useful to those that would need them.

Overall, my stay here was spontaneous. 12pm check in on the day of arrival and 4pm check out on the day of departure made me feel appreciated. I will definitely be back.

In conclusion:
I couldn’t have left the hotel without appreciating housekeeping. As we know, most of them barely make a living out of that job. So, tipping them is always a good thing to do whenever we can. I had to leave an handwritten note to show my appreciation.

Always remember to tip your housekeeper.

Have you stayed at the Westin Bonaventure recently? Share your comments or thoughts below.