Big-screen depictions of Los Angeles typically show the gleaming Hollywood sign, looking down across a criss-cross of streets heading out to the Pacific Ocean.
In reality, that iconic shot of LA is a mere slice of the sprawling, 470-square miles that makes up one of the most iconic cities on Earth.
It’s a mega-metropolis, which would take hours to drive from end to end, taking in coast, mountains, a Manhattan-style downtown area, and rolling hills filled with some of the world’s most expensive mansions.
Looming over all of it is the tallest building west of Chicago - Wilshire Grand Center, standing 335.3m (1,100ft) tall.
Completed just two years ago, it’s almost 100ft taller than The Shard. Floors 31-73 are occupied by the InterContinental Downtown hotel - with the tallest open-air bar in the Western Hemisphere, called Spire 73, perched right on top.
At this height, every direction provides an amazing view. Whether it’s north towards the Hollywood sign, north-west to Beverly Hills, west out to the ocean, or south across the sprawling city to Long Beach.
Up here, even the notorious LA traffic - snarling and endless - appears oddly serene, with red, white and yellow lights twinkling far into the distance.
They’ve even given a nod to the bumper-to-bumper highway situation with a custom designed installation which hovers over the lobby, with baubles in the three colours strung out in swooping arcs.
Rooms are spacious, suites incredibly so. We’re talking room-for-an-impromptu-yoga-session-with-friends, level of space. Welcome snacks in the suites feature a pyramid of fresh macarons, while the shower supplies - from Le Labo - are branded with guest names.
Navigating the hotel can be, at times, tricky. The only entrance to an elevator that’ll take you to the outside world is on the 70th floor - but if your room is down below that, then you’ll need to take an elevator up to take another one down.
The gym itself is also way down the building, on the 7th floor. It’s open to paying customers who aren’t guests of the hotel, but the overall number of members stands at around 250, meaning it’s rarely too busy.
We visited three times during the stay and managed to get on all machines either instantly or within moments, barring a busy Friday rush-hour morning period when the single squat rack was taken up for about an hour.
Typically, as a traveller, I can take or leave a view. I’ve stayed in spectacular spots with incredible vistas, but always felt that after the initial ‘wow’ factor and the obligatory Instagram post, the premium for the view wasn’t worth it.
La Boucherie, the hotel’s main restaurant, is a steakhouse
But every time I opened the curtains on this trip I was blown away anew.
The continental breakfast was so-so, but served in an airy and relaxing room which faces east towards Griffith Park. It’s quiet, bathed in sun, and there was never any rush from the staff to hustle you out. I pondered a copy of the LA Times over coffee for a solid two hours one morning. You’re so high up that you munch your toast while looking down at helipads on office skyscrapers nearby.
La Boucherie, the hotel’s main restaurant, is a steakhouse. There’s a limit to how much ‘wow’ you can give with a steakhouse, even a bad steakhouse is meh, and the best peak at, well, very good. This one was very good.
None of this comes cheap, however. A starter of scallops will set you back $30 (£23.55), a bowl of onion soup - one of the cheapest of cheap dishes to make - costs $21 (£16.50).
Steak is their speciality, with 42-day dry-aged New York strip at $65 (£51), and the $80 (£62.80) filet mignon among the highlights.
Sides are comparatively reasonable - $12 (£9.40) for a hefty portion of creamy garlic spinach, or duck fat fries with smoked sea salt and thyme.
The service is slightly overwrought - with a waiter interrupting to ask us to choose from an array of 10 or so different salts, then a second interruption to choose our steak knives from a varied collection that looked like they’d been brought out from a Medieval armoury. But then again, my guest and I both took snaps and posted the pics to social media immediately, so perhaps they’re giving the image-conscious LA audience exactly what they want.
I travel a lot as part of work, and I’ve stayed at some of the best hotels in the world. And, even if I like a place, I always want to try the next spot. That means even the finest hotels are typically a one-and-done scenario in my mind.
But as a spot to really take in the sprawling majesty of Los Angeles, this spot can’t be beat, and would be somewhere I’d return.
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