It’s not very often that I walk into the lobby of a hotel and immediately feel out of place, but it totally happened at the Sofitel Hotel in Beverly Hills.

There I was, dressed in worn jeans and sneakers, while everybody else in the lobby was dressed to impress with high heels, expensive suits, and tons of expensive looking jewelry. Oops.

A full review of our 1 night stay at the Sofitel Hotel in Beverly Hills

I guess I should’ve expected that this would be a high-end property being Beverly Hills and all, but it did catch me off guard a bit. It definitely made me think that I should have brought nicer clothes with me on this journey.

The location

The Beverly Hills Sofitel is located squarely in the middle of all the glam and glitz that the city of LA has to offer. It’s not exactly on Rodeo Drive, but it’s close. The lobby feels very “Hollywood,”  complete with a red carpet and tons of lights indicating that there are some fairly high-end events that take place here.

Judging by all the expensive dresses being worn and Bentleys parked out front, it appeared as if one was happening that night. Welcome to Hollywood!

Location map of the Sofitel Beverly Hills hotel
Location map of the Sofitel Beverly Hills hotel.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills exterior
Exterior of the Sofitel Hotel in Beverly Hills.

The lobby

Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills check in desk
The lobby, with a glimpse of the check in desk through all the decor.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills lobby
I actually found the lobby to be a bit dark and overly designed, but not that bad looking.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills red carpet
Someday there will be a SleepAndReview TV series and I’ll be interviewed in a place like this…
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills lobby details
More glitz and glamour from the lobby.

Orange juice and champagne was offered to us during check-in, a process that took no more than three minutes before we were on our way to our room on the sixth floor. For a moment there I was starting to wonder if we were “expedited” out of the lobby due to our lack of visible Gucci and Prada accessories…

Getting to our room

Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills guest room hallway
I didn’t even notice the funky carpet until posting these pics just now. It seems obnoxiously loud in this pic, but I honestly didn’t even notice it at the time.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills Room 623
Room 623 was ours for the night.

The room

Opening the door to a hotel room for the first time is always an anxious experience for me – especially after setting my expectations much too high for the Miami international Airport Hotel a short while back. I was expecting big things from that room, but I walked into it highly disappointed.

Remembering that experience very clearly (and how much of a bummer it was), I tried to keep my expectations as low as possible as I opened the door.

Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills room
Getting our first glimpse of the room. Not bad.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills room overview
Here’s a wide angle view showing the entire room.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills king bed
The bed was like a giant marshmallow. Perfect.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills window shades
The louvered windows are actually quite a nice touch. A very “homey” feel!
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills room decor
I was expecting slightly higher-end materials for the price we paid for this room, but overall it wasn’t so bad.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills room overview
Here’s a wide angle view looking towards the front corner.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills furniture
The entire room felt a bit on the cheap side to me, but the furniture was slightly above average.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills style and design
Speaking of furniture, I was really digging this side table / dresser.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills room entryway
Looking towards the door.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills Bose alarm clock
Now THAT’S an alarm clock!
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills bedside table
Let’s zoom out a little bit here and check out that entire side table…
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills room amenities
The amenities in the closet.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills floor plan
Floor plan of the the Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills.

The bathroom

Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills bathroom
The bathroom. Pretty nice overall – but not even as close as nice to the bathroom in my room at the Sofitel in Lisbon.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills shower
No tub, but the massive shower more than made up for it.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills shower head
Details of the shower because I know that some of you are into that sort of thing…
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills bathroom vanity
If I’m posting pics of the shower fixtures, I might as well post a pic of the sink. Right?
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills bathroom features
Final pic of the bathroom details.

The view

Our room was on the backside of the hotel, with views to the north. We had a pretty good view of Hollywood, and it was even possible to see the Hollywood sign in the distance – which was a nice bonus.

Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills view from room
That view! Not so bad – the Hollywood sign is over to the right.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills enjoying the view
I always enjoy a nice view while brushing my teeth.
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills lipstick on glass
The lipstick kiss mark on the window was a bit distracting though. What the hell happened in this room before we got here? Maybe I don’t want to know…but at the same time maybe I do…
Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills artwork
The person who left that imprint was no doubt inspired by this piece of artwork hanging on the wall at the entrance.

The food situation (and room service)

Room service, as one would naturally expect from a hotel in Beverly Hills, was outrageously expensive. We returned that evening hungry and looking for something good to eat, but there was no way we were paying the price they were asking for room service.

We ended up settling on a nice Thai restaurant nearby, but the next morning I caved in and ordered a large bowl of oatmeal and orange juice for myself while I waited for my wife to prepare for the day.

Sofitel Hotel Beverly Hills room service oatmeal
I don’t even want to mention how much this bowl of room service oatmeal cost. It was good though!

Final thoughts

I guess I was satisfied with our stay at the Sofitel in Beverly Hills. Not totally impressed, but definitely satisfied considering that we paid over $300 for a room in the heart of one of the most prestigious areas in LA. In other words, I felt the ratio of price vs. location vs. quality seemed to be in pretty good balance. My wife (who doesn’t travel all that much) was more impressed than I.

Despite feeling a bit out of place when checking in, I did end up feeling much better about the property as we were checking out. It was comfortable, quiet, in an excellent location, and dare I say it: fun. Being in the heart of Beverly Hills is always a fun and interesting experience, and this hotel oozed the glitz and glamour of LA perfectly.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that if LA isn’t your thing, you probably won’t like this hotel. But if LA and Hollywood fascinates you, I’m willing to bet that you’re probably going to enjoy the experience of staying here quite a bit.

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