by Sky L. on The typical setting you would expect from a nightclub//clubbing experience. Television shows have featured this place many times, I went here for the first time to see Jeremiah perform, loved the layout. The smoking patio was my favorite, since it gave me the entire view of LA.
by Graciela Walbrecht on We bought tickets to see Van Morrison about 3 months ago. That was eons ago... Since then, my wife has started a new job for which she's required to be at work promptly at 5 AM. She's a Chef Instructor at a culinary school and apparently these people think it's cool to start working when all the drunks and revelers finally go to sleep. Anyway, with the concert and all, we thought about not going altogether, but then I thought instead why not grab a hotel near her work so she doesn't have to drive 30 minutes in the morning from Woodland Hills. I did my magic with the google and the Roosevelt popped up on the radar. How cool would it be, I thought, to stay at the hotel where Marilyn Monroe and all these celebrities hung out at? YEAH, HOW COOL WOULD IT BE TO DO THAT 4 DAYS BEFORE THE FUCKING OSCARS?!?!?!!???!!?!?! Let's just say it took us a long long time to make it to the Hotel. I didn't realize that in Hollywood, it ain't about Oscar night... it's about Oscar week! I get the feeling that more than a few actors, agents, and producers are going to be getting liver transplants sometime next week. The party vibe is so thick in Hollywood right now, Britney very well may not survive to see February 26th. So after a lot of cussing, screaming and fingering (not the good kind!), we finally made our way to the valet parking where they took our cars. We walked in and were accosted by a group of Italian mafia paparazzi who backed off pretty fast when they realized that we weren't hollywood types whatsoever (You'd think the Honda Civic and VW Passat we checked in at valet would have been a dead giveaway...) The front desk clerk was actually very friendly and she set us up with room 503 which.... errr... really wasn't that impressive at all. People pay how much for these rooms? Is star power really that strong that they get pawn off these rooms at these rates and people gobble 'em up? Anyway, we didn't stay in room 503 long enough to notice or care because the carpets were all wet and my wife was still spinning from the horrendous drive getting *to* the hotel, so she requested that our room be changed immediately. Off we go, then, to room 1122. Room 1122 isn't particularly larger than 503, but it's got a better vibe, somehow... maybe we trapped all the negativity in 503 for the next occupants to deal with, but yeah... 1122 was cool. The rooms are nicely decorated, chic with design furniture and cool retro prints on chocolate painted walls. The bathroom is rather small, but utilitarian, with interesting red tiles that remind you subtly of the red light district in Amsterdam, except much classier. We really didn't get to absorb much of the vibe of the hotel, but the downstairs lobby is beautifully decorated and we did manage to grab a drink at the Tropicana Bar, a poolside bar that keeps a nostalgic eye turned towards the Hollywood of yore... 50s or 60s, I'd say. If service had been spotty in the past, they've certainly improved greatly. We were treated very nicely and the staff was very accomodating. Perhaps we spewed out less attitude than the paparazzi. We'll definitely come back, either to stay at the hotel or at the very least for a few drinks and/or dinner at the Dakota Restaurant. It's a very cool hotel with a great ambiance and sense of history. Amazingly, 4 days before the Oscars, the place didn't feel insanely pretentious... certainly nowhere near as pretentious as Cannes the week of the festival. Anyway, it's a cool hotel. Pricey, but pretty cool.
