The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites

“Downtown la hotel”

We chose this hotel due to the location. It is centrally located and within walking distance of several places that we wanted to go for our weekend away. The hotel is huge, but it doesn’t feel that way because of the towers. The lobby is nice but dated. There is a coffee shop and bar in the center … more

We chose this hotel due to the location. It is centrally located and within walking distance of several places that we wanted to go for our weekend away. The hotel is huge, but it doesn’t feel that way because of the towers. The lobby is nice but dated. There is a coffee shop and bar in the center of the lobby. (They may serve more items, we didn’t go for food so I wasn’t paying attention to what they offered.) They have different elevators for each tower, which made it feel like you were staying in a smaller hotel. The rooms were nice and clean. We felt safe in our location. The shower was divine. They had the rain shower head and also a wand. It had fabulous water pressure. They had a coffee machine with coffee and tea in the room. We had a lovely view of downtown la. Our housekeeper was extremely friendly. She even helped me when she saw me walking the wrong way off of the elevator. Our only complaint was that we didn’t have a heavier blanket on our bed. We only had a light sham. We were thinking that maybe they forgot to replace the duvet, since the next day we stayed at a different Westin that had the same layout but did have the heavier duvet blanket. Overall, we would stay there again. It was a higher end hotel, safe, clean and a great location. It checked all of the boxes.

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“Aging, with some bright spots”

Staying at the Westin Bonaventure made me sad because it’s an LA icon that time forgot. The hotel is a must-stay for anyone interested in architecture. It’s a paradigm of 1970s hotels: massive, extravagantly overbuilt, lake-size fountains in the lobby, sweeping, poured concrete everything. The exte… more

Staying at the Westin Bonaventure made me sad because it’s an LA icon that time forgot. The hotel is a must-stay for anyone interested in architecture. It’s a paradigm of 1970s hotels: massive, extravagantly overbuilt, lake-size fountains in the lobby, sweeping, poured concrete everything. The exterior elevators will never cease to be cool. But as you start to explore the upper levels of the lobby you see clear signs of decline: the massive space is deserted, most of the retail shops are shut down, the concrete is showing cracks. Anyone who’s been to the aging casinos and Skylon Tower at Niagara Falls will have instant flashbacks. The pool area is also pretty pathetic (and was freezing!) because it’s so far removed from the rest of the hotel. No food or drink service to be found. The rooms are spacious and offer panoramic views but the decor is straight from 2000. My room smelled faintly of smoke. However, there are some definite bright spots: the food and drinks at the lobby bar are excellent. The Bonavista Lounge (the revolving restaurant and bar) also has great food and drinks and offers a chill spot to take in the LA skyline, day or night. In sum, I feel for management at the Bonaventure because the hotel is a relic from a bygone era in retail and hospitality and is WAY too big to keep at capacity or properly maintain without losing money. But I still enjoyed the experience and sincerely hope this hotel has better days ahead.

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