The Hollywood Roosevelt

Rooms and decor

Picture a 12-storey cream Spanish Colonial tower standing tall on Hollywood Boulevard — this is The Hollywood Roosevelt, open since 15 May 1927 and bankrolled by movie legends including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Louis B. Mayer and Sid Grauman. Step into the lobby and the golden-age Hollywood feeling hits right away: soaring ceilings with Spanish detailing, fat stone columns, a central fountain, and a sense you've walked into a classic film set. Rooms come in several flavors. The Tower building was reworked by the well-known designers Yabu Pushelberg, with a more modern look, canopy beds, carpeted floors, leather sofas and bright color accents. The Cabana rooms wrapping the pool keep neutral tones and open straight out onto the water, ideal for poolside hangers. Every room has a flat-screen TV, good linens, Frette robes and a clean-lined bathroom. Plenty of reviewers single out the vintage charm you just won't get at a generic modern hotel.

Food and amenities

If this hotel has one beating heart, it's the Tropicana pool — a big outdoor pool, roughly 80 by 30 feet, that's unlike any other on Earth because the floor was painted by hand in 1988 by the legendary artist David Hockney, those wavy blue lines now a one-of-a-kind underwater artwork. By day the deck is a chilled-out sunbathing spot; by night it often turns into one of the liveliest party scenes in Hollywood. The other highlight everyone talks about is The Spare Room, a Prohibition-era cocktail bar hidden inside the hotel, with two vintage bowling lanes and handmade wooden board games, all dim and moody like a flashback to the 1920s. There are also restaurants and bars in the historic building, a fitness center, and a concierge team reviewers describe as warm and helpful. The whole property hides history at every turn — the suite where Marilyn Monroe stayed, the Shirley Temple staircase, penthouses tied to old star names. Every wander feels like a tour through a living Hollywood museum.

Location and getting there

Location is this hotel's other trump card. The Hollywood Roosevelt sits on Hollywood Boulevard in the heart of Hollywood, right on the Hollywood Walk of Fame — step out the door and you're treading on the golden stars of the famous. Directly across the street is the TCL Chinese Theatre, the legendary cinema with the stars' handprints and footprints, and the Dolby Theatre, today's Oscars venue. Hollywood & Highland, Madame Tussauds and the souvenir shops are all within walking distance. For longer trips, the Hollywood/Highland Metro stop on the B Line (the old Red Line) is a 3-to-5-minute walk and runs through to Downtown and Universal. But understand that LA is hugely spread out — getting to Santa Monica, Beverly Hills or Griffith Observatory is far easier with a rental car or Uber. If you like waking up and walking straight into Hollywood's buzz, this location is a ten out of ten.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The most common theme in reviews is the neighborhood: Hollywood Boulevard is iconic but it's a heavily touristed strip, packed all day, and at night it can look rough and chaotic with a fair number of unhoused people and street performers around. Some reviewers say they felt uneasy walking back to the hotel late, so if you expect a calm, tidy district you'll need to reset your expectations. Second is noise from the pool and events, because the Tropicana pool deck is a popular party and event space, and on some nights — especially weekends — music and crowd noise carry up to rooms near the pool. If you sleep lightly, ask for a Tower room facing away from the water. Third is the age of the building: this is a nearly century-old historic hotel, and while much of it has been renovated nicely, some of the original rooms can feel smaller or more dated than the price suggests. Finally, don't forget the extra costs — both a daily resort fee and fairly steep valet parking, in classic LA-hotel fashion. Check the totals carefully when you book so the budget doesn't balloon.

Our take

After reading through plenty of real reviews, we think The Hollywood Roosevelt sells one thing brilliantly: golden-age Hollywood that's still breathing. The 1927 Spanish Colonial building that hosted the first Oscars, a pool floor painted by David Hockney, the slick Spare Room speakeasy, and a Walk of Fame address that walks you to every Hollywood landmark. If your trip in your head is waking up in the middle of Hollywood, sunbathing beside a pool that doubles as art, then closing the night with a cocktail in a Prohibition-era bar and a round of vintage bowling, this place will stick with you for a long time. But if you're after private quiet, brand-new room design, or you don't love the chaos of a tourist strip, weigh it carefully. Overall we give it 8.3/10, best for couples and travelers who love classic Hollywood and want to stay in the middle of a legendary neighborhood's buzz.