(Beverly Hills, CA). Recently I had a staycation at a local boutique hotel - the Avalon - located on Olympic Boulevard - with my best friend. I picked it based on the photos of the newly remodeled rooms and the website description that each room had dvd players because we were hoping to bingewatch some old tv shows, but unfortunately, that turned out to be untrue. None of the rooms had dvd players...
But aside from that misfortune, how was our stay?
Check In
Check in was pretty smooth and the front desk clerk was very friendly. We enjoyed some complimentary glasses of prosecco before being escorted to our room.
Room
The room was as pictured on the website - airy and large. We enjoyed the decor and light color combination. The front desk clerk had told us that construction had just been completed, but we noticed some minor details that didn't seem finished (e.g., floor edgings were still raw and exposed, grouting didn't seem finished, etc.) - especially in the restroom - so I suspect the rooms weren't fully completed yet. Almost immediately we had problems with the toilet not flushing so we asked them to send up a plumber.
On the plus side, they did have Davines toiletries which was nice.
On the downside, the beds weren't that comfortable and the sheets were a tad rough (but I'm spoiled with high thread count sheets at home). The shower was also not that nice - I think they focused more on aesthetics than quality in their remodel job because the appliances and materials they used seemed cheap. And, I almost forgot, the walls are paper thin! A neighboring guest was coughing all night and I felt like he was in the our room with us!
Location/Parking
If you want to be near shopping, it is walking distance to the Rodeo and the high-end shops nearby. My friend and I walked over to Neiman Marcus and then onto Rodeo for some fun window shopping. There's a grocery store nearby if you wish to pick up some stuff for your room, like water and snacks. Some of the rooms have mini kitchenettes but we didn't need it for our staycation.
Parking is around $30 per night which seems rather expensive but you do get in and out privileges. I'm not sure if this is normal to charge for overnight parking in Los Angeles hotels since I live in Los Angeles, but it does seem rather extreme. As a tip, you should always ask if the hotel is willing to waive this charge. It doesn't hurt to ask.
Service
Despite my lukewarm review thus far, I will say service is very friendly and prompt. The staff really do try to make your stay pleasant. My friend called the front desk for various things (e.g., shower caps, etc.) and the response was always prompt and helpful.
Food
The restaurant in the hotel is Viviane and I've had brunch there previously and really enjoyed their food. For dinner we ordered room service from there, and the food was good, but not great. It was also served a tad cold and they messed up one of our orders.... Well actually they ran out of the mushroom pasta we ordered, and without telling us, substituted it with meat lasagna. When we explained we didn't want lasagna they did take it off our bill, but it did seem strange for a restaurant to unilaterally swap out an entree without calling first.
Now that I've eaten at Viviane at least 5 times, I will say that it did seem much better for brunch/lunch. The french toast was particularly good, but HUGE! The fried chicken is also pretty tasty.
Other Amenities
There is a small pool with a few lounge chairs - but I didn't really see that many people enjoying it - mainly because it's right in the middle of the restaurant sitting. I would find it weird to be swimming in front of dining patrons. In fact I would find it weird to be sitting at a table along the edge of the pool.... I wonder if anyone's ever fallen in??
They did have a cool feature where you could "allegedly" do everything like order food, order movies, etc. through a tablet poised next to the bed. Unfortunately it wasn't that easy to use. And the TV channel selection was pretty bad and the TV signal kept cutting out so we ended up watching videos on our own Ipads.
Final Word
While I liked the staff and service at Avalon, I do feel they have some improvements to make especially since it's not a cheap hotel. I think I paid almost $300 for one night, and it was not worth the price tag. But there is potential so hopefully with some tweaks, they can make this
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