Anyways...onto the real story...I was headed to Los Angeles for five days on a business trip. I ended up staying at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel which is located at 5th and Grand Street in downtown Los Angeles.
The first thing you notice about the hotel is just how absolutely beautiful it is. The hotel opened in 1923, and upon its opening it was the largest hotel west of Chicago at over 70,000 square feet. The arcatecture in the lobby is just stunningly beautiful. The 1920s accents are still there and the murals on the ceilings and carpeted stairs with brass railings beside stone walls just take you back to a whole new era. The hotel has been featured in many movies, including the original Ghost Busters and was even the host to the Oscars when it was first started. There are tons of old pictures of the orignal Oscars with many celebreties. The hotel just has a cool feel all around.
But I wish the same could be said for the area outside of the lobby....
I arrived at the hotel after a flight from DC and I was ready to just head to my room and head to bed because I had a 5:15 wake up call waiting for me the next morning. I arrived in the lobby and there was a flight crew from an A380 flight checking in (about 20 people it seemed like!) and milling about the lobby. Their crew leader was at the desk getting all of their keys in line and so I waited patiently. Then three other desk clerks walked out of the back and started chatting on their own and working on the computer completely ignoring me. After waiting for about 5 minutes the agent helping the crew leader get keys in order finally realized I had been waiting and told her colleagues to help me!
One finally came over and checked me in. I was offered an upgrade to the Club Floor for $50 a night, but it wasn't really clear what came with the upgrade besides a bit of a bigger room so I declined. I later read that the Club Floors are supposedly haunted...so I'm glad I passed :p.
I was given a standard king room on the 8th floor. I took to old elevators up to the 8th floor and walked into the room. The first thing that struck me was the yellow walls and yellow lights and the 1920s accents. I can appreciate that the hotel wants to keep some of the old features of the building and keep the charm alive. But, it looked like this room hadn't been updated since the hotel opened. The yellow on the walls and the yellow light in the room along with the dated furniture made the room feel old, dark and cramped.
When I walked into the room a decent sized closet was on the right and the tiny tiny bathroom was on the left. I say tiny, and I really mean it. The door swung open directly open in front of the toilet and when it was open it was less than an inch from the toilet brim. This was a tight squeeze bathroom with no room to move around.
The room its self had a standard king bed, a desk, a tv, dresser and a chair. The easiest way I could describe the feeling on walking into this room was that this hotel may have a five-star lobby, but it has a two-star set of rooms at best.
The other main gripe I had was the total lack of outlets in the room. There was only enough that you could have the two main lamps that provided light in the room on at one time...nothing else....To make coffee you had to unplug one lamp and then plug it back in later. At 5:30 in the morning, it was the last thing I wanted to do every day. There was also no plug next to the bed, which is bad for me because I use my phone as an alarm clock. I finally figured out that if you pull the bed out you can reach an outlet that is built into the wall behind the bed and has one extra plug.
I'm not arguing that the hotel needs to go fully modern....I just think that there are ways to improve the rooms enough to match the lobby and keep some of the old style.
I was also not impressed with the hotel restaurant at all. The staff was horrible...I ate there for breakfast twice and it was a pain to get any attention from them and one morning they even all stood around my table to chat while I was eating. For that pleasure I got a $10 bowl of oatmeal one day and a $19 omelet along with $4 coffee that was restaurant grade and never got refilled.
To put it bluntly...if you want to see this beautiful hotel, just go into the lobby and don't waste your time in staying the night.
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| King bed with no plugs (See the yellow lighting) |
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| Sitting Area/Desk |
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| TV, Bed and Closet |
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| Tiny Bathroom |
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