Los Angeles
United States
- Cityscape
- Tinseltown
- City life
- California dreaming
LA – a city of silver-screen dreams, where movie moguls, stars and starlets party in the California sunshine.
The reality of this sprawling metropolis is certainly more complex than its celluloid image, but it’s no less mesmerising without the special effects. The sheer scale of the city can be overwhelming, but explore the fabled neighbourhoods of Hollywood, Bel-Air, and Malibu and you’ll find those flashes of movie magic unique to LA. Each part of the city has its own distinct character; a cross-city drive feels like a series of rapid set changes. How the plot unfolds is up to you – a day spent surfing on Venice Beach, shopping in Santa Monica and rubbing shoulders with the stars in Beverly Hills actually is real life for the lucky few. Los Angeles is a place where you can write your own storyline.
Pictured: Viceroy Santa Monica
Boutique hotels in Los Angeles
From hip Hollwood hideaways to Beverly Hills boutique hotels, we round up the coolest places to stay in LA.
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Getting there
LA is less like a city and more like a sprawling network of districts; we help you navigate your way around.
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Worth getting out of bed for
Highlights the best Los Angeles has to offer, from art and culture to fun-packed activities; we've even found the most inspiring place to enjoy the views from.
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Eating, drinking & dancing
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Los Angeles. All you have to do is make sure you've packed your favourite threads…
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Smith Maps
From Venice Beach to the Hollywood Hills, our interactive map of Los Angeles will lead you to your Smith hotel and help you breeze around the sprawling metropolis.
moreLocal knowledge
- Taxis
- LA’s sprawl means taxi rides can be expensive. You’re unlikely to find a taxi rank, so book with one of the large cab companies, such as the Yellow Cab Company (+1 877 733 3305; www.layellowcab.com) or United Taxi (+1 800 822 8294; www.unitedtaxi.com).
- Tipping culture
- Tipping is always expected in restaurants: 20 per cent is not unusual – it’s easy to calculate by doubling the amount of tax on your bill. It’s also the norm to tip a dollar for every drink at the bar. Don’t forget to leave something out for your housekeeper to ensure your toiletries get stocked up to the max each day.
- Siesta and Fiesta
- Los Angeles is a hard-working town that has a hard-nosed, serious edge to its laid-back front. Most shops are open till 7pm, although malls normally stay open later. Restaurants are normally busy between 6pm and 9pm.
- Packing tips
- That film script you’ve been working on.
- Recommended reads
- The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler; Black Dahlia or LA Confidential by James Ellroy; The Comedy Writer by Peter Farrelly.
- Cuisine
- LA is a city where it’s very popular to ‘do’ lunch, except on Sundays when mid-morning brunch is the order of the day. LA’s cafés and restaurants offer suitably diverse fare, ranging from traditional all-American steaks to Chinese dim sum and Mexican enchiladas. This is a city dedicated to food fads so don’t be surprised if your fellow diners are on a strict raw-food, low-carb ‘reverse French’ regime that excludes red meat, caffeine and fun. You’ll find several farmers’ markets around town, particularly in Santa Monica (www.farmernet.com). Wines from Napa and Sonoma Valley are excellent.
- Currency
- US dollar.
- Time zone
- GMT -8 hours.
- Dialing codes
- Country code for the United States: 1. There are several area codes in the city and calling outside of these can be expensive. Downtown: 213/323; Malibu, Venice, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills: 310; Hollywood, East LA and South Central: 323.
- Do go/don't go
- Spring and autumn sees LA is at its best. Days are often warm and sunny but summer can see a rise in smog levels and sea mist (known as ‘June gloom’).