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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.
Hollywood wannabes aside, beach life – as defined by Beach Boys songs and Baywatch babes – epitomises sunny SoCal. As well as Venice and Santa Monica beaches, Malibu stretches along the spectacular Pacific Coast Highway. The acting elite may jealously guard ‘their’ sandy patch of celeb suburbia, but Zuma and Malibu beach are perfect for surfing, volleyball, picnics and sunbathing; find surf schools and hire shops at www.surfline.com.
… having a cocktail at one of LA’s see-and-be-seen hangouts. The Standard Downtown's Rooftop Bar is super-cool, dizzyingly hip and boasts stimulating 360º cityscape views; and Skybar at the Mondrian on Sunset is still a big in-crowd-pleaser.
Our round-up of the hippest hideaways and romantic boutique hotels in Los Angeles
This Viceroy Santa Monica boutique hotel takes its looks – and its vocation – seriously: parakeet-green Chesterfields partner dazzling white modernist tables; deco-style gazebos are decked out with French dining furniture, and fresh-as-a-daisy decor lights up guest rooms.
This bright and breezy retro beachside hangout is perfect for exploring quirky Santa Monica and is within easy reach of all LA’s weird and wonderful sights…
It may be all slick designer touches and effortless French-tinged cool, but West Hollywood boutique hotel Palihouse Holloway still has an authentically stay-at-home feel, like the NY apartment you wish you had. Only it’s in LA. How cool is that?
This Los Angeles boutique hotel – just 45 minutes from the airport – sports retro-fabulous '50s furniture (think Charles Eames and Isamu Noguchi), a sexy hourglass-shaped pool and a very cool poolside restaurant. If it was good enough for Marilyn Monroe…
The ultimate hedonist’s hangout, Chateau Marmont is where the stars go to party in private. This Arts and Crafts ‘castle on the hill’ is the epitome of all that’s great and good about tinseltown: glamorous, cool and utterly captivating.
With its quirky Parisian overtones, this luxe Los Angeles boutique hotel in the heart of Beverly Hills is the perfect petite pied à terre. Inside Maison 140, Far East meets West Coast as bold Oriental prints preside over vintage French furniture and deco pieces.
This elegant LA boutique hotel combines refined American gloss with laid-back California sunshine. Minimal-chic interiors by design impresario Dodd Mitchell nestle modestly behind The Crescent's stucco facade, and the restaurant is a star attraction – literally.
Fun 'n' funky The Standard Downtown LA bears all the hallmarks of dynamic hotelier André Balazs: one of the coolest bars in LA, baths big enough for basketball players and on-the-money decor that cries out to be a Sixties-era film set.
Unconventional, sexy, and groomed to perfection, The Standard Hollywood has all the makings of a Hollywood starlet. You'll love everything you lay eyes on at this incredibly hip hideaway – including the performance art and retro-fabulous diner…
A dash of East Coast sophistication in the heart of Los Angeles, the Thompson Beverly Hills offers a prime location close to Rodeo Drive, as well as one of the city’s coolest rooftop bars.
LA is less like a city and more like a sprawling network of districts; we help you navigate your way around.
Some of these events could only ever happen in LA. Late February The Academy Awards (Oscars) at the Kodak Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard sends the city into a frenzy (www.oscar.com). March/April Holy cow! Farm animals and pets are blessed by the city’s cardinal at the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Monument in Downtown on the Saturday before Easter (www.overa-street.com). Late July Expect punk music, hot rods and Catholic priests at the Blessing of the Cars – yes, cars (www.blessingofthecars.com). The Honda US Open of Surfing kicks off at Huntington Beach in Orange County (www.usopenofsurfing.com). December Celebrities, razzmatazz, marching bands and colourful floats can only mean one thing: the Hollywood Christmas Parade on the Sunday after Thanksgiving – it’s 100 per cent Tinseltown (Christmas is just an excuse).
On Sunset Boulevard, The Standard Hollywood hotel’s restaurant is a good pit stop and does an excellent breakfast; it’s open 24/7, for anything from huevos rancheros and Bloody Marys to sushi and steaks in a hip retro-style diner.
Also on Sunset, this café at the Beverly Hills Hotel is open 7am till 7pm and has a 1940s feel straight from the golden age of film; check out the classic soda fountain and banana-leaf print wallpaper.
This bakery and café on West Third Street in Fairfax is extremely popular for brunch and buzzes with clientele all day long.
Also on West Third Street in Fairfax, Toast is a favourite local brunch spot for a European take on light food (try a BMT, with mozzarella and Roma tomatoes, or French toast encrusted with coffee cake) at tables on the pavement. Open till 11pm.
On Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, this café captures the area’s arty vibe with turbo-charged coffees and open-mic nights. Great for people-watching.
For afternoon tea in a bohemian Venice setting, head for this intimate garden café on Abbot Kinney Boulevard; there’s a subtle hint of Indochina in its chocolates flavoured with lemongrass, cloves and roasted sesame.
(+1 310 399 8801)
If you head out to the Valleys at the weekend, drop into this long-established bakery on North Brand Boulevard in Glendale for fabulous pastries, party favours, piñatas and Cuban specialities, including deep-fried plantains stuffed with black beans.
Occupying a separate building from the legendary Chateau Marmont hotel, this wonderful little Hollywood hangout serves perfect cocktails and a mouthwatering menu of Med-infused gastropub-style dishes - we love the oxtail bruschetta and heirloom tomato salads, not to mention the Damn Good Burgers…
8171 West Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 90046
A restaurant every bit as glamorous as the infamous hotel, Chateau Marmont, one now overseen by the former chef of NY hotspot The Spotted Pig; ask for a table in the patio bar.
8221 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 90046
This shabby-chic Hollywood classic has an excellent French bistro menu, and does take-out too. French onion soup, snails and signature martinis are the order of the day…
5907 West Franklin Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 90028
In West Hollywood, this iconic restaurant is an LA favourite, popular with celebrities and location scouts; ask for an alfresco table when you book in summer, and leave room for dessert. Not for those with a chip on their shoulder - if you ain't Hollywood royalty, don't expect star treatment…
113 North Robertson Boulevard, West Los Angeles, CA 90048
This vibey place on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood serves excellent French Californian cuisine – set-menu suppers on Sundays are a speciality here. We love the beamed ceiling and stone fireplace.
8474 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles
Up in Laurel Canyon, this is the hottest pizza and pasta joint in town. Wrap your lips around Pacé's tasty pizza pies, secure in the knowledge that every single ingredient is organic.
2100 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90046
Wolfgang Puck's classy Beverly Hills restaurant at the Beverly Wilshire hotel is a stylish modern take on the classic American steakhouse.
9500 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA 90212
In the Fairfax area, this fab French wine bar (associated with Lucques restaurant) serves plates of cheese and charcuterie as well as other treats to share alongside fine wines.
8022 West Third Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048
A highly regarded pan-Asian café/restaurant well worth the detour to Culver City: noodles, sushi, sashimi and more.
3280 Helms Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034
If you’re browsing the shops in Venice, drop into this place on Navy Street for a slice of seafood heaven, washed down with delicious fruit mocktails (our favourite is the Mango Lemonade).
110 Navy Street, Venice, CA 90291
Santa Monica has plenty of excellent restaurants to choose from, including this LA classic run by Wolfgang Puck – the US celebrity chef largely responsible for America's Asian-Californian fusion-food fashion. (Incidentally, Puck's first apprenticeship was at L'Oustau de Baumanière in France.)
2709 Main Street, Santa Monica, CA 90405
This postcard-perfect restaurant has fabulous views over the beach and the iconic Santa Monica Pier, with great seafood to match.
1602 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California
Out along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, this restaurant is right on the beach and serves simple, fresh seafood; its panoramic deck is a stylish hangout at night.
20356 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA
Perched on a hillside in Malibu, this restaurant has unbeatable coastal views and glamorous cuisine.
This hidden Mediterranean gem is romantic and candlelit, with four interjoining rooms and an outside courtyard that's lovely for warmer evenings. The menu represents influences from France, Greece and Italy. If you are dining here, pop into El Carmen two doors down for pre-dinner margaritas.
8164 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, California
This open-air bar at the Mondrian hotel on Sunset Boulevard remains one of the top places to see and be seen in LA.
This hip little joint on West Third Street is great for pre- and post-dinner margaritas (and serves several hundred varieties of tequila).
This much-loved dive on Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice has been radically transformed into a sleek, trendy venue for the area’s shiny new residents; its former boho clientele must be baffled by the DJ booth and shiny metallic surfaces...
This Chinese-themed club and restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood is as legendary as its former regulars Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly and Humphrey Bogart. It’s more Raymond Chandler grit than glamorous speakeasy, though.
Funky Fairfax bar with a crazy Mexican theme, perfect for a few margaritas before or after dinner.
8138 West Third Street, Los Angeles, California
This ultra-hip hangout on the roof of the Standard Hollywood hotel has quickly become a favourite of California's beautiful people. Laid-back tunes and live DJs make those signature martinis slip down dangerously fast, telescopes allow guests to oglee the LA cityscape, and ping-pong tables offer a diversion from the drinks.
8300 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles 8300
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