#ashlist: Where to stay in LA

The Montage knows what a girl wants: grand staircases and an excess of mirrors.

Good news! My incessant LA stay-cations have finally paid off because I was able to write this article listing the best hotel options around the city. Here it is:


Montage Beverly Hills 
The real reason why the Montage might be my favorite hotel in LA is that they have nasi goreng on the room service breakfast menu. Other reasons to love it include it's unbeatable location in the heart of Beverly Hills, it's delicious restaurant Georgie, and its general splendor.

The Beverly Hills Hotel 
Liz Taylor honeymooned here with 6 of her 7 husbands, so it can't possibly not be amazing. Need even more proof? The Beverly Hills Hotel wasn't named for its location in the city of Beverly Hills. The city of Beverly Hills was named for its proximity to this hotel.

Chateau Marmot 
Bungalow 2 saw the first reading of Rebel Without a Cause; John Belushi OD'd in Bungalow 3; and somewhere in the courtyard the next Leonardio DiCaprio movie is being negotiated right now. Cliche? Yes. Worth it anyway? Yes.

Shutters on the Beach 
This stalwart hotel overlooks the sea nd is how one would imagine Ralph Lauren's beach house to look, or your wealthy grandmother's 1920s beach condo: all dark-wood floors and old leather sofas. And on every bedside table: a copy of an Ernest Hemingway novel. All this is to say that Shutters is perfect. It might also be my favorite. I can't decide.

Hotel Bel-Air 
The Bel-Air, a paradisiacal walled garden ensconced in the Santa Monica foothills, is without a doubt the most starry and exclusive hotel in the world. Its rooms are not rooms at all, but little chalets and cottages sequestered amid lush bougainvillaea, white azaleas and flowering peach trees. It is the most beautiful place in LA. Also the hardest to find.

Mama Shelter 
With a lobby ceiling dubbed the Sistine Chapel of Hollywood, an iMac and a film script in every room, and a rooftop with a view all the way to the ocean, Mama Shelter toes the fine line between fun and hip while managing to hold onto a little of its Parisian roots in DTLA. It's admittedly not my thing, but if you like downtown, playing with chalk and not going bankrupt paying for hotels, this is the one.

Sunset Tower 
The chunky, curvy Art Deco contours of the Sunset Tower Hotel make it look like a giant Bakelite wireless set. It is a striking building by any standard, and Marilyn Monroe, John Wayne and Frank Sinatra are among those who once called it home. Now it's popular among creative types and french fry aficionados.

Other Ash-approved hotels: The Viceroy Santa Monica, The Beverly-Wilshire Hotel, Petit Ermitage