Continuing with my long-delayed reviews from my September 2022 USA trip, my next stop after almost a week in Seattle/Bellevue was Los Angeles. I didn’t really have any specific reason to visit LA, but it was the only United Polaris routing I could get a redemption on. Since I was had never spent time in LA prior to this, I decided to spend a couple of nights exploring. I also aimed to check out the new Conrad Los Angeles which had just opened in July.
Unfortunately both cash and points rates at the Conrad LA were high. I didn’t want to pay for 2 nights there, in either cash or points. That left me looking around for other options for one night. I wanted to be in either the Hollywood or downtown LA (DTLA) areas, and close proximity to a LA Metro stations. After assessing the various options from Hilton, IHG and Marriott, I ended up with the Sheraton Grand LA. I chose it for a couple of reasons, the interior photos looked good for a USA hotel, and it was directly on top of a Metro stop. Of course, the rate was acceptable as well. I would have preferred a Hilton or IHG property for loyalty status reasons, but on this occasion the various key decision factors lined up to make the Sheraton Grand the best choice.
The Sheraton Grand turned out be pretty nice, like its photos, and fairly convenient The interior was modern, not always a given for the Sheraton – and similar brands – in the USA. I didn’t like the neighbourhood despite the convenience, but that’s a whole other issue. As a lowly Bonvoy Silver, I can’t really comment on the loyalty benefits here. Overall, It worked well for my one-night stay. With a decent price, I would definitely consider it for any trips to LA if I want to be in DTLA and working on Bonvoy status.
Read on to see what I liked about the Sheraton Grand LA!
Booking
For this one-night stay, I booked a base King Guest Room under a Bonvoy member “DTLA Getaway Package” rate for USD227 (SGD300), rising to USD264 (SGD349) after taxes and fees. The rate included a USD30 F&B credit. I didn’t really need or want the credit, but this package rate was the cheapest available.
Points rates here seem to range from 40,000 up to low 60,000 Bonvoy points. I don’t recall what award nights were going for at the time of my stay, but I’m pretty sure the cash rate worked out better.
Location
As mentioned, the Sheraton Grand LA is located in downtown LA. It’s located together with a mall, The Bloc. It sits right above the 7th Street/Metro Center station. This station is an interchange for the B, D, A and E lines. That makes it pretty convenient for getting around by subway.
I arrived at Burbank airport from Seattle, rather than LAX. From Burbank, I got a Lyft from Burbank. This took exactly 30mins, in mostly clear Saturday mid-morning traffic.
There’s a decent amount of food options around the hotel, ranging from an IHOP to a SUGARFISH. There’s a Walgreens diagonally opposite on 7th Street, which is convenient for stocking on water on snacks. That said, I have to be honest and say I felt unsafe walking out to grab dinner. I haven’t been to many US cities admittedly, but walking around DTLA that Saturday night was honestly the first time I’ve felt uneasy exploring the neighbourhood. I’m not saying the area is unsafe necessarily, LA locals should know better than me, but it was just how I felt personally.
Arrival and check-in
I arrived at the hotel a little after 11am on Saturday morning. My Lyft driver actually commented when turning into the hotel that I’m staying at one of the nicest places in DTLA. Entering the lobby, it was certainly more impressive than what I’m used to in the USA. The lobby is actually fairly compact, but it was modern, bright and felt airy despite the crowd and compactness.
As a lowly Bonvoy Silver, I had no expectation of an early check-in. That turned out to be the case, and the lady at the front desk informed me the room wasn’t ready, and to come back later. I did exactly, after a few hours exploring Hollywood. There was a short queue at the front desk when I returned, but thankfully the check-in formalities were done with pretty quickly.
The biggest crowd in the lobby was usually to be found at the lifts. The Sheraton Grand LA uses a destination control system for its lifts. Guests going to their rooms are required to enter the desired floor and scan their room card. In theory, such a system should reduce the crowding in lifts, and remove the need for guests to crowd around the control panel in the lifts to tap their room cards to unlock their floor. In reality, the impression I got was that many guests were unfamiliar with such a system, resulting in a long queue as they tried to figure out the system. Staff would occasionally be present instructing guests on the system, usually when the queue grew too long. I was surprised to see a destination control system outside of an office building, but I’m familiar with such lift system so it was easy to get up to my room.
The Room
My room was located one the 21st floor. While the hotel lobby was bright and airy, the corridors on guest room floors were darker and moody. Purple seemed to be the colour of choice, with the corridor wallpaper mostly coloured in that.
The room itself was a pretty standard hotel room. The purple theme continued with the chaise lounge by the window.
To my surprise, the hotel actually provided a couple of complimentary bottles of water. There was also the ubiquitous (in US hotels of this standard) Keurig capsule coffee machine, with Starbucks capsules and Tazo teas.
The soft was soft and a little lumpy in some spots. Not the most comfortable I’ve experienced, but did the job. There were power outlets built into small panels that jut out ever-so-slightly from the bedhead. It was at least a change from most US hotels I’ve been to where the power outlets are built into the lamp. These were Type-B plug type. The TV looked new, and was a good size.
The wardrobe space was fairly generous. The room safe was here as it standard.
The bathroom had newish looking flooring, wall tiles and mirror. However, it still retained the annoying combination shower/tub combination, much like the Hilton Seattle I stayed at a week prior to this. The bathroom amenities were standard Sheraton Gilchrist & Soames in large pump bottles.
The décor was perhaps not quite my taste and the bed could have been better. Nonetheless, the room was comfortable enough and looked better than many US hotels room I’ve stayed in. It’s actually looked fairly modern, and didn’t have overly worn carpets or wallpaper, nor ancient switches and air-conditioning. Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the room.
Food & beverage
Although located in a mall, and surrounded by F&B options, the Sheraton Grand Los Angeles has its own in-house restaurant, District, and the Hope Street Bar. There’s also a grab-and-go market in the lobby.
I had a USD30 hotel credit included my rate, which I could have utilised at any of these outlets. However, I ended up doing something I almost never do: order room service. I ordered a breakfast wrap, which after all the taxes and fees were added on, came up to around mid-USD20s. I was told it would take 30mins, and that it would come in disposable packaging. It ended up taking less than 30min to arrive. While pricey for a breakfast wrap – it is room service after all – the portion was quite large and it tasted pretty good. A decent use of the credit after all.
Facilities and amenities
The Sheraton Grand Los Angeles isn’t the most well-equipped hotel, amenities wise. The only facility of note is the gym, on the top floor.
The gym actually seemed to be a pretty nice place for a workout. The 26th floor – where the Sheraton Club and gym are located – is circular. The gym takes up about half the floor, resulting is a nice wraparound view when exercising. It seemed pretty well-equipped too, with plenty of cardio machines and different types of resistance training machines. The equipment from Life Fitness also looked fairly new and well-maintained.
On the 3rd floor of the hotel was an open deck area. It had a beach or day club appearance, especially the cabanas, just lacking the pool. The area didn’t really seem to be in use when I explored the area in the morning.
Conclusion
The Sheraton Grand is solid choice for anyone looking to stay in DTLA. The rooms are refreshingly nice and reasonably modern looking. The location is good, right above a major Metro stop, and with decent food options and other amenities nearby. I can’t speak for the Bonvoy benefits at higher tiers, but if I were a Bonvoy loyalist, this is one property I wouldn’t mind returning to should my travels take me back to LA.
Other posts in this series: