Best 5-Star Hotels in Los Angeles

The Waldorf's curved glass tower at Wilshire and Santa Monica delivers the city's most complete new-build five-star: personal concierges, a rooftop pool and restaurant with 360-degree views, and suites with balconies over the hills. Polished, contemporary Beverly Hills.

The 1928 landmark at the foot of Rodeo Drive — Pretty Woman's hotel — runs on Four Seasons service with an Italian-marble pool modeled on Sophia Loren's villa and THEBlvd's people-watching patio. Shopping-trip luxury with real history in the walls.

Twelve acres of gardens, a swan-stocked lake, and pink stucco villas make Hotel Bel-Air the most secluded five-star in Los Angeles — the reason it has been the discreet choice of film royalty since 1946. Wolfgang Puck runs the restaurant; the canyon keeps the quiet.

On Sunset at the mouth of Bel-Air, the Luxe is the neighborhood's only alternative to the famous canyon hideaway — a garden property with a pool terrace and quick runs to the Getty and UCLA. Polished comfort at a fraction of its neighbor's rate.

The Miramar sits on Santa Monica's bluff under a century-old fig tree, mixing tower rooms with garden bungalows that feel like private cottages. The pool scene is lively, the beach is a staircase away, and Third Street's restaurants are around the corner.

Oceana's all-suite layout across from Palisades Park works like a five-star apartment building: full living rooms, a courtyard pool, and a guests-only restaurant. It trades lobby buzz for privacy, which is exactly what its repeat guests are buying.

The London's suites start near 725 square feet — huge for the area — and its rooftop pool deck looks from the Hollywood Hills to the ocean. A block off the Strip at San Vicente, it delivers five-star space at a rate the marquee names can't match.

The Pendry stacks a music-venue, Wolfgang Puck dining, and a rooftop pool over the Sunset Strip with interiors that nod to the Strip's rock history. Rooms are crisp and current. The five-star pick for travelers who want the Strip's energy at arm's length.