The hospitality, with its optional butler service, is as exceptional as its distinguished accommodations. Among 210 rooms and suites and 23 bungalows, the Presidential Bungalow is the most coveted, featuring a private pool Jacuzzi and a chef's kitchen within tranquil tropical gardens and California palms. If the Bel-Air is for privacy, the Beverly Hills Hotel — with its iconic Polo Lounge restaurant — is where celebrities go to see and be seen.

A celebrity retreat since shortly after its opening in 1946, guests have included Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. The sprawling property, set within the confines of the mansion-strewn neighborhood of Bel-Air, features rose-colored bungalows, swan-filled ponds and lush landscaping — a timeless elegance in an exclusive location that continues to attract Hollywood luminaries. Visitors enjoy a garden paradise with private patios, gorgeous pool, spa, and several restaurants and bars.

On the vibrant Sunset Strip, the hotel looks like a French castle and has more fascinating scandals to its name than perhaps any in the world. To pick a mild one, legend has it that members of Led Zeppelin once tore up the lobby on their motorcycles. Still, there is a reason the hotel has remained the choice of Hollywood royalty for decades — today, the hotel maintains its legendary atmosphere of refined discretion, with amenities that include secret gardens and extremely livable rooms.

As the sister hotel to London’s esteemed Claridge's (Three MICHELIN Keys), the luxury here is particularly grand and majestic, with 5,000 square feet of manicured gardens along the palatial Spanish Colonial Revival retreat. Inside, a museum-worthy collection of contemporary art hangs on the walls: a Damien Hirst cherry blossom in the café, a Yoshitomo Nara series on the sixth floor. The bilevel spa is the property’s crown jewel, with 17 treatment rooms and a gorgeous mineral pool.

A just-completed renovation by style virtuoso Champalimaud Design has burnished the 50-year-old L’Ermitage Beverly Hills to a high-luxury sheen. In the lobby and restaurant, a California glow color palette comes together with bronze, natural stonework, and sunset orange velvet. The redesigned rooftop, opened this spring to the public for the first time, will introduce to the masses what L’Ermitage long-timers already know: the views of the Hollywood Hills and Los Angeles skyline are unmatched.

It’s the little things at the Peninsula Beverly Hills that make this urban hotel an ultra-luxe establishment. But, it’s also the big things. Little: the pillowcases in every room are monogrammed with guests' initials, a surprise that can be taken home free of charge. Little: every bathroom is bedecked in a signature pink marble. Big: the black Rolls Royce Ghost parked out front in the stately drive. If you’re staying at the hotel, feel free to reserve it for an outing.

The cottages, though restored and refurbished, remain true to their original English countryside style. They all bear single-word names, coyly matching the names of Hollywood luminaries who are said to have lived here in Chaplin’s day: from Charlie himself to Marlene, Marilyn and Valentino. The blanks are easy enough to fill in. They’re somewhat residential in aspect, with kitchens and washer/dryers alongside the usual hotel-suite fare.

The idea of Hollywood may be synonymous with glamour, but nearly a hundred years after the so-called Golden Age, the actual place is a bit more complicated. The Prospect Hollywood, however, is a return to form: a 1939 Hollywood Regency building, rescued from an advanced state of disrepair by designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard and transformed into what is, beneath its retro styling and vintage furniture, a thoroughly contemporary boutique hotel.

A rare piece of Old Hollywood glamour in modern Santa Monica, the Georgian is nothing if not distinctive — this turquoise-and-gold Art Deco mini-skyscraper stands prominently on Ocean Avenue. Its history since its Thirties opening is not unbroken, but under new owners — and with the help of some skilled local designers — it’s been restored to an approximation of its former glory, and it immediately established itself as one of Santa Monica’s hippest hotels.

This 1920s estate in LA’s hip Silver Lake began its life as a Mediterranean Revival mansion for a now-forgotten silent-film star. When interior designer Dana Hollister bought it, she intended for it to become the kind of luxury boutique hotel that we’re all familiar with. But the neighborhood had other ideas, and in the end, what it became is something much more unique: part film set, part event venue, part dream house for Hollister herself and home to nine of the most stylish rooms of the city.

From the outside, this ’70s apartment building doesn’t attract much attention — though someday this architectural style will be back in fashion, at which time West Hollywood will be its Mecca. Inside, though, it’s a different story; rooftop swimming pools, for example, are always in style, especially with panoramic views of LA and the Hollywood Hills, and the lobby sets the tone.

In Hollywood the line between history and kitsch is so fine as to be practically non-existent. But one way or another the Sunset Tower manages to land on the right side of the line. In the latter years of the golden age this Art Deco apartment tower was home to the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra; and while today the mid-century atmosphere is still in place, it’s no museum — there’s nothing faded about the newly renovated Sunset Tower’s sober and it's earth-toned interiors.

It’s set in (and behind) a century-old bungalow on San Vicente Boulevard, just off Santa Monica, in a slightly paradoxical location — it’s a residential street, but it’s barely a block from the Pacific Design Center in one direction and the Sunset Strip in the other. With just 23 rooms and suites it’s aiming for an atmosphere that’s even more private than the Tower, and the accommodations are impressively luxe and quite stylish, in a welcoming, low-key way.

This century-old luxury hotel has seen Santa Monica change from bohemian beach town to upscale enclave; and though it’s just a few minutes’ walk from the beach itself, it’s even closer to the mall that is Downtown Santa Monica. No matter — a stay at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows is what you make of it, and can be as private as you want it to be. The grounds themselves are planted with lush gardens overlooking the Pacific; the hotel’s own private beach club is accessible via a shuttle.

Regent Santa Monica Beach brings a new level of laid-back luxury to Ocean Avenue. Interiors reflect the coastal setting with a soft palette, breezy silhouettes, and thoughtful in-room extras like marble soaking tubs, yoga mats, and Dyson hairdryers. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame sweeping views of the Pacific, while the expansive pool deck and light-filled lobby invite guests to linger.

The Santa Monica Proper Hotel is a new build, designed by Howard Laks Architects with interiors by the very same Kelly Wearstler, it incorporates a 1920s Spanish Colonial building on Wilshire Boulevard, updating a century-old classic for the boutique-hotel era. What results is a hotel that’s more contemporary than vintage, even if its history does show through — it’s got the romance of the Twenties but the forms and materials of a modern luxury boutique hotel.

As you’d expect based on the Palisociety brand’s previous form, the Palihouse West Hollywood is a vintage-inspired stunner — its design incorporates L.A.’s plentiful European influences and encompasses a multitude of eras on the way to delivering a blend that ultimately feels fresh and fully realized. In its comforts it’s in the happy middle between boutique minimalism and hyper-luxe ostentatiousness; custom-made furniture, Diptyque bath products, and well-stocked SMEG mini-fridges set the tone.

The Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel, set in a transformed 1920s landmark building where celebrated designer Kelly Wearstler's trademark aesthetic creates its own living museum through rotating local art and vintage touches. Bright, colorful rooms feature imported linens and tiled bathrooms, while the rooftop provides seasonal dining with sweeping city panoramas.

Over in Hollywood, the Aster combines boutique luxury with members club exclusivity — just steps from the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame and its thousands of engraved stars. Natural light floods its stylish suites through floor-to-ceiling windows, while guests indulge in luxury amenities that span everything from pool access to recording studio, cinema, and swanky rooftop bar.

Holloway House, like any Soho House establishment, doesn’t need to be close to the action — it is the action. Its Club restaurant, its Mandolin Mezze rooftop terrace, and its Club-adjacent Bar and Library are among the hottest tickets in town, and they’re for members only — which, if you’re an overnight guest, includes you, for the duration of your stay. The rooms, of course, are perfectly capable of standing on their own.

Brentwood is mostly residential, and Le Petit Pali offers a rare chance to live like the locals, including NBA stars and A-list actors. Like others in hotelier Avi Brosh’s California collection, the 25-room boutique hotel is a smart redesign of an old inn — in this case, a historic motor lodge on Sunset Boulevard. With four bungalow-style buildings set around a series of outdoor patios with abundant greenery, it’s a fashionable home away from home with space to relax indoors and out.

Shutters on the Beach is exactly what you would want a Santa Monica luxury hotel to be, if you were designing it from a blank page. Shutters opens right onto the beach, which is more rare than you might imagine around here, and the result is an exceedingly private atmosphere. The rooms are as luxe as can be, and a great many of them have ocean views, including all the suites — and in defiance of the SoCal stereotype your room comes equipped with a small personal library.

Casa del Mar shares something more than ownership with its sister hotel, the neighboring Shutters on the Beach — as surprising as it may sound, they’re the only two hotels in the Los Angeles area that open directly onto the beach. But while Shutters is clean-lined and contemporary, Casa del Mar is a period piece, an authentic 1920s Italianate palace that’s played host to Hollywood royalty for as long as there’s been such a thing.