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Tags: Los Angeles Hotels / Grammy Hotels / Britney Spears / Lady Gaga / Beyonce / Taylor Swift / Celeb Scoop / Celeb Hotels / Downtown LA Hotels / → All Tags

Trade WeHo for Downtown L.A. Hotels on Grammy Weekend

Views of Downtown L.A. from the rooftop of The Standard

Awards season has hit its stride in Los Angeles, ushering an even greater influx of A-list celebs, parties, and traffic jams that are already all-too-common in the entertainment capital of the world. It's also an immensely popular time to travel to the city, meaning hotels, especially those luxurious playgrounds for young and rich US Weekly regulars are more packed than usual.

This weekend's Grammy awards are taking place at the gargantuan Staples Center, and there's still time to book it to La-La Land in hopes of seeing Taylor or GaGa or Beyonce (cue heart palpitations and OMG-ing). Rather than try to find rooms at Chateau Marmont, the Roosevelt, or other West Hollywood/Hollywood hotspots, we opted to do some research into what's going on Downtown, where the awards are being held.

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Tags: Sneak Peek / JW Marriott Hotels / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / LA Live / Downtown LA Hotels / Los Angeles Hotels / → All Tags

A Sneak Peek of the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton at L.A. Live

Where: 900 W. Olympic Blvd. [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90015

The entrance to the hotels at LA Live.

Though in the past we’ve had a few quibbles with the carpet selection at the new J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton at L.A. Live in downtown, we got to go on a top-secret hard-hat tour (yes, there was an actual hard hat involved, as well as protective glasses, a hideous orange vest, clomping work boots, and a release form!) inside the new property to see how construction is going and what progress is being made so that the hotel can open on-time in mid-February.

THE FACTS
his property is the first of its kind for Marriott and Ritz-Carlton. Though they have other hotels that are connected through spa and meeting facilities, this is the first property where both hotels are in the same structure. The J.W. Marriott rooms will be located on floors 4-21 in both towers on the property, and the Ritz-Carlton rooms will be on floors 22-26 in both towers.

The Ritz-Carlton residence suites will be on floors 27-54 in the tall main tower that looks like a glass sheath, will be LEED certified, and is the first new skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles in nearly 20 years. The entire building was designed by the Gensler architectural firm, while Barry Design is in charge of the interior design.

Apart from sharing conference facilities and the 8,000 square-foot Ritz-Carlton Spa, the two hotels will be very distinct from one another.

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Tags: Hotel Carpets / Hotel Decor / Marriott Hotels / LA Live / Downtown LA Hotels / → All Tags

Is There Time for JW Marriott at L.A. Live To Reconsider Their Carpeting?

Where: 900 West Olympic Boulevard [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90015

UPDATE: The JW Marriott LA Live just tweeted about the carpet installation on the 5th floor. Guess it's too late!

We've been riding a sort of high about the upcoming JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton coming to downtown Los Angeles' LA Live entertainment complex. Downtown LA has been struggling for a long time to pull visitors away from the action of Hollywood and the fun of the Venice/Santa Monica beaches and LA Live looks like their best shot.

Next to the Staples Center (home to the Lakers and big ticket concerts), LA Live has a Nokia Theater, a small intimate venue called Club Nokia, an ESPN Zone, the Grammy Hall of Fame and several restaurants and bars.

So bringing in the JW Marriott and a Ritz next to LA Live (in a cool building with a large video wall) will give guests close-by fancy hotel options. However, we're really hoping the JW Marriott can reconsider its carpeting option before it opens on February 15, 2010.

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Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Millennium Hotels / Downtown LA Hotels / → All Tags

Bite Into La Bistecca at the Millennium Biltmore

Where: 506 S. Grand Ave. [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90071

For a long time, the cavernous Spanish-colonial gem of a former lobby at downtown Los Angeles’s Millennium Biltmore Hotel was going to waste as a way station for travelers checking in and out without giving the breathtaking hall the attention it deserved. Now, however, the hotel is putting the three-story space front and center as the location of its new Italian steakhouse, La Bistecca.

The lobby, which has touches of a bygone era like hand-carved wooden ceiling beams, Travertine walls, and an enormous chandelier that even the Phantom of the Opera would enjoy, has also added a huge rose marble fountain in the middle of the new 70-person seating area.

Carnivores can get six different cuts of steak, including a bone-in rib eye, and slow-roasted prime rib. The meats come, Sicilian-style, with a variety of simple accompaniments and sauces like the Barolo wine sauce, a mascarpone-horseradish cream, and a marinated porcini béarnaise.

Vegans might have a hard time finding something to eat here since even the salads have cream-based dressings, and all the antipasti and pasta dishes include some kind of meat, but you know what? You can hit a Whole Foods anytime, this is for a special night out at an old-school steakhouse.

Tags: Snapshot / Hotel Construction / Ritz-Carlton Hotels / JW Marriott Hotels / LA Live / Downtown LA Hotels / → All Tags

The Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott in Downtown LA Are Looking Good

Where: 900 West Olympic Boulevard [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90015

We were cruising along the 110 yesterday in downtown Los Angeles and noticed that the Ritz-Carlton/J.W. Marriott hotel at LA Live is looking pretty fly. The hotel hybrid will open in March 2010 but the exterior of the 54-story skyscraper is nearly complete. And remember, this exterior is where the giant video-screen will be. (You can see it better in the picture below.)

The building will be one-part JW Marriott, one part Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles and one part The Ritz-Carlton Residences at LA Live. We're actually very excited about these new upscale hotels coming to downtown Los Angeles. It's about time downtown got some more respectable hotel options for travelers. And maybe, just maybe, Bill Marriott will visit us...er...LA more often.

The hotel is already on Twitter too. A recent Tweet? Watching downtown LA prep for the Lakers NBA Champions parade. The hotel is already rooting for the home team. Check out that "Go Lakers" sign on the building.

Another drive-by shot after the jump.

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