By Katherine Kims
NOBU RYOKAN
This oceanside gem features sixteen rooms modeled after a ryokan, a traditional, minimalist Japanese inn with teak soaking tubs, tatami mats and Eastern art. Garden rooms feature a private sitting area in the palm- and fern-dotted courtyard; beachfront and ocean rooms, and outdoor patios with either a fireplace or soaking tub.
Once a 1950s motel, the hotel (post-renovation) opened at the Carbon Beach address in April 2017. It’s the first hotel from the Nobu restaurant group—that means meals come from chef Nobu Matsuhisa at the next-door restaurant. Another perk for hotel guests: Access to nearby Malibu Racquet Club’s tennis courts, clubhouse, sauna and gym. noburyokanmalibu.com
WALDORF ASTORIA
How luxe is the newly opened Beverly Hills Waldorf Astoria? The 12-story, bronze-and-marble hotel features 119 rooms and 51 suites, including a palatial presidential suite—3,000-plus square feet, including a 1,459-square-foot private terrace, kitchen, dining room and media room. In-room dining is on speed dial from Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. His trio of eateries includes the lobby-level dining room, a bar and a rooftop lounge (and pool, separated by a living green wall).
Need more reasons to visit? Celebrity colorist Tracey Cunningham has her salon here, and Spa by La Prairie offers the Swiss beauty brand’s caviar-and-platinum body treatments. waldorfastoriabeverlyhills.com
ACE DOWNTOWN
The 182-room hotel—opened in 2014 in the original Spanish-Gothic United Artists building—unveils a new destination restaurant, Best Girl, which launches all-day dining from chef Michael Cimarusti of Providence and Connie & Ted’s fame. Start the morning with overnight oats with coconut milk, toasted almonds, dried apricots, banana and acai butter; or try avocado “alligator pear” toast on seeded country bread with Aleppo pepper and olive oil.
Also expect seafood from the fish-centric chef, such as oysters on the half shell and daily-changing crudo. Many of the hotel’s rooms come with a turntable and vinyl records, and all feature the exotic Pearl+ soaps. acehotel.com/losangele