W Hollywood’s Refresh Marks the W Brand’s New Standard: Here’s What It’s Like

The author stayed as an invited guest of W Hollywood. All opinions are the author’s own, and W Hollywood had no input in any part of this article.

W is, without doubt, my favorite Marriott brand. It knows how to do fun and sexy, but in a cool and sophisticated way. If it were an airline, it’d be Virgin. This stay was part of a March 2025 Virgin Atlantic press trip for the opening of the Virgin Clubhouse at LAX, which is a funny coincidence.

I was looking forward to my stay at W Hollywood even more than usual this time. It was my eighth stay at a W hotel, and the W Hollywood is the first W property to have undergone a full refurbishment as part of a wider rebrand. Its fresh new look and feel will be introduced across most of its original properties that haven’t been newly renovated in the last few years. According to a Marriott spokesperson, 85% to 90% of W hotels should be upgraded to this new standard by 2028.

Shall we take a look inside?

Booking a Stay at W Hollywood

As W Hollywood is part of the Marriott brand, the best way to book is almost always directly via Marriott’s website or using the Marriott Bonvoy app.

Looking ahead at prices for the rest of the year, the lowest rate for a single night that you’re likely to find is around $350. The W is a luxury brand within Marriott’s portfolio, so I expected a 1-night stay to be more expensive. This rate is widely available, even in August, and includes the $42 destination fee.

An alternative way to book is to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points. For a 3-night stay in August, you’d need 141,000 points, equivalent to 47,000 points per night — a deal compared to other W properties worldwide.

The hotel can also be booked through American Express’ Fine Hotels + Resorts (FHR), an exclusive booking platform for cardholders of The Platinum Card^® from American Express, The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, or Centurion^® Card from American Express. Booking via FHR comes with high-value perks and benefits, like complimentary upgrades, free breakfast, and room or spa credit.

Hot Tip:

Using points to pay for a stay can often be a great value way to book. Here are a ton of ways you can earn a stack of Marriott Bonvoy points to help you on your way to your next points stay.

W Hollywood Location

Right on Hollywood Boulevard, the W Hollywood is a prime spot for visiting the sights. If you’re lucky, your room might have a view of the Hollywood sign.

Sitting quite literally on top of the Hollywood/Vine Metro station, the hotel has excellent public transport links.

If arriving by car, access to the valet parking and reception drop-off is on Argyle Avenue. Keep your eyes peeled for the small white W sign.

W Hollywood: Setting the Brand Standard

W Hollywood has taken the crown as the flagship property for the W brand’s new look. Having already stayed at 7 W hotels worldwide, I couldn’t wait to experience the new age of the W brand for myself.

These main things stood out to me during my 3-night stay at the W brand’s new pin-up girl:

The Same Striking, Bold W Design, But Different

A striking and bold design is nothing new for W. However, the boldness has shifted lanes from cheeky and sexy to cool and sophisticated — an essential move if W wants to appeal to millennial and Gen Z travelers.

My first impression upon arrival was underwhelming, but it didn’t last long.

Outside in the courtyard in front of the reception, the building looks like any other nondescript building in Los Angeles or any other big city. W Residences occupy the building to the left with the balcony spaces, while the hotel occupies the building on the right.

Looking a little closer at the doorway to reception, the contrasting green of the plants is the first sign of what’s to come.

My eyes were immediately attracted to the left, away from the reception desk, in admiration of the lobby and bar area.

The striking color palette of earthy greens and shades of beiges and creams, combined with an eclectic mix of shapes and patterns, had me forgetting what I was thinking just a few seconds before. Maybe first impressions aren’t everything after all.

As far as hotel lobby areas go, this one will stick in my mind for all the right reasons.

Everywhere I looked, something quirky grabbed my attention. Take the seating in the lobby, for example.

A pod-style, relaxed sofa in suede-style fabric took center stage. Whoever signed that off must have had faith that no drinks would be spilled.

Around the edges of the sunken space were more sofa-style seats better suited to eating, thanks to the higher tables. Guests could also eat breakfast there.

A restaurant-style seating area next to the bar offered a more formal dining setting.

I was impressed with the espresso I was served here at breakfast.

The staircase at the back of the lobby couldn’t be more Hollywood if it tried.

The same bold design flowed through the entire hotel, from the rooms to the rooftop pool. More on that later.

Thoughtful Tech

Nowadays, a hotel feels outdated if you can’t find a USB-C (not old-school USB-A) port close to the bed, and the room has no automation, like blinds or lighting.

Thankfully, tech was an essential factor when drawing up the plans for W Hollywood.

I was happy to find both a USB-C and USB-A port on each side of the bed, along with 2 regular U.S. outlets and lighting controls. However, adding the stickers highlighted a potential oversight in the design of the buttons.

This is the first time that I’ve been actually impressed with the air conditioning system in a hotel room. The interface was very user-friendly, and the temperature actually adjusted according to the settings I selected. It was nice not to wake up freezing cold in the middle of the night, as often happens.

Curiously, the controls for the blinds and curtains were located by the bathroom. It took me a while to find them after snuggling up in bed on my first night.

More of a Luxe Apartment Than a Hotel Room

W Hollywood leans hard into the luxury lifestyle bracket, especially in terms of the design and feel of the rooms.

To me, this looked far more like a bedroom in a nice apartment than a room in a chain hotel.

The papered feature wall behind the bed was a particularly homey touch.

Another apartment-style feature was a little tray underneath the mirror in the entrance. Having a place to drop my phone, wallet, AirPods, and room key meant I could leave the room without spending 10 minutes looking for said items.

I appreciated the art and decorative ornaments in the room, too.

The super comfy bed felt way bigger than the king-sized bed it was advertised as.

Waking up here was bliss.

Even at the relatively average size of 35 square meters, the room felt larger thanks to the illusion of different zones.

For example, there was a zone with a table and seating that I made the most of to work each morning.

I ate this insanely good breakfast burrito in the same spot.

My favorite zone in the room was the comfy window seat behind where I ate my burrito. This was a great spot to relax with a book. Imagine if this was one of the upper-level rooms with a view of the Hollywood sign.

Another factor that added to the feeling of having spaces within a space was the use of different types of flooring. From just inside the bathroom door, I could see the carpet in the main bedroom, wooden flooring in the entrance hall, and a different style of tile to distinguish between the bathroom and the shower.

Partly thanks to the quirky design, such as a circular feature mirror, the spacious bathroom didn’t feel very hotel-like,

I was a little surprised to find a regular showerhead rather than the oversized rainfall showerheads I’m used to in upscale hotels.

There was no surprise, however, to find the W’s signature MOMO products in the shower.

The bathroom also had a hair dryer and a steamer — 2 items you’d find in any good hotel room, though I prefer an iron.

Then there was the coffee station and minibar.

While I love it when hotels provide a coffee machine, I was disappointed with the flavor of these nonbranded coffee pods. Investing in a brand like Illy, whose pods are flavorful and high quality, can mean a lot to those who appreciate their morning coffee.

The price list for the minibar was easily accessible. How about $400 for a Marshall speaker?

Lots of Outdoor Space

W Hotels are well known for having some sort of pool area, even in inner city locations like this. Whether outside, inside, or up on a rooftop, you’ll find it by looking for the Wet Deck.

W Hollywood had an impressively good rooftop pool space for a hotel in the middle of a huge city. I should have known better when visiting in March to think I’d be soaking up anything other than the clouds.

When the sun briefly appeared, W Hollywood’s Wet Deck was a great place to enjoy it.

Day beds and private cabanas on either side of the pool were readily available during my visit in the low season. It didn’t appear that anyone was being charged to use them during my stay.

According to the hotel’s website, day beds and cabanas can be reserved in advance. Pricing is only available by contacting the hotel directly.

The rooftop had a second, even higher level with more seating and cabanas.

The view up here was pretty great.

There was a bar, though it wasn’t open (and didn’t look like it had ever been open) when I was there in March.

W Hollywood managed to fit in even more outdoor space on the ground level with a patio extending behind the lobby bar. Weather permitting, it would have been a lovely place to have breakfast in the morning or a cheeky evening cocktail.

10/10 Gym

The icing on the cake for my stay at W Hollywood was the excellent gym. It had everything I needed to complete a full workout without asking my trainer to update my programming. Weights were well in excess of the usual limit of 44 pounds.

With a ton of top-of-the-range machinery, this was, without doubt, one of the best hotel gyms I’ve ever used.

There was even a Smith machine, a very rare piece of equipment in a hotel gym.

If I could guarantee that every W Hotel gym would be as good as this, it would make the W a standout choice when deciding where to stay.

In a City Full of Stars, Why Does W Hollywood Only Have 4?

Before arriving at W Hollywood, it had never even crossed my mind that the hotel would be anything less than a 5-star. All of the 7 previous W hotels I’d stayed in were 5-star, so I had no reason to think otherwise.

It wasn’t long before I started to wonder. When I arrived late on my first night, I noticed the absence of the usual beauty amenities in the bathroom. Cotton buds, cotton pads, and other such items are staples I’d expect to find in any 4-star hotel, let alone a 5-star hotel. That was the first alarm bell.

When I returned to my room after dinner on the second night and found that there had been no turn-down service, alarm bells rang again, and my doubts were confirmed. W Hollywood was not a 5-star hotel.

I later learned that California regulations for giving hotel stars are stringent, but that getting a fifth star was an important goal for the hotel in the future.

Final Thoughts

As rebrandings go, W’s fresh new look is on the subtle side. It kept its bold, non-cookie-cutter design of old, but toned it down from tongue-in-cheek sexy to sleek and sophisticated.

That said, I prefer the overall style and design of W Algarve and W Rome, which were also designed under the guidelines of W’s rebrand. My subjective take is that these properties better encapsulate their location’s culture, look, and feel. I’ve since stayed at the recently opened W São Paulo (my ninth W hotel), which was literally stunning.

Don’t worry, W Hollywood, you still wear the crown for the best gym!

Overall, the hotel is stunning, the service is great, and the location is perfect for exploring Hollywood.

I hope to visit my tenth W hotel very soon!