It was Ian Schrager who defined the importance of common spaces in the modern hotel industry. He’s the reason every hotel wants to be “boutique” – even if they have more than 100 rooms – and why so many hotel marketing terms have been added to the eye-glossing dictionary of hospitality buzzwords.
And while his new Public brand of hotels is steadily being sketched onto some of the world’s most coveted destinations, it’s becoming increasingly clear that what the modern traveller wants isn’t luxury for the sake of luxury; they want luxury with meaning. In a post-influencer economy, I’m increasingly finding that luxury lacks humility and purpose beyond making unimportant people feel important.
Luxury rarely has meaning, really. It’s designed to both humanise and pamper a handful of guests, and is often misused as a hollow status symbol by hollow people driven by hollow aesthetics. That’s why the 1 Hotels brand is so intriguing to me, arriving at a time when I (and I’m not alone here) have become disillusioned with the realm of luxury travel.
I’ve since stayed at several 1 properties over the past few years. I’ve fallen in love with both of their New York City locations, am typing this article from their Copenhagen iteration, and am dreaming of their fresh-faced Tokyo property. Right now, I’m eating a farm-fresh apple I just picked up on the way back to my room, half-distracted by the view from my balcony: a vista packed with colourful buildings in the foreground, a designer garden below, and lovely church spires in the distance.
The Copenhagen property is interesting because it’s one of the only 1’s that share some DNA with 1 Hotel West Hollywood, which I stayed at in mid-2025. While I’m writing broadly about the brand, I’ll focus on that property for this hotel review.
Location
1 Hotel West Hollywood sits on the same side of the legendary Sunset Strip as the Sunset Tower Hotel and Andaz West Hollywood. It’s almost directly opposite an edgy modern dispensary and just a short walk from The Comedy Store. Here, you’re on the corner of the hilly La Cienega Boulevard, which gives this 283-room luxury hotel a distinct edge, carving out enough space for an enchanting (and I don’t use that word lightly) outdoor garden as well as a lookout that could rival some of the best views in Los Angeles.
This lookout, elevated by large wooden steps, is one of the hotel’s biggest draws and remains a West Hollywood secret. You won’t find it unless you go looking for it. And it’s worth the effort: walking through a small forest path lit at night with hanging lanterns, turning the corner, and being absolutely gobsmacked by a sweeping panoramic view that takes in the L.A. skyline. It’s nice at any time during the day; better yet, you’ll rarely find anyone else here due to the obscurity.
It’s one of the few places that you can find some peace in West Hollywood, and is especially nice if you’re using it as a bit of a nightcap after trailing the bars and music clubs of Sunset Strip. Drinking in those views is the kind of long exhale that makes you fall in love with Los Angeles all over again.
I wasn’t staying at 1 Hotel West Hollywood when I went back to WeHo earlier this year, but made it a point to venture on back to the lookout after having a night at The Viper Room. In a big city like L.A., where nights can easily get out of hand, I think it pays to have these quiet spots to almost decompress and take stock of all the chaos. New York City has its parks, just like Tokyo does as well. Quiet, contemplative “time out” spots will always be valuable in big cities. This has become one of my favourite of L.A.’s many hidden spots.
Design
There’s a very specific look to a 1 Hotel. Reclaimed wood, exposed stone and an almost obsessive amount of greenery are used to bring the outside in, with enough rough texture to stop everything from feeling overly polished. Biophilic design defines the brand, and it’s reliably repeated across all of the properties (at least the ones that I’ve stayed at).
It works particularly well in West Hollywood. Los Angeles is already one of the world’s great indoor-outdoor cities, so the hotel’s hyperspecific design jargon feels like a natural extension of its surroundings. Plants spill across walls and sit between chunky wooden furniture, while large windows bring plenty of Californian sunlight into the common areas. The palette rarely strays far from timber, stone, concrete and earthy neutrals.
The lobby is where it all comes together. It’s big, but broken up into smaller pockets with communal tables, oversized sofas and plenty of places to sit and make yourself at home. The mismatched furniture is luxurious and well-conceived, offering a good range of seating for both intimacy and group dynamics. The whole thing is warmed by mood lighting, while the elevated lounge area is sandwiched between a long bar and reception desks which look more like wooden podiums than a traditional check-in desk.
This is where I come back to Ian Schrager’s influence. A good hotel lobby should have its own gravity, pulling you out of your room even when you don’t have anywhere else to be. You saunter down a lovely set of stairs with pot plants on each step before getting to the den-like common area, and it pulls you straight from the Sunset Strip into its own little world.
There’s substance behind the aesthetic as well. Reclaimed and repurposed materials are used extensively throughout the property, including timber salvaged from naturally fallen trees, while the hotel’s broader sustainability philosophy is worked into the design rather than relegated to a card asking you to reuse your towels.
Of course, plenty of luxury hotels now throw around terms like “biophilic” and “sustainable”. 1 Hotel West Hollywood is simply more convincing at it than most. The natural materials give the property warmth and personality, but more importantly, they make luxury feel a little less precious.
Rooms
At 33 square metres, my Skyline King room is generous and brightened by a liberal use of reclaimed materials. There’s plenty of personality coupled with views of L.A. in the background and a sliver of the hotel’s terrace pool below.
The brand’s rustic aesthetic continues here, although it’s softened considerably. A large reclaimed timber headboard frames the king bed, while plenty of greenery and small, tactile details keep the room from feeling like another identikit luxury hotel box. Floor-to-ceiling windows do much of the heavy lifting, especially later in the day when that famously flattering L.A. light starts pouring in.
I also like that 1 Hotels doesn’t abandon its sustainability pitch once you get past the lobby. Filtered water replaces disposable plastic bottles, there’s plenty of recycled and repurposed material throughout, and even the little touches feel considered rather than performative.
The bathroom is spacious without eating unnecessarily into the bedroom, with a walk-in rainfall shower and the kind of natural, muted palette that has become synonymous with the brand. But the view is ultimately what gives the Skyline King its sense of place. Waking up and immediately seeing Los Angeles sprawling beyond the glass is a very effective reminder that you’re staying high above Sunset Boulevard.
Food & Drink
Food and drink at 1 Hotel West Hollywood follows the same philosophy as everything else: local, seasonal and health-conscious without making you feel like you’re being punished for wanting something indulgent.
The main restaurant, 1 Kitchen by Chris Crary, is an airy extension of the hotel’s greenery-heavy design, with a produce-driven menu that leans heavily on Californian ingredients. Breakfast is particularly good here, helped by the sunlight pouring into the space and a menu that moves easily between virtuous bowls and more substantial classics. I’m not sure why they even bother making the interior so big when most guests will want to eat in the garden, however. It’s a great way to start the day.
Juniper is the hotel’s moodier drinking spot, built around botanical cocktails and a more intimate atmosphere in the main lounge area, while Harriet’s Rooftop is where things become much more recognisably West Hollywood. Sitting high above Sunset Boulevard, it’s a polished rooftop bar with sweeping views across Los Angeles and enough of a scene to draw plenty of people who aren’t staying at the hotel.
You can spend the morning over something fresh and sensible downstairs, then watch L.A. turn gold from the rooftop with a cocktail in hand. Everything has a fresh focus as well, aligning with the hotel’s overall philosophy so that there are no jarring elements.
Amenities
A tall blackboard at reception is filled each week with activities written in chalk, and it’s one of the first signs that 1 Hotel wants to function as more than somewhere to sleep.
The schedule is impressively diverse, moving through fitness classes and sound baths to various wellness experiences, pop-ups and seasonal activations. It all taps neatly into modern wellness trends while giving the hotel a stronger sense of community, particularly when so many luxury properties can feel strangely anonymous.
The Field House is an excellent 24-hour gym with plenty of cardio and strength equipment, while the rooftop pool and sun deck make very good use of those sprawling L.A. views. There’s also a boutique, Goodthings, selling a curated mix of products from local makers and other brands.
It’s a substantial offering, but that revolving calendar is what stands out most. There’s almost always something happening, giving the hotel the feeling of a small community rather than simply a place to stay.
Service
Service is hushed but efficient, matching the hotel’s relaxed personality. Staff are warm without being overbearing and, for the most part, things seem to happen quietly in the background.
That’s an approach I much prefer to the choreographed attentiveness you sometimes get at luxury hotels, where service can become almost theatrical. Here, interactions feel casual and human while still being polished, from the reception desk through to the restaurant and pool.
Verdict & Value
1 Hotel West Hollywood is one of the brand’s more upscale properties in the US, bigger in footprint than Nashville and San Francisco, but smaller than the sprawling beach complex in Miami. It attracts a similar price tag, so you can expect to pay around US$500 per night, at least. I’ve seen rates climb up to around US$800 in busy season. L.A. hotel rates tend to fluctuate a lot compared to other cities in the United States.
There’s no getting around the fact that 1 Hotel West Hollywood is expensive. But value at this end of the market is rarely about getting the most room for your dollar. It’s about whether a hotel gives you enough reasons to choose it over the dozens of similarly priced luxury properties nearby. Here, I think it does. The location is superb, the views are exceptional, the rooms have personality, and there’s enough happening around the property that staying in for a few hours never feels like wasted time.
It’s comfortable, handsome and noticeably more relaxed than the kind of Instagram fodder you’ll find at some of West Hollywood’s more overtly glamorous hotels. That’s precisely why I’ve really fallen for the 1 Hotels brand. These properties are now packed with “influencer”-types in the same way that Marriott’s W brand used to be, but the 1 highlights that you can have this kind of heightened, playful luxury that works so well with modern travellers, while still genuinely caring for the environment.
As I wrote in this piece for International Traveller, one of the best sustainability initiatives is education. Showing the younger generation of luxury travellers that you don’t have to compromise on creature comforts to go beyond greenwashing and legitimately care for the environment is important. This is why I think 1 is one of the most essential brands in hospitality right now.
FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
1 Hotel West Hollywood
Address: 8490 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA
Contact: +1 310-424-1600
The author stayed two nights as a guest of 1 Hotel West Hollywood.
More on 1 Hotels
I’ve become so smitten with the 1 Hotels brand that I’m trying to review every property they’ve got. If you want to read up on a few other of their hotels, check out the links below.
1 Hotel Central Park (New York)
1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge (New York)
