Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills ★★★★★

A Hotel Built Around 170 Private Terraces

The Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills opened on Wilshire Boulevard in 2017, and the single decision that shapes everything else about it is architectural: every one of its 170 rooms and suites was given floor-to-ceiling windows and its own private terrace. Gensler and Perkins+Will designed the twelve-story tower in a Streamline Moderne register, a deliberate nod to 1930s Los Angeles rather than a generic glass box, and the result treats Southern California's indoor-outdoor habit as the whole point of the building rather than an afterthought.

Why It Works

We chose the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills because Pierre-Yves Rochon's interiors commit to a period without turning into a museum piece: ample white stone, burnished bronze, and Lalique crystal recall the glamour of golden-age Los Angeles while the terraces and light keep every room feeling current rather than nostalgic. Two kitchens under one roof, Baldi at ground level and Gemma on the rooftop, give the hotel a rare range, from a Tuscan steakhouse to Pan-Asian plates with a Hollywood Sign view, without either one feeling like an afterthought to the other. It is the kind of consistency that only comes from a single, disciplined design brief carried all the way through.

Why This Location

Sitting on Wilshire Boulevard next to the Beverly Hilton, the hotel keeps Rodeo Drive, the Beverly Hills Golden Triangle and Century City all within a short drive, while its own grounds and rooftop give guests a reason to stay put in the evening. It is a location built for guests moving between meetings and Rodeo Drive rather than for pure sightseeing, and the terraces mean the view comes home with them either way, morning coffee included.

Fast Facts

• Price: Luxe

• Vibe: Streamline Moderne, Art Deco glamour, polished

• Chambres: 170 rooms and suites, each with a private terrace

• Best For: business travellers extending into leisure, couples, terrace-seekers

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: Gemma's rooftop terrace, styled by designer Marc Ange with yellow European-inspired street lamps, framing the Hollywood Sign at dinner

• Dining: Baldi (Tuscan steakhouse, wood-fired, ground floor), Gemma (Pan-Asian, rooftop)

• Amenities: spa, rooftop pool with city views, fitness center, 50-seat private dining room at Baldi

• Attractions: Rodeo Drive, a short drive; Beverly Hilton, next door; Century City, nearby

Baldi and Gemma, Two Kitchens, Two Registers

Baldi anchors the ground floor with chef Edoardo Baldi's Tuscan steakhouse, built around olive-wood-fired meats and family recipes, its interiors by Ezequiel Farca Studio using woven lanterns, leather banquettes and terracotta tones to conjure Chianti rather than Los Angeles. The 50-seat private dining room lets the restaurant double as an event space without disturbing the main floor. Upstairs, Gemma turns the register over to chef Peleg Miron's Pan-Asian cooking with a California accent, served on a rooftop that looks toward the Hollywood Sign. Guests rarely need to leave the building to get two genuinely different evenings out, one grounded in Tuscany, the other in California by way of Asia.

The Rooftop by Marc Ange

Designer Marc Ange treated the rooftop as its own outdoor room rather than a pool deck with a bar attached, filling it with distinctive yellow European-style street lamps that create small pools of warm light once the sun goes down. Combined with the pool, the city views and Gemma's dinner service, it is the part of the hotel guests tend to photograph first and remember longest, and the one place on the property where the Streamline Moderne restraint downstairs gives way to something a little more theatrical.

Rooms with Floor-to-Ceiling Views

Inside, the floor-to-ceiling windows and private terraces do more work than most hotel rooms attempt: they turn a standard king room into something closer to a small apartment with a view, in keeping with the indoor-outdoor logic the whole building is designed around. It is a detail easy to overlook on a spec sheet and impossible to overlook once a guest has actually had breakfast on their own terrace, coffee in hand, looking out over Beverly Hills rather than a parking structure.