Hotel Amarano Burbank-Hollywood — Hotel in Burbank

If you read no further than this one sentence, do not even hesitate and just book the Amarano already! Hands down, this beautiful 4 star boutique hotel is, by far, the best hotel in the Valley and the surrounding LA area. Whether you stay for 1 night or 48 nights like I did (due to repairs to my house), this is the ONLY hotel to consider – so classy and elegant and surprisingly affordable when compared to hotels like the Residence Inn. This hotel checks all the boxes - wonderful staff, lovely amenities, cool bar (and restaurant, though I didn’t try it), nice safe area, great location right off the freeway, walkable to Toluca Lake, grocery store/restaurants right across the street (Ma’s Italian – yum!), and just so hip and cool, yet not even a little bit snobby. When you drive up to the place, are greeted by one of the great valet guys, walk into the lobby, and see the beautiful restaurant/bar to your left and friendly, smiling staff to your right, you know you are in for something special. First off – I must thank all of the wonderful employees who made my time there so sublime, truly like a home away from home: Zach in valet was a stand-out – so cheery and warm – great way to start my morning and end my evening seeing Zach and knowing he’d take good care of my car; Rex and Will in valet were wonderful, too. Next, Ali, Hernan, Sergio, and Scott were all so great at the front desk, along with Blake at the breakfast bar. It was always such a pleasure seeing any one of them – so happy, helpful, and kind; they always made me feel so at home. Finally, Laurie Dew in Sales was awesome to work with; I only wish I had connected with her at the start (take notes, people, if you come here for a long-term stay). Once I was connected to her (thanks to Ali), she helped to make sure I could stay for more consecutive nights at the rates needed for my homeowners’ insurance to cover (early on, I would stay for so many days, then check out when they were sold out or priced too high for my budget on peak days). All in all, the people really make this place!! Love, love, love how at home they made me feel (other than one grumpy guy in valet). Now, getting to the hotel itself and the rooms. Elegant and swanky cool rooms; clean, full power AC, roomy, and stylish. I was upgraded on day 1 to Room 465, which has a luxurious spa tub and walk in shower, a balcony looking down at the pool, fridge, coffee bar, and microwave oven. I stayed in 3 different rooms over the course of 2+ months but ultimately room 404 was the one that best suited my needs for long term stays – nice deep drawers in the bathroom to hold all my stuff, accessible safe (not up high in the closet), great view of the sunset from the Juliet balcony above the front of the hotel, magnifying mirror, the perfect walk in shower with high quality shampoo, soaps, and lotions, stylish and comfy king bed, large TV, and oh the Lavazza espresso machine! Best in-room coffee ever! Next, the hotel amenities – it’s quite surprising that a free continental breakfast bar is included – can you get that at the Sheraton Universal nearby? I highly doubt it. It’s bagels, muffins, yogurt, apples, granola bars, etc., but I think you can order hot food from the restaurant if you so desire. You can eat outside in the serene patio area or in the dining area facing the front desk - all very classy, though I often took mine to go; you might even spot a celebrity or two (my lips are sealed, but Will & Grace is a clue). The beautiful pool and jacuzzi area was usually empty, so hanging out there was like having your own private oasis. The gym is somewhat limited but had a lot of high quality equipment, along with a TV and complimentary bottles of water and apples (and, actually, you can ask for bottled water at the front desk at any time, or they oftentimes will offer them up to you, even as you are checking out). Throughout my ordeal of living outside my home for over 2 months, I mostly stayed at the Hotel Amarano, but also at a few Westins, an Aloft, a Hilton, and Le Meridien, but as a total package – the warmth of the staff, the elegance of the entire hotel, the awesome clean and stylish rooms, the amenities, and the safe and accessible location – no place compared to the Hotel Amarano. The following are some helpful notes to be sure your stay is as wonderful as mine: there is no clock, pen/paper, shower cap, robe, or slippers in the room, so just be prepared to bring any of that with you if it’s important. Also, there is a $40 daily amenity fee but that’s par for the course, people; it’s pretty rare to find a hotel without an amenity fee these days. There is no self-parking but, other than tipping the guys, valet parking is covered in the amenity fee (otherwise, my occasional visiting friend would park in the surrounding neighborhood, which felt very safe). I’m saying all of this not as a criticism of the hotel but as a heads up to you potential guests – none of this is a reason not to book the Amarano, nor is it worth griping about later or posting some undeserved nasty review. If you are an out-of-towner visiting this area, here on business at the nearby studios, looking for a relaxing staycation, or needing a long-term stay like me, this is absolutely the place to stay, no question. Thank you Hotel Amarano! I hope to be...

We were here for a Warmer Bros. Tour so the location was very close and ideal for what we visited the area to do. The area felt safe and had not tons but some good food options.

The room was nicely decorated but the ceiling over our shower had water damage and some mold looking stuff on it. The towels were clean but scratchy. The coffee maker in the room was appreciated and they gave us two complimentary water bottles which was a nice touch. The beds were ok. The sheets kind of rough.

The continental breakfast area is cute and comfortable, but it was rarely stocked with food or clean, it was often out of cups, coffee, and/or pastries, always out of napkins!, which was so annoying. The morning crew one day was one handed and not keeping up, the next day the morning crew called out and someone else had to work two areas. I feel they need a better backup plan of staff and more staff. Most people in a Hotel are there to do things and have time restraints and they need everything stocked and ready when they come down so they can get to where they are going. We would’ve ordered breakfast food too, but again no one to take our order or serve us. If you were lucky enough to get one, the pastries were delicious, I only got one in our entire 4 day stay, it was a pastry with a cream in the middle and fruit on top. The bagels are good for bagels, they were fresh and not chewy or tough like store bagels but again rarely stocked. The coffee was good. The yogurt and granola were very good but they kept running out of yogurt and forget getting more in a timely manner. Our second morning, there were so many dirty tables there was no where to sit and the table we sat at we had to clear ourselves and it had someone’s hair in it, gross. Our last morning they didn’t put out granola or strawberries and all the pastries were already gone when we had to leave for the airport.

I know this is a pet friendly hotel and most people will appreciate that but I DO NOT. Animals are dirty, they are animals. I have allergies to pet dander, dog or cat, and I shouldn’t have to be subject to peoples pets in the breakfast area where I am trying to eat food, the food area should be off limits to people’s dogs for the comfort of non-dog people and for hygienic reasons of it being a food area. A guy brought a huge dog in there with him to eat one morning and a lady brought her little dog in a purse under her arm and the dog’s head was right at the height of the bar the food was served on and she was letting it breathe and whimper/bark and spittle all over the pastries and bagels - so unhygienic and gross!!!

The night staff in the bar are very nice and dressed very polished. They made great drinks with a good amount of alcohol and were attentive. The La Vida was my favorite.

The front desk staff are very nice and welcoming when you return - they always greeted us, but they are very slow to check you out or in.

The valet was so kind and got our car quickly if he wasn’t doing something else, but sometimes he was bell hop and was upstairs loading and bringing down a guests many bags and then loading their car up which is a great touch but if he’s the only person and we needed our car to make a appointment time we were stuck until he was finished. Again, just seemed short staffed.

The cleaning staff were very friendly and nice, they happily kept us stocked with towels.

The pool was beautiful but too cold to try out this time. We had a room with a pool view but no balcony.

Rooms 4 stars because they seem a little dated in some of laces like our ceiling. Service 3 stars for seeming short staffed or slow and for letting dogs in the food service area and breathing on the food. Location 5 stars for being hear what...

As a family on vacation in California we wanted to find a hotel that was affordable & wasn't run down while still being in a close proximity to our destination. Price wise, it was in the middle price range, it wasn't cheap however it also wasn't the most expensive hotel in the area. Overall, it was a good stay, there was a small downside or two, but that is almost expected when traveling.

There was a bit of confusion when we first arrived as we had booked two rooms through a booking site & were not aware the booking site had put the reservations under two of our names since the confirmation only showed one name with "2 rooms" under it. It took a few minutes, but they were able to get us into two rooms, although they did end up overcharging our credit card so we had to come back down so they could fix it. Thankfully they realized the mistake right away. We liked that it was right across the street from a small shopping center that had restaurants, a grocery store, Starbucks & more to make it continent to walk over and grab anything you might need. It was also located close to the freeway & several tourist type attractions which was the biggest draw for this hotel, was that it was close to everything we had planned on doing during our trip.

Our party was a little surprised at the breakfast though, we've stayed in hotels that were much cheaper that had a breakfast spread better suited to multiple appetites which included cereal, eggs, pancakes or even make your own waffles. For the price per night for this hotel you would think they would have something similar. The first morning they had three flavors of bagels, yogurt, a bowl of granola bars, some fresh fruits, mini muffins/pastry and coffee. The second morning they had plain bagels, mini yogurts, mini muffins, half the fruit they had the morning prior and coffee. There were no drink options for non-coffee drinkers or young children, nor were there a lot of non-bread options for non-gluten eaters. One of the families that was getting breakfast at the same time we were had asked if they could get some milk for their small children & were told it would be an extra charge to their room. I know it might sound whinny to be a little judgmental of the breakfast offering, but some people like to book hotels specifically for the included breakfast to help cut down on travel cost when traveling with their families. In a way the hotel felt like more of a spot to stay if you are traveling on business or just in town to see family verses being more family friendly for those visiting Universal, Disney, etc.

Based off of other reviews the cleanliness of the hotel room can vary from room to room and time of the year. Thankfully our room seemed quite clean upon arrival the only thing that seemed to lack a cleaning was the small patio attached...