One Lux Stay HWH Downtown Los Angeles — Hotel in Los Angeles

Warning: this is not a hotel. It is a multi-tenant building where people sublet their units as “hotel rooms”. ||When we arrived, the “staff” seemed confused. No “hello, how can I help you?” “Checking in?” I gave my name and the lady didn’t seem to understand. She then asked me to write my name on a piece of paper. Odd. ||Eventually after texting on her phone for a couple of minutes, she said the room number and sent us up the elevator saying our room would be unlocked with the key inside. We proceeded to the room. Ring cameras were located on every unit (weird for a “hotel”). The door was not unlocked and the lock on the outside appeared broken. Went back down to the young lady at the desk who couldn’t figure out what to do with us and handed us her personal phone with the person on the other line being called “Eugene Airbnb”. Did we choose an Airbnb tonight or a hotel room? Eugene asked if we got the lock box code and we said no. We said we would not be staying given this sketchy situation. ||Who is regulating this “hotel” room? How about the Ring camera at every door. Should anyone be watched coming in and out of a “hotel” room? How do we know there aren’t cameras or weird things going on inside the room since there are no standards or regulations of a normal hotel? ||If we wanted an Airbnb, we would’ve chosen one that has reviews and feedback so we could feel safe. We are still trying to get our money back from this fake hotel. Hotels.com told us they cannot issue a refund despite all of this information and still offers the “hotel”on their site for the next unsuspecting guest. Shame on all the travel sites for offering...

The room was nice. The rooftop was nice aside from people partying up there, which wasn't my thing.

However, it was really hard to get the key to the room because, despite how we followed their detailed instructions--the key was not where it was supposed to be. We gave a 45 min heads-up that we were on our way to check in, as requested. The person who answered the phone said, "okay," and hung up.

When we got there we had to wait a while, along with some other people trying to check in and experiencing the same difficulties.

With the hoops you have to jump through to get check in instructions, it was ridiculously hard to get checked in. They would not give us check in instructions without us sending info on us and pictures of our IDs. We had to send multiple pictures of IDs because the person receiving it said it was too blurry 4 times.

Some of the windows don't lock, so it's possible to climb out as you can see in the picture, and someone could potentially climb in if they could push it up from outside. There was also a stripped wire in a closet and it was not something that seemed like it would be up to code.

Note: this seemed to be listed by the person who is renting or who owns the unit, not the building owner.

You will have to pay for public parking here, since there is no parking inside of the building.

Also, location wise, there were used needles on the street a block away. There was also a nice cheese place and the Last Bookstore, but the used needles on the sidewalk put me off a bit. Wear good protective footwear and keep your eyes peeled...

Our room was booked through Expedia; it was large and the service over SMS was very helpful — thank you Sonia for letting us store our luggage before check-in. Staff at the building were nice. Everything inside was safe and the gym was great. As feedback, I think some of the photos are outdated (there is more wear and tear) and the windows need to be soundproofed. It was quite loud, and the area outside was a little rough and far from most tourist attractions. If you’re planning to go to areas such as West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, or the beaches, stay on the other side of LA. More clear instructions on how to get in the building would also be helpful to those new to HWH (there is a door in the parking lot you can use to call valet services, who will help you if you’re staying there). I was skeptical at first due to the aforementioned things, but I would stay again due to the safety in the building, kind service and size...