Ever since my mom came to visit and we took a touristy walk into the W Hotel Hollywood Lobby, I knew I wanted to come back for drinks. The lobby is gorgeous---mostly white with a winding staircase and a huge, sparkling chandelier. It's also a bar called "The Living Room"--set with comfy (albeit stylish) couches and, according to the website, free wifi, so patrons can feel like they're sitting in a more upscale version of their own living rooms. Although I can guarantee my living room wouldn't serve $14 drinks.... (MO: anyone who has visited us can attest to that!)
Saturday night I told Matt I wanted to make my W drinks happen. I texted Candice to let her know we'd be coming to her hood (she's a hollywood local now) and she decided to come too. Matt and I stopped by her apartment and then began to make our way to the bar, ever so slowly. Hollywod Blvd is normally a nightmare on Saturday night, but this time it was especially awful. I noticed up ahead of us a very bright light.....heaven? aliens? Did Ben turn that damn wheel again??? Nope. Just a huge crane with lighting equipment and a ridiculously massive white reflector precariously hanging over a cop car. One of the few places in the world in which the reason for traffic is a film shoot--I can't say I was mad.
The film shoot happened to be JUST outside the W, so we miss the valet park (supposedly $5 for the first 2.5 hours, then $3 for every hour afterward...). This actually turns out to be a good thing. We find 2 hour meter parking nearby that ends at midnight. Do the math--that's $4 to park there the rest of the evening. Yes! Where's this amazing parking you ask? I'll never tell...(RIP Britney Murphy).
After parking, Matt, Candice and I make our way past the maze of lines being set up for the W's nightclub, Drais (a non-after hours version of the Vegas one?) and step into the lobby. Uh oh. There's bouncer types standing at the front of The Living Room; that's not very neighborly. We walk up to them and the guy asks Matt if we're staying at the hotel. No. Are we with a party? Matt says the only party he's with are me and Candice. The bouncer looks us over and deems us worthy. Quite an easy exchange considering this is LA. As it turns out, the bouncer here is pretty much a front. ANYONE could get in (although a lot of the strangness could be accounted for by hotel guests I suppose). But that's my first plus about The Living Room---you get the classy, glitsy feel of a Hollywood lounge--but you don't have to worry at all about not getting in.
At the bar, Matt orders his normal vodka on the rocks (Chopin this time, ooooOOOo). Candice and I get specialty drinks (they better be special at $14!). Summertime Lemonade for me, Cucumber Cooler for her. Both equally tasty and refreshing. We snag the side of a couch that's next to two stools and a little table. This turns out to be an excellent spot for people watching. You see, The Living Room is also connected to another bar---Station Hollywood, and we're perched just outside it's entrance--with a view of Station and the entire Living Room. Station sits between the lobby and the metro stop (which comes up in the center of the courtyard at the front of the hotel---a useful metro stop, woo!). It's outdoors with fireplaces and a huge projector--that I think should be showing silent movies instead of strange designs. For some reason, the hotel's trying to make this bar seem "exclusive". Except it's pretty much exactly like The Living Room...but with less seating and too cold for us scantily clad ladies. Matt makes the hilarious comment that the bouncer looks like Obama--to which he is referred for the rest of the evening. Like "Obama's a hard ass compared to the other bouncers" or "look, Obama's turning down someone else" or " wait, how did Obama let that person in??".
Round Two for Candice---crazy grape drink I can't remember the name of. Me-the LA Thymes (tee-hee), tastes like an orange creamcicle-Yum!. We moved on to wine after this, wanting to save some dough. Seems like regular cocktails and wine are $10 a pop. Still up there, but easier to swallow than the $14. For the rest of the evening, we continue our people watching game.
Some highlights: A HUGE italian we called Mafia, wearing a black velour track suit, accompanied by a spiky haired dwarf in a suit. No joke. They had trouble with Obama.
A sadly dressed girl (one of those awful one piece/shorts ensembles--with terrible cameltoe), who Candice convinced us had to be a hooker.
Skinny blond chick who's hairstyle choice made me think Ke$ha threw up on her head.
Girl dressed in denim, sparkly jacket with blue, sparkly cowboy boots (straight out of Jesse from Toy Story's closet) and her SUPER sequined friend, who I think was the size of my pinky, making her head look big and floppy (kind of like a Canadian?).
I'll definitely be back to this bar. but not for awhile, I've got to save up! I was highly entertained just by watching the clientele. A nice combo of a fancy night out without the pressures of "the line" or the lack of seating.
Matt:
I liked the Living Room. I would have liked to have been able to sit somewhere with my back to less of the bar, but the hugeness of the place sort of made that impractical. The dress code seemed a little more "Vegas Club" than I tend to prefer, but really, I wear whatever I want wherever I go anyway, so whatever. I liked the grand staircase at the west end of the room even though I didn't go climb it.
The bouncer for the Station Bar did look like Obama, if el Prez had been hit on the head as a kid and compensated by half-heartedly hitting the gym. And Mafia was wider than the dwarf was tall, honestly, and looked like some kind of Russian gangster, only with less jewelry. I also liked the middle-aged couple that made out for awhile before the guy decided that he wanted to rest his head in his partner's cleavage. If they had been wearing sweats rather than club gear, they'd have looked like they were sitting on their couch at home watching TV.
