The Beverly Wilshire is undeniably an iconic hotel, with probably one of the best locations you could ask for in Beverly Hills. Step outside and you are essentially on Rodeo Drive, and there is a real sense of history and occasion to staying somewhere so well known. If you can get a good rate, I would absolutely say it is worth experiencing at least once.
I've stayed in quite a few five-star hotels over the years, and most are excellent in one way or another. For me, though, the truly exceptional ones are the hotels that somehow get everything right — the room, service, facilities, atmosphere and all those little details that collectively make a stay feel special. The Beverly Wilshire came close in places, but never quite delivered that complete experience.
The staff were lovely and generally the service was very good. There were actually occasions when the hotel was incredibly accommodating and went out of its way to help us, and those moments were genuinely impressive. At other times, however, things felt surprisingly ordinary for a hotel at this level and price point. It's difficult to put your finger on exactly what was missing, but at times the hotel felt a little impersonal — almost as though some of the soul and character you expect from a truly great five-star hotel had been lost somewhere along the way.
The facilities were probably the biggest disappointment. The swimming pool is much smaller than I expected for a hotel of this stature, and while perfectly pleasant, it certainly isn't somewhere you'd describe as spectacular.
I was even more surprised by the spa. It carries a Forbes Five-Star rating, so my expectations were understandably high, but the actual facilities felt remarkably limited. The treatment experience may well be excellent, but purely in terms of spa facilities, I have honestly seen larger and more comprehensive spas in good city health clubs. For a hotel commanding room rates that can run into four figures a night, I expected considerably more.
Perhaps European five-star hotels have conditioned me to expect a slightly different style of luxury, although I stayed at another American five-star hotel immediately after the Beverly Wilshire and that property absolutely ticked every box. So I don't think this is simply a US-versus-Europe comparison.
Ultimately, I enjoyed my stay. It's a beautiful, historic and genuinely iconic Beverly Hills hotel in an unbeatable location, with some excellent people working there. But I came away feeling that it is perhaps trading a little too heavily on what the Beverly Wilshire was, rather than concentrating enough on what a hotel of this reputation and price should be today.
There is absolutely nothing bad about the Beverly Wilshire — far from it. I just expected to leave thinking, “That was exceptional.” Instead, I left thinking, “That was very nice.”
And at this level, there is quite a difference between the two.
