CA Los Angeles Millenium Biltmore Downtown

[liveforbargains]

We came to spend the night to celebrate my husband's birthday. The Biltmore is a beautiful historic hotel located in the center of downtown L.A. The public rooms are very opulent and the architecture and attention to detail is just stunning.

That being said, I was very underwhelmed with my stay at the Biltmore. There is no public parking anywhere nearby and the fee to park at the Biltmore is $22 per day with in and out privledges.

Upon check in, we told the woman at the front desk it was my husband's birthday and asked if we could get a nice room or an upgrade. She requested my husband's ID, which I thought was strange- maybe to verify it really was his birthday. She told me she could give us a room that would include a free breakfast, free parking and free entry to the pool and health club - which is normally $7.00. She asked me how that sounded and I told her it sounded great. I asked her how much extra it would be and she told me $100!! Excuse me-I don't think so...

I told her I'd take it for $20 or $40 but she told me that she couldn't do that. She gave me the keys to the room and off we went. When we opened the door to the room we couldn't believe the room she gave us. It had to be one of the smallest rooms I've ever seen in an American hotel. There was only one bed and it was a full size bed. I immediately called the front desk and asked for a larger room with a king or 2 doubles. They told me they would send the bell man up with keys to the new room. When the bellman came he commented that this was the smallest room in the hotel.

We then went to see our new room. I would call it a standard size room with two full beds. The bathroom was very small and door was full of dust. Some of the fixtures in the room appeared to be original which added some charm, but overall the room was nothing special. There was no coffee maker and the TV was really small- I think it might have been a 19 inch.

The Biltmore is a wonderful place to go for a wedding or business meeting but an overnight stay is nothing special.

[Colfax]

Parking is $40/night now, valet only. I parked in the Pershing Square garage across the street for $13-$14.

Biltmore rooms still have the small 1980's era TVs mentioned in the 2004 post above.

Grand lobby and public spaces, faded rooms. Still a good experience overall.

[gotozmoon]

Just wanted to update on my stay at the Millenium Biltmore. Many people have written reviews complaining about the size of the rooms and the noise level. I had a wonderful stay in a very large room with a nice sized bathroom. There was no noise, but I may have been there at a quiet time. Parking is quite expensive, but I was able to park across the street for just $15.40 overnight. Wireless internet is $9.95 per day. Overall, I had a wonderful stay and have no complaints!

[Sutter]

We booked directly through the hotel, and stayed just before Christmas 2 years ago. When my wife asked if we could get a room with a safe in it, the clerk upgraded us to a club level room. It was quite nice, and had plenty of space. Can't say what the "regular" rooms are like. Restaurant was pricey, and we wanted to walk around, so ate at the historic (and basic) Pantry restaurant. Before that walked to the Grand Market and famous wrought-iron-filled Bradbury Building. We did have a drink in the hotel's bar (pricey). The whole lobby and main corridor areas were atmospheric (including photos taken when the Academy Awards took place there, back in the 1930s; the photos reminded me of "The Shining"), as was the old style indoor pool. Since this was around Xmas, there were lots of decorations in the hotel, and a winter festival, including an ice skating rink, across the street in Pershing Square, even in the evening. We easily got from the hotel to Union Station via subway. Hotel staff said the area was safe to walk in at night.