Sofitel Los Angeles, California 4 Star Luxury Hotel

Sofitel LA is the city's hottest new destination, with stunning interiors featuring French style and Hollywood glamour.

The hotel sits on the corner of La Cienega and Beverly Boulevard, opposite the Beverly Center. Everyone knows a little black dress can be very sexy. Apparently the same thing is true for a black hotel lobby. Just step into the lobby of the Sofitel Los Angeles (www.sofitella.com) and give your eyes a minute to adjust to the black lacquer accented with sparkling pewter in which celebrated design firm Yabu Pushelberg has encased the lobby.

Intended to serve as a flagship property in the prestigious Sofitel chain, the Sofitel Los Angeles has been given a $45 million makeover. In the 295 guestrooms, designer Cheryl Rowley has amped up the glamour with a mix of exotic Macassar Ebony and limed white oak. The effect is as creamy and delicious as a white chocolate truffle.

All the rooms have have floor-to-ceiling windows, with the rooms on the north side of the hotel offering fun views of the landmark Hollywood sign. On the other side of the hotel, your view is of the Beverly Center (www.beverlycenter.com), one of the city’s top shopping malls, which sits at the intersection of Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

The hotel’s SoElite superior rooms not only offer more space, they also raise the drama factor with a window from the shower to the bedroom that allows you to either watch TV while getting wet or flip a switch to turn the glass opaque for privacy purposes.

An upgrade to the suite life not only gives you more space, it also means a room outfitted with Bose stereo systems and jumbo soaking tubs complete with their own flat-screen televisions. In the penthouse suites (mostly on the 10th floor), celebrities and VIPs enjoy rakishly angled window-walls that provide a mod, ocean liner sort of feeling. Relax on the massive balcony complete with its own fireplace.

If you can tear yourself away from the 300 channels of cable television on the 32-inch plasma televisions, you’ll find plenty of other worthwhile attractions in the rest of the hotel. In the SIMON LA restaurant, celebrity chef Kerry Simon, winner of the first Iron Chef America competition, has blazed a trail through modern American cuisine. Standout winners on his menu include the piping-hot Crispy Wild ‘Little’ Gulf Shrimp in a ponzu dipping sauce and the Maine Lobster Roll. Save some room for one of the most clever desserts in years – the Simon Junk Food Sampler, a confabulation of all the best childhood treats including a cotton candy, cupcakes, a milkshake, caramel popcorn and more. (You can take some of the sampler home if you can’t finish everything…)

Meanwhile, the action doesn’t slow down at night. That’s when the Stone Rose Lounge by impresario Rande Gerber gets rolling. Inside, the lounge sets the scene with red sofas, patent leather walls and a red glass bookcase. Outside on the patio, the warm Los Angeles nights provide the perfect climate for sitting and talking amid the candlelit greenery and the sound of splashing water. A large fire-pit enclosure and oversized covered beds add to the sexiness factor. Since the lounge restricts entrance to keep the vibe relaxed and uncrowded, hotel guests have the added bonus of knowing they’ll get past what can otherwise be one of the toughest velvet ropes in town.

Finally, after a night of eating and imbibing, it’s good to know that the Sofitel Los Angeles doesn’t skimp on health and fitness offerings. SO Fit, the 2,500 square foot complimentary fitness center, is one of the largest hotel fitness facilities in Los Angeles. Size isn’t everything of course, so you’ll be pleased to know that SO Fit has the latest and greatest machines, complete with personal flat-screen televisions at all the stationary bikes, treadmills and elliptical trainers. Walls of windows let in streams of sunlight, making for a joyful workout experience. In good weather (a frequent Los Angeles occurrence), the windows can be opened wide which practically produces the feeling of exercising outdoors.

After working up a sweat in SO Fit, it's time to calm down at LeSpa at Sofitel, the first North American luxury spa destination in the Sofitel chain. Here every treatment begins with a heated-rock foot soak and individualized tea service in the Serenity Lounge. Treatments incorporate only the finest French skincare products by Decléor and Carita. The spa menu provides a wide range of treatment options, with the massage selection including reflexology, hot stone, aromatherapy and Shiatsu techniques. For the convenience and privacy of guests staying at the Sofitel, in-room treatment options are available.

There is something deeply enjoyable about checking into a hotel with a strong sense of identity, a deep faith in the identity it wishes to project and a meticulous attention to detail. As just such a hotel, the Sofitel Los Angeles excites great anticipation for the future of the Sofitel brand.

Hotel review by Aaron Dalton.