Los Angeles is a huge city, so choosing a hotel is very important when deciding where to stay. You can stay in West Hollywood, close to some of the trendiest shopping and restaurants, or Beverly Hills, filled with manicured landscaping and luxury shopping. You could also head towards the beach, and stay in Santa Monica with oceanfront views and plenty of dining options.
It has a European flair and the location is on the border of West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, making it super easy to get to many of the places we wanted to hit during our trip!
How cute is their little library in the lobby? They stock it with books to browse as well as fresh stacks of daily newspapers, complimentary to guests.
The Orlando Hotel is also home to Cleo, the Mediterranean restaurant that’s part of sbe, the global hospitality group with hotel, restaurant, and nightlife properties around the world.
Luckily, we were also treated to breakfast there during our stay. I love the lounge-y atmosphere, and btw their homemade granola is to die for.
P.S. You can shop those red cat eye sunnies here and that cute book here.
A rooftop pool also doesn’t hurt…
And if your sweet tooth kicks in, Magnolia Bakery is directly across the street (known for their World Famous Banana Pudding).
I partnered with Prius for our trip around LA, and how perfect is this little pitstop in front of clean beauty store, Credo?! The Prius C Hatchback and Credo’s toxin-free beauty street art are basically a match made in heaven!
I couldn’t help but snap a photo on the way to one of our dinners, since this little corner in front of The Orlando Hotel is just too cute. You can peek inside through the windows to Cleo, directly behind me.
Though we had many food adventures in LA, our dining experience at INKO NITO in the Arts District was so special. The cocktails are amazing (I recommend the INKO Spritz: watermelon, aperol, yuzu, sparkling wine), and it’s small plate style, so you get to try a variety of flavors and styles of food.
My favorites were The Hottie (sushi): fried shrimp, spicy Korean miso, & sesame, the kimchi rice with Korean miso, spring onions, sesame & egg yolk (they shake it up for you table-side, and it’s served in the cute gold tin you see above), the brussel sprouts with sesame furikake & wasabi mayo, the cauliflower with garlic soy aioli & parmesan panko, and the beef cheek & butter lettuce wraps, Korean miso & pickled daikon (you might be skeptical, but it was so tender and delicious).
There is also no doubt that your server will suggest their staple dessert – charred coconut soft serve with sweet soy, pocky & Japanese granola. Do yourself a favor, and say yes!
The ambiance and service were top notch, and I highly recommend a visit. They are also opening a second location, which funny enough is next door to The Orlando Hotel where we stayed, but it wasn’t open yet!
We also cruised over to Santa Monica, and I definitely have some foodie recommendations for you!
A breakfast at The Hive Santa Monica was perfect to get us going! I highly recommend the Immortality Mushroom Panini with goat cheese and truffle oil!
SHOP THIS LOOK:
A lunchtime stop at Lemonade is always fun! They have different flavored lemonades (you can even mix and match flavors, and they have low sugar versions), and I’m so obsessed with the different salads that they have. I made my own platter of 4 salads, and they also have sandwiches and poké bowls!
Our last lunch was at FIG at Fairmont Santa Monica. Heaven on Earth. The restaurant is so stunning and aesthetically pleasing, and the food was superior. We started with the Bread Balloon with California olive oil and sea salt, served with their assortment of hummus, babaganoush and muhamara. We then dove into the Lobster Cobb Salad, Squash Blossom Pizza with green garlic pesto, smoked mozzerella & chiles, and Hand Rolled Ricotta Cavatelli Pasta with late spring peas, shittake happens’ foraged mushrooms, creme fraiche & chives. They finished us off with fresh chocolate chip and oatmeal walnut cookies.
We had such an amazing trip and a great stay at The Orlando Hotel! Feel free to let me know if you have any other LA specific questions! We hit up a ton of restaurants, did a hike, swung by a farmer’s market, and I also have two other blog posts on LA from previous trips: Los Angeles Sights and LA Foodie Adventures!
*This post was in partnership with The Orlando Hotel, but all opinions are my own.
