Hollywood Guesthouse Inn: A Review

Located off of Sunset, two blocks east of Highland, this spot seems to be in a highly convenient location, but it certainly isn't convenient enough to want to deal with all the problems with the rooms, policies, and management. In fact, I don't even think a low room rate would make staying there worth it.

After arriving in Los Angeles without a place to stay, I decided to stop in at the Hollywood Guesthouse Inn. I stopped into the office to secure a room only to find out this shabby little inn would cost me a whopping 130 a night for two beds and a little over 100 for a single king bed. I was shocked! The Hollywood Guesthouse Inn certainly didn't look any nicer than a Super 8 or Motel 6, so why were the rooms so expensive? The desk clerk who was visibly annoyed by my indecision on whether to take the room then assured me that the price was so high because the rooms were nice and clean. With this assurance, I decided to take a room. I was made to pay upfront, along with a supposedly refundable deposit, a fee for the internet, and a 14.25% tax on the room. Too tired to argue, I forked out the cash.

Upon entering the room, I immediately felt the pang of disappointment and regret. The rooms were neither clean, nor nice. On the contrary, they were furnished with shabby beds, chairs, televisions, and dressers. The television didn't even have a remote on it, and the reception was fuzzy at best. The bathrooms were stocked wit towels, and that is it. There was no soap on the counter or in the shower. Although there was a soap and shampoo dispenser in the shower, it wasn't filled with anything. There was ¼ of a roll of toilet paper left hanging on the holder, and a new roll sitting on the top of the toilet. Furthermore, the room smelt of smoke, as did the sheets and towels. This wouldn't have been a big deal if I had asked for a smoking room, but I had asked for a non-smoking room. When I addressed this issue, the desk clerk assured me that although there was no non-smoking placard on the door, it was a non-smoking room, and that someone must have smoked in there recently. ...Really?!

As if the musty, smoky smell wasn't enough, the fan blades were covered with grey dust bunnies. Despite the heat of an LA summer, there was no way that fun was going to be turned on. Furthermore, the top quarter of the walls and the full of the ceiling was also covered with dingy grey dust bunnies. So much for clean rooms. The walls were streaked with grey and black as though someone had drug their boot over them, and the carpet was almost too disgusting to walk on without shoes. Needless to say there would not be a second night there for me. Apparently, I wouldn't be sleeping in either.

Hollywood Guesthouse Inn policy states that a ten dollar fee applies for every hour someone is late on checking out. Since I was tired, I decided an extra ten to twenty wasn't going to kill me. However, at ten thirty I received a phone call from the front desk lady (I'm pretty sure there is only one) reminding me that check out was in half an hour. Lazily I went back to bed only to get a knock on the door half an hour later demanding I give her money for the extra time spent in the room. This continued until I was ready to leave, every twenty minutes a knock on the door, huffing and puffing, and demanding I pay another 5 dollars in cash for being there late. I was fuming! What terrible customer service! On top of that, I never got my deposit money back.

All in all my time at the Hollywood Guesthouse Inn was a disastrous nightmare. I would never go back, and I would never recommend the place to anyone. If you're looking for a cheap and convenient hotel in the heart of Hollywood, go elsewhere. The Hollywood Guesthouse Inn isn't worth the headache.