West Los Angeles
West hollywood (WeHo)
Hyper-liberal and brazenly accepting, West Hollywood, or WeHo for short, invites bold expression and all-night entertainment. It's stylish, it's glamorous, it's audacious. It's also warm, welcoming, and encouraging of eclectic creativity. An impeccably-designed urban city, West Hollywood is known for its discerning shopping and dining establishments. Wander down Melrose District by day or walk the Sunset Strip by night, as WeHo is truly a 24/7 destination.
When it comes to style, design, and decor, West Hollywood ranks highly. Stretched out between Beverly Hills and Bel Air, you can be sure that your neighbors will either be utterly fabulous or simply famous. However, don't expect the same peace and quiet that you'd find in Beverly Hills and Bel-Air. Inside, WeHo wholeheartedly embraces high energy with unabashed reckless abandon. With the Sunset Strip and Sunset Plaza at one's disposal, locals and visitors alike can easily find stylish respites in an urban setting.
Along the Sunset Strip, one can find a plethora of bookstores, art galleries, yoga studios and Crossfit bootcamps. If it's trendy, West Hollywood is surely housing it! And if you venture over to the Melrose District, expect to find a number of exciting shopping, dining, and entertainment options. The parade of boutiques, eateries, and venues begins at WeHo's border with Beverly Hills and stretches all the way to Silver Lake, another Los Angeles favorite for hip explorations.
Beverly Hills
Hand-tailored suits and couture handbags strut through Beverly Hills, a label-friendly Los Angeles destination whose celebrity status only soars higher when grouped with its star-studded neighbors, Bel-Air and West Hollywood. Away from famed Rodeo Drive's designer boutiques and swanky cafes, exclusive mansions hide in the hillsides to shield themselves from the paparazzi. Beverly Hills' exterior is, without a doubt, untouchably flawless.
Beverly Hills is the home to some of California's most opulent homes, hotels, and personalities. Those who visit Beverly Hills flock to the Hills to experience the allure of Hollywood, world-class shopping, fine dining, and, of course, star-gazing. There are a number of chic dining establishments where one can expect high quality food with even higher quality views. Thus, from coming for hopeful celebrity spotting and people watching, to window shopping at the most exclusive boutiques in the world on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills is sure to have something for everyone.
Make sure you stop by the Beverly Hills Hotel, if not for a night then to see this city's first historic landmark. The pink-stucco, Mission-style building, which was completed in 1912 boasts secluded bungalows, partly concealed by 12 acres of tropical gardens! And if that doesn't tickle your fancy, at least stop by for the legendary Fountain Coffee Room's grilled cheese (arguably the best hotel grilled cheese sandwich!) before heading over to the 24-hour Sprinkles cupcake ATM on S. Santa Monica, just two blocks west of Rodeo Drive!
Century City
Century City is a 176-acre neighborhood in Los Angeles, bordered on the northeast and east by Beverly Hills, on the southeast and south by Cheviot Hills, on the southwest and west by West Los Angeles and on the northwest by Westwood. Originally developed on the former backlot of film studio 20th Century Fox, with its first building opened in 1963, Century City today is considered to be a rather large financial hub in Los Angeles. Important to its economy are a shopping center, business towers and, of course, Fox Studios.
Century City, much like the rest of Los Angeles, originally began as a ranch, owned by early 90s cowboy actor Tom Mix. Later on, it became a backlot of 20th Century Fox, which still has its headquarters just to the southwest. In fact, in 1956, then Fox president, Spyros Skouras, and his nephew-in-law, Edmond Herrscher, decided to repurpose the ranch for real estate development, creating the "western" backlot in 1957. This backlot didn't exist too long, however. In the early 60s, due to financial strains and struggles, 20th Century Fox sold about 180 acres to developer William Zeckendorf of Alcoa, who then conceived Century City as "a city within a city." And this "city within a city" is the Century City Los Angelenos know and love today.
Brentwood
Overlooked by world-renowned museum, the Getty Center, Brentwood nestles into the foot of the Santa Monica Mountains. Its proximity to high art matches its tendency toward high style - boutiques bedecked in chaise lounges and plush armchairs define Brentwood's au courant commercialism. When its residents aren't busy perusing the neighborhood's shopping promenades, they're jogging in Lululemon, tending to immaculate gardens, and supporting local artisans at Brentwood's farmers' market. Looking for the beach? Santa Monica is a short drive away!
Brentwood, Los Angeles' clean-faced neighborhood, is characterized by sleek boutiques and stately homes. Manicured spaces lend the neighborhood its uptown ambiance. Embracing their lives of leisure and relaxation, residents can often be found jogging through the neighborhood's estate-filled streets and promenading the boulevards and perusing boutiques in their free time. On Sundays, you might also find them at the local farmers' market, another staple in the neighborhood! And if you're looking for organic, locally grown produce throughout the week, then head over to the Brentwood Country Mart, which champions farmers' market ideals indoors.
Hancock Park
Hancock Park is a historic and affluent residential neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, built around the grounds of a private golf club. Developed in the 1920s, the neighborhood features architecturally distinctive residences. Hancock Park was developed by the Hancock family with profits earned from oil drilling in the former Rancho La Brea. The area owes its name to developer-philanthropist George Allan Hancock, who subdivided the property in the 1920s.
Today, Hancock Park is flanked by Hollywood to the north, Larchmont and Windsor Square to the east, Koreatown to the southeast, Mid-Wilshire to the south and southwest, and Fairfax to the west. The neighborhood surrounds the grounds of the Wilshire Country Club, with Melrose Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard defined as the two boundary streets of the neighborhood. And not too far away, you can find some of the most popular tourist attractions in Los Angeles, most notably the La Brea Tar Pits and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
Hancock Park is really the perfect mix of preserved 1920s charm with present day Los Angeles trendiness.
Santa Monica
Cliffs cascade into the coast in Santa Monica, an autonomous west Los Angeles locale defined by its easygoing attitude and stylish mindset. A quintessentially-California beach town, Santa Monica's blend of surf, sand and sun attract Angelenos and outsiders to promenade its shopping plazas, its boardwalk, and Montana Avenue, its chic boutique-filled corridor. If you're in Santa Monica without a car, you'll feel slightly sequestered on the coast. But in all honesty, the sunshine makes up for it!
Located along Los Angeles' coastline, Santa Monica is a beachfront city that perfectly balances its boutique ideas with a laid-back attitude that Los Angeles is known for. Equal parts outspoken and polite, Santa Monica's streets are filled with shoppers, joggers, visitors, families, and yogis while its parks are filled with picnickers and protesters. Overall, however, it exudes a feeling as warm as the sun that incessantly shines upon it.
Carousels, roller coasters, souvenir stalls, and old-fashioned arcades beckon from the Santa Monica Pier. You can swing from trapezes, catch a free concert every Thursday in the summertime, ride the bright carousel, or just enjoy tacos while hanging out by the beach. After, you can always go for a surf since Santa Monica's generally tame surf break is great for beginners, surf swamis, and everything in between. In Downtown Santa Monica, centered on the 3rd Street Promenade, you can find hundreds of shops, stores, restaurants, cafes, bars and street serenaders. And with the recently-renovated Santa Monica Place Mall now added to the mix, Downtown proves a popular alternative to the beach!
