We were looking forward to discovering this nice looking (on the web site) hotel...But it was SOOOOOO disappointing!

The room had not been cleaned at all (we thought we had entered someone else's room!!!!) and the hotel (well the corridor and swimming pool mostly) really needed some upkeeping as it looked old and abandonned. The view was certainly great but everything apart from that was a nightmare...especially considering the price!

We finally stayed at the magic castle and enjoyed our stay there (friendly staff by the way!).

My wife and I just returned from our get away to LA, which included two nights at the HHH. We originally called to get a room at the Magic Castle Hotel, based on reviews from TripAdvisor. After talking with the kind lady on the phone about the purpose of our trip, she suggested we also consider their sister property, the HHH. Based on her description, we opted for the HHH.

We decided to drive from Utah, so we arrived at the hotel in the evening after a long drive. We had a little trouble finding the Magic Castle Hotel lobby (where you also check in for the HHH), but check in was quick and pleasant. When making the reservation we had casually mentioned some trouble we had encountered with another hotel prior to changing our reservation to the HHH. To our surprise, we discovered that the HHH had given us a free upgrade to a nicer room with a spectacular view of the city. They said they wanted to make sure we had a positive experience at their hotel. We arrived on the Fourth of July. They said we got there just in time to be able to watch fireworks all over the city from our balcony...which we did.

As we walked to our room from our assigned spot in the secure parking area, we passed a beatiful waterfall fountain coming down the hillside from the Yamashiro restaurant. We entered our room to find two bottles of water and chocolate candy waiting on the counter, with the blossom of a beautiful fresh flower on top. It was a very nice touch. The room was large and clean and very comfortable.

If you like to take an early morning run, I very much enjoyed mine down the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Blvd.

One of the main reasons for our visit was to attend the Broadway musical "Wicked" at the Pantages theater, just a mile or so from the hotel. At the desk staff's recommendation, we parked at the Magic Castle Hotel and took the Metro from Hollywood/Highland (about a block from the hotel) one stop to Hollywood/Vine, right across from the theater. This was cheaper and more convenient than parking near the theater. After the show, we stopped by Grauman's Chinese Theater which was on the way back to the hotel from the Metro stop.

We loved our stay and would definitely stay here again. The room was very nice, the view spectacular, and the staff very friendly and helpful.

All I have to say is do NOT have your mom stay here. My mom came to L.A. for the first time on my birthday so I thought a nice room in the hills would be fun. WRONG. Instead we had one hell of a time just finding the place only to get stuck in their driveway behind a hired car with no way out. We had no choice but to wait and watch a prostitute negotiate and service someone in the car! They were in such a hurry they didn't care about the car behind them. No security, no one else around, just my mom and I uncomfortably hanging out in the parking lot wondering what the John in the car would do if we interrupted things by honking.
To top things off, when we finally checked in, we were charged an $8 nightly parking fee - to park our car at their fine establishment. This was after I told them about what we were forced to watch in their parking lot!!
All I could think was that they were aware and comfortable with hookers working out of their hotel rooms in the parking lot.
I mean that's like charging someone extra for the bread on their hamburger you just watched get dropped on the floor. Why not incorporate a "parking fee" into your nightly rate? Why deliberately irritate people with a nightly "parking fee"? Who ever hear of paying 8 bucks a night to park one car in a half empty parking lot?
And this spectacular view was hardly stunning enough to balance out the ordeal we went through just trying to get there.
It just sucked all around.

We stayed at the HH during a recent vacation in Southern CA. I would agree with many of the comments that are posted here. For the money (I got an AARP rate, but there is also a discounted AAA rate), I think it would be hard to beat. It's an older property -- my guess is that it was built in the late 50's. But I thought that was part of it's "charm". It has some of the disadvantages of any older property, but the postives far outweigh those disadvantges (IMO). The view & positioning of the bed in our room was great. We would open the curtains at night, turn off the lights, lay on the bed, and just look out over the city & hill-side.

One other tip for anyone who visits this hotel. The hotel office is at the bottom of the hill (located at their sister property). I spent 15 minutes driving around the hillside "loop" looking for the office. I finally asked someone at the Magic Castle club (he was neither friendly, nor overly helpful).

Positives:
Great staff, really helpful, very friendly (hotel staff)
Awesome view
Big room, super-comfortable bed
Kitchen area, large bath & dressing area
Great location (but walking down/up the hill can be challenging)
Gated property (added security)
Has an "Old-world Hollywood Glamor" about it

Negatives:
The office & ameneties are at the sister hotel at the bottom of the hill
Parking is a little tight & can be confusing
(if your spot is occupied, find any spot & call the front desk)
Shortage of outlets
The property looks a little "tired" outside
Our sliding door had marginal saftey latching

We would return in a heart-beat. The property had that special "charm" that you just don't see with the moderate-level chains.