Luxe in the Hills

I wasn’t the only person to utter OMG after stepping onto the roof deck of the new Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills -pretty much everyone has said something similar. Whether it was whoa, wow, or a not-so-subtle gasp, it was always an involuntary reaction to the ah-mazing views from twelve stories up, across a deep green carpet of oaks, cottonwoods and soaring palms punctuated by terracotta-tiled roofs and the cool blue of swimming pools- including the exclusive L.A. Country Club. The Waldorf may have just opened in a brand new building, but it boasts classic L.A. luxury at the crossroads of Beverly Hills, where Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards meet.

The $200 million hotel opened June 1, where design architects Pierre-Yves Rochon, Perkins+Will and Gensler had the opportunity to do it right. At only 18 rooms per floor, the guest floors feel more intimate than the hotel’s 170 rooms and suites would suggest. Quarter-sawn cherry wood doors, finished in high-gloss for an almost mirror-like sheen, open on to rooms awash with subdued, sophisticated color palettes and bathrooms in three different hues of marble. Each room has floor to ceiling windows and spacious balconies for those hill views. Or if you face the other direction, you can feel big-city love for the skyscrapers of the adjacent Century City district.

The hotel’s dining- main and rooftop restaurants and in-room dining- is by famed French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, and the 5,000 square foot La Prairie Spa includes a salon by celebrity colorist Tracey Cunningham. Then there’s that roof. The Rooftop by JG restaurant and bar area on one side, and the swimming pool on the other- exclusively for hotel guests- offer those sweeping views to the Hollywood Hills and east across the L.A. basin to Downtown Los Angeles, nearly 10 miles away. Look to the west, and you can make out the Pacific. And, now that the landmark Waldorf Astoria on New York’s Park Avenue is closed for renovations- since March, for two to three years- the Beverly Hills location is a worthy stand-in as the flagship Waldorf in the United States. www.waldorfastoriabeverlyhills.com