This Hotel Review of The Peninsula Beverly Hills, in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, is one of several Peninsula Hotel Reviews. We've previously reviewed The Peninsula Tokyo, The Peninsula Paris, and The Peninsula New York.
The Peninsula Beverly Hills Location and Check-In
The Peninsula Beverly Hills is located at 9882 South Santa Monica Boulevard, about a 20-25 minute drive without traffic from LAX, although in heavy traffic the drive can take much, much longer. The hotel is a 15 minute walk away from Rodeo Drive shopping, although the hotel's Rolls Royce or another luxury house car offers guests a complimentary ride within Beverly Hills and Century City on a first come, first served basis.
Across from the hotel entrance is a fountain, and I recommend requesting either this view, or a view of the hotel's gardens.
Just inside the entrance was a bright display of lobby flowers:
TravelSort Clients enjoy PenClub Benefits (PenClub is The Peninsula Hotels' Preferred Partner Program):
- Daily breakfast for up to two persons
- “Peninsula Time” – Flexible check-in and check-out times
- Room upgrade to the next category upon arrival
- Upgraded welcome in-room amenities
- US$100 hotel credit per room per stay (not valid for room rates, retail purchases and car transfers)
Deluxe Room at The Peninsula Beverly Hills
I arrived at the hotel early morning and was able to avail of the PenClub flexible check-in to access my Deluxe Room about 4:20am. Because the hotel was in the process of renovating some of its higher category rooms, no upgrade was available, and I was given a room on the 4th floor that faced east, onto a local street. This was the rather disappointing view I saw later that day:
It was still dark when I arrived, and I'd advised the hotel beforehand that I wanted to go straight to sleep. Normally a hotel would have provided turndown service based on this information, including drawing the curtains and turning down the bed, but this hadn't been done.
Deluxe Rooms, which are the category above Superior Rooms, are the same size as Superior Rooms, 480 square feet, but are located on floors 3-4 instead of lower floors. Frankly, given the disappointing view (I'd asked for a Fountain View, but none were available when I checked in) I'd have included the room I was in with the Superior Room category.
On the positive side, welcome amenities included both fresh fruit and sweet treats: cookies, half a brownie, a couple of macarons, and three chocolates.
The macarons and chocolates in particular were very good.
The marble bathroom was described on the hotel's Web site as spacious, but it didn't seem spacious compared to The Peninsula Paris bathrooms, and certainly wasn't modern, with only one sink and only an old regular shower head, no rain shower.
At least there's a separate soaking tub, and not a bathtub-shower combination.
Even the bath products, which are Oscar de la Renta, seem a bit fusty to me, although it's true that's what was used as well at The Peninsula Paris. I'd have gone with something more modern and preferably more natural or organic.
I also didn't like that shaving and dental kits have to be requested; at least in Asia, all luxury hotels, including The Peninsula Tokyo, have a comprehensive set of amenities, so you don't have to call Housekeeping and wait for delivery.
Even more frustrating, there is no coffee maker in the room at all. It's pretty much become standard at luxury hotels to at least offer a Nespresso machine, and better hotels provide both a Nespresso machine and a tea kettle, so that tea drinkers don't have to have coffee-infused hot water. At the Peninsula Beverly Hills neither one was in the room.
Later, speaking with the Director of Rooms, he explained that this was so that each guest could request exactly what s/he preferred. Customization is great, but I still say: at least provide a Nespresso machine in the room. It's what most guests expect as a minimum in luxury hotel rooms these days.
Plus, once we moved rooms and I did request a Nespresso machine, it was brought with bottled water, but without any espresso pods. An espresso maker without the coffee–so much for personalization.
Later that day we were able to move to a Deluxe Room with a partial view of the fountain, although this room had two double beds.
The view of the fountain was somewhat obscured by trees, but I still definitely preferred it to the ugly street view of the other room.
Here's our Peninsula Beverly Hills YouTube Video Review:
The Verdict
Based on my stays at The Peninsula Tokyo and The Peninsula Paris, I was really looking forward to The Peninsula Beverly Hills. Unfortunately, it was one of the most disappointing of the 7 luxury hotels we stayed at on this site inspection trip, due to the poor attention to detail.
From not providing turndown service prior to my arrival, even though I'd made it clear that I intended to sleep, to not providing a Nespresso machine in the room, then providing one but not providing espresso capsules with it, to not keeping my water glass filled at the Belvedere restaurant, to not keeping pool towels by the pool until the 10pm closing time, to failing to apply the PenClub hotel credit on my final folio, there were a number of areas for improvement.
I also strongly feel that the relatively recent renovation, completed in 2018, should have installed rain shower heads, even though it may have been too difficult plumbing-wise to install double sinks in the rooms. The rooms look fine, but the overall feel is still on the fusty side, including the Oscar de la Renta bath products, while unlike the Peninsula hotels in Asia and Paris, you have to request a shaving kit and dental kit if you want them; they are not provided in the rooms.
On the positive side, the beds were comfortable, my husband enjoyed the jacuzzi hot tub, and the charred Spanish octopus dish in The Belvedere was fantastic.
Recommended Posts
Peninsula Hotels PenClub Summer Offers 2019
Hotel Review: The Peninsula Tokyo
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When you say breakfast is included do they put a cap on that or can you order anything and is the tip covered too? I don’t see any $ limit on the PenClub site which is unusual, most hotels have *to the value of hidden somewhere in the fine print.
If selecting a la carte breakfast instead of the American breakfast, it’s currently $40 per person for the PenClub breakfast benefit at The Peninsula Beverly Hills.