InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown

Editorial score of 8.7 of 10, the composite average of the three factors above (Rooms, Service, Location). Method at our methodology page. Affiliate disclosure: booking links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, and never change our verdict.

Why stay at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown?

The single reason to book the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown is height. The hotel opened in 2017 inside the Wilshire Grand Center, a 73-story tower that rises roughly 1,100 feet and remains the tallest building west of the Mississippi. Guest floors begin high in the tower and climb toward the sky lobby on the 70th floor, so nearly every one of the 889 rooms looks out across the Los Angeles basin, the San Gabriel Mountains and, on a clear afternoon, a strip of the Pacific at the horizon. In a low-slung, spread-out city, that vertical vantage point is genuinely rare, and it is the thing this hotel does that no Beverly Hills or Santa Monica address can match.

The rest of the experience is a large, well-run corporate hotel rather than an intimate one. The InterContinental brand delivers a consistent room standard, a capable concierge and the meeting and event capacity that a tower of this size makes possible, all in the middle of the Financial District. Service is reliable and professional rather than deeply personal, which is the honest trade-off at 889 rooms. For a business trip, a conference at the adjacent Convention Center, or a first visit where you want the skyline and the sky bar without leaving the building, this is the benchmark Downtown address. Set expectations for scale and altitude rather than boutique warmth, and it delivers.

What are the best rooms to request?

Request the highest floor and a Club InterContinental room, and prioritise the view over square footage, because altitude is what you are paying for here. All 889 rooms and suites use floor-to-ceiling glass, and the higher you go, the more the city reads as a lit circuit board rather than a set of streets. Entry Deluxe rooms are comfortable and well configured for work, with quality linens, marble bathrooms and a proper desk, but they can sit lower in the tower with a more partial outlook. The Club InterContinental floors add a lounge with breakfast, afternoon bites and evening canapes, which is the most useful upgrade in a building where the food and drink venues are stacked many floors away.

One honest caveat: because this is a modern tower rather than a resort, the rooms trade outdoor space and character for glass and height. There are no balconies, the standard rooms are efficient rather than large, and the pool and the lobby are a lift ride apart from your floor, so the building can feel more like a vertical city than a retreat. Treat the room as a frame for the view, book the highest category your budget allows, and the altitude does the rest.

What is the dining and the bar scene like?

Dining here happens in the sky, and it is a reason to book rather than an afterthought. The headline is Spire 73, the open-air rooftop bar on the 73rd floor that the hotel bills as the tallest of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, with fire pits, skyline views in every direction and a cocktail and bubbles list built for the setting. One floor down, La Boucherie is an American steakhouse with a French accent, premium cuts, a serious wine list and floor-to-ceiling views from private booths. Dekkadance, on the 69th floor, is the market-style all-day restaurant, with live cooking stations, breakfast, and a more casual menu when you do not want a full steakhouse evening. Between the three, you can eat and drink well without ever descending to street level.

Does it have a pool and spa?

Yes, though the wellness offer is a support act rather than the headline. The outdoor pool and whirlpool sit on the seventh-floor podium, low enough in the tower for shelter and sun, and in season the No Dive Bar serves the deck with cabana packages and casual food. There is a fitness center and spa treatment provision for guests who want a massage or a workout, but this is not a destination spa in the mould of the Beverly Hills five-star hotels. The pool is a pleasant reset between meetings and a place for families to burn off an afternoon rather than the main event, which remains the view from the top of the building.

Signature amenities

In the heart of the Financial District

The tower, the rooms, the rooftop bar

Tower

City-view room

Spire 73

Sky lobby

How does the InterContinental compare with other Downtown Los Angeles hotels?

Against the field, the InterContinental is the view-and-scale benchmark, and the choice comes down to what you want your days to look like. The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles is the polished small-luxury option next to L.A. LIVE, with a stronger spa and pool and a more personal service pitch. Fairmont Century Plaza is the newer grand hotel over in Century City, where every room has a terrace and the arrival sequence closes deals on its own. Hotel Figueroa is the characterful, lower-key alternative, a restored Spanish Colonial with the best courtyard pool in the district. The InterContinental's own trade-off is that it is a very large corporate tower, so it wins on altitude and meeting space but not on intimacy.

Other luxury stays in Los Angeles

#18 · L.A. LIVE

The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles

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★★★★★HFK 8.9

#10 · Century City

Fairmont Century Plaza

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#27 · Downtown

Hotel Figueroa

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