The InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Is Now Open…And It Looks Good!

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IHG has announced the opening of the 5-star InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown which forms part of the Wilshire Grand Center. That puts the property a 5 minute Uber ride or, if you’re feeling adventurous, a 15 – 20 minute walk away from the Staples Center and LA Live.

The building is said to be the tallest building west of Chicago and stands at an impressive 1,100 feet or 73 stories high.

InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown – Image courtesy of IHG

The property is huge and boasts 889 guest rooms stretching from the 31st floor to the “sky lobby” on the 70th floor.

InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Sky Lobby – Image courtesy of IHG

According to IHG….

[T]he InterContinental hotel was designed to capture the Southern California lifestyle at its finest for travelers and locals alike. With a colorful rooftop showcasing spectacular city views and a three-story light sculpture of L.A.’s infamous freeways in the sky lobby, the property brings the indoor/outdoor lifestyle to life while drawing design inspiration from the city’s car culture and urban scene, foothills and classic beach towns.

The signature Club InterContinental Lounge offers premium service and thoughtful amenities, like priority check-in.

InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Club Lounge – Image courtesy of IHG

The property offers 5 different dining options including…

• Lobby Vodka bar and lounge
• Sora – a 69th floor Japanese restaurant
• Dekkadance – described as “an all-day destination” also on the 69th floor where guests can choose from “delicacies and live-action cooking with Neapolitan pizzas, carving stations and baked goods in an international format“.
• La Boucherie – a 71st floor high-end steak house
• Spire 73 – “where guests can experience the tallest open-air bar in the Western Hemisphere on the 73rd floor with unparalleled 360-degree views of the cityscape and skyline with fire pits, fountains and innovative cocktails”

InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Spire 73 – Image courtesy of IHG

The images of the rooms provided by IHG look nice…..

InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Deluxe Suite – Image courtesy of IHG

InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Superior King – Image courtesy of IHG

Pricing, Award Nights & A Tip

The InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown has , unsurprisingly, gone straight in at the top-tier of the IHG Rewards program.

What that means is that an award night will set you back 60,000 points ([thirstylink linkid=”26522″ linktext=”check for award night availability here” class=”thirstylink” title=”check for award night availability here”])

The good news is that award nights appear to be pretty easy to find, the bad news is that, if you can’t find an award night for a date that works for you, the room costs are going to be high.

During the week the rooms appear to be selling for between $400 and $550 per night while at the weekends I’ve seen rates in the high $200’s (these are all prices excluding tax).

If time is your own and you’re visiting on your own dime there are two things you can do to help keep your room costs down:

• Stay on a weekend
• Avoid dates where there’s a big event going on at the Staple Centre or elsewhere at LA Live (that’s not quite as hard as it may sound).

Link to the Staples Center events page

Link to LA Live events page

Bottom Line

I really like the look of the new InterContinental in downtown and it may be a nice place to head for a drink after a Lakers or Kings game (that’s probably how I’ll be checking it out).

I’m not all that enthralled with the sky-high pricing but, if you can combine a free night from the IHG Rewards credit card with a free weekend night from the InterContinental Ambassador program that could be an economical way to stay at what looks to be a very nice property.