World Trip – Stage 43, Hollywood

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1-3 July

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is directly on the Walk of Fame, opposite the Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. What a glorious hotel, built in 1927, by Hollywood luminaries, it shows off its old Spanish Colonial Revival-style architecture. 

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It was frequented by famous movie stars, and we loved the glorious Lobby, where we enjoyed a drink and a light dinner.  We also enjoyed basking in the warmth of a fantastic open fire. The Lobby hosted the very first Oscars in 1929.

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We were upgraded to a superior room, but the air-conditioning and ventilation was faulty making the room damp. We realised the cause of the problem too late to have it fixed. The Hollywood Roosevelt also boasted a well-equipped gym, of which we made good use.

After an over-generous breakfast we walked up Hollywood Boulevard, to Sunset Strip, before descending to Santa Monica Boulevard and then on to Beverly Hills. It was a Sunday morning and it was pleasant and pretty suburban walking by well-manicured houses and gardens, with the famous Hollywood Hills in view. 

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By the time we reached Santa Monica Boulevard it was lunchtime, and clearly PARTY TIME, lots of drinking, loud music, dancing and lavish outfits. This was a holiday weekend. We stopped here at a home-made ice cream parlour, where Lynne made the mistake of ordering 2 scoops of ice cream – portions are so much bigger here. 

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We walked through Beverly Hills Gardens, a beautiful, shady oasis, running alongside the highway, backing onto some very upmarket residential property. Then down Rodeo Drive, past orderly queues waiting to enter the designer stores. We’ve never seen high class shops guarded by burly bouncers before. We certainly looked too scruffy to gain admittance.

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At the end of Rodeo Drive, we stopped at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, of Pretty Woman fame, and ordered an Uber back to our hotel. We had walked 15,000 steps in the heat of the sun, our feet ached and we didn’t plan on going out for dinner!

The following day we were taking the sleeper train to Arizona and The Grand Canyon. We decided to take the B-Metro Line from Hollywood Highland to Union Street Station.

When Peter was a regular visitor to Los Angeles for work, some years ago, it must be admitted, the only way to get around was by car or bus. The ‘Red Line’ metro had just been introduced, but shunned by many as being too dangerous due to no policing of drug addicts and homeless people.

It was a delight to discover that the metro network had been enlarged enormously, with many interconnecting lines. Fantastically, the B-Line (previously called the Red Line), went directly from our hotel on Hollywood Boulevard to Union Station.

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Not only was the metro convenient, it was at a fraction of the cost of an Uber, it was clean, modern and completely safe when we travelled.

Additionally, we really enjoyed two unexpected highlights on our visit to Los Angeles. Firstly, we found Mel’s Drive-In Diner, dating back to 1947 and looking so authentic, a real ‘Breakfast in America’ treat. 

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Secondly, we were blown away by Union Street Station, known as “the Last of the Great Railway Stations” in the US, built in 1939, with a glorious entrance, Spanish Colonial Revival and Art Deco style architecture. There are even integral gardens. The greeter (and ID checker) at the restaurant and bar insisted on giving us a short tour, explaining how the parrots on the decorated walls were all hand-painted and thus all slightly different.

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As sleeper passengers, we were invited to a lounge like an airline lounge, where we could check in our bags, get WiFi, and have soft drinks and snacks. They even had a ‘private’ boarding service, where Redcaps drove lounge users to the train on a small trolley. It was made known that the service was free, but a good tip was expected… We chose to walk instead – we still have legs!

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This sleeper roomette was similar to our last roomette from Seattle to San Francisco, offering an identical dinner menu. We ate early and were in our bunks before 9pm as we were due to alight at Flagstaff station indecently early at 4.14 am. Good night….