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Raffles L’Ermitage
Beverly Hills
8th Floor Suite $895.
I pulled up to the Raffles L’Ermitage Hotel on a late
summer afternoon. The temperature was around 90 and the
air felt unusually dry for Los Angeles. The valet ran over,
opened my door and then, to my surprise, welcomed me by
name, “Good afternoon Mr. Kamifuji, welcome to L’Ermitage,
let me take you to your suite.” I basked in my moment
of celebrity and it was embarrassingly elevating. The “open
arms” welcoming service makes up for the lack of a
motor court or driveway area separating you from the rest
of the world––in other words, you pull up to the
curb at 9291 Burton Way in Beverly Hills and then bam, you’re
crossing the sidewalk and into the L’Ermitage hotel
entrance. The clairvoyant gentleman is Choy Flores, Door
Supervisor. He whisked us right up through the front entrance,
past the starkly decorated lobby area with the conspicuously
low ceilings and marble floors, to the elevator, for our
lift up to the eighth floor.
There is nothing particularly grand about the lobby. It
is clean, with low-slung modern furniture groupings. Way
off to the right corner is the discreet front desk, which
we didn’t have to deal with until checkout. To our
immediate right, sits Jane Walsh at the concierge desk.
The staff is well dressed and well mannered. If you need
them, they’re there. If not, well, then they’ll
leave you be.
The Style Group suggests staying on the eighth floor as
it shares the floor with the fabulous Raffles Amrita Spa
and the entrance to the rooftop pool. In other words, to
enjoy the spa or pool all you have to do is don your robe
and slippers and you’re good to go.
The Raffles L’Ermitage is walking distance to the luxury
shopping capital of the world, Rodeo Drive, or in Style
proximity, only half a mile from Chanel at 400 North Rodeo.
It is managed by those same wonderfully stylish folk who
bring you their most famous property, the Raffles Hotel
in Singapore. The service at the Raffles properties is fantastic
and you can rest assured you will be completely cared for.
The hotel in Beverly Hills, under the watchful eye of veteran
hotelier Jack Naderkhani, General Manager, features 124
spacious guest rooms and suites, all with a sleek modern
appearance. The interiors designed by Chada Siembieda &
Remedios, Inc. can be summed up in just a few words: clean,
pure-form, and elegant. We were told that some interior
renovation would be taking place soon so I’m not sure
if what I saw is necessarily what you’ll see.
With suites, it’s all about the square footage and
the 13 L’Ermitage suites are extraordinarily large
for their rates. Take for example the Grand Lux Suites,
of which there are eight, these 1400 square foot symbols
of modern luxury feature a separate living room with second
bathroom, master bedroom, vanity area, pantry with countertop,
coffeemaker, microwave and refrigerator, and two balconies.
In the world of Los Angeles suites, it’s a bargain
at only $850. The Presidential Suite with 3000 square feet
of luxury living goes for $3800. and the Governor’s
Suite with 2200 square feet can be had for $2800. Lastly,
there are the three Garden Suites, 1400 square feet each
with outside private patio––perfect for transforming
your hotel room into an entertainment/business setting for
a mere $880.
The hotels common areas are inviting and comfortable. There
is the Living Room with crackling fireplace (great during
Los Angeles’ two month February/March cold spell) where
guests can enjoy afternoon tea, club service cocktails or
light bar snacks. The Writer’s Bar is a cozy area to
the west of the lobby, where you’ll find comfy seating
areas and a wall of original scripts of some well known
films hanging above the fireplace. Behind the bar is their
large wine collection in a huge glass enclosed wine room.
The staff in the Writer’s Bar is extremely warm, helpful
and attentive.
The Suite.
For the design purist, the suites at L’ermitage are
an esthetic delight. Light-colored hardwood floors flow
throughout the spacious airy suite and border the low-pile
off-white carpeting––exuding the sensibilities
of a New York loft. The eggshell colored walls, expansive
negative areas, large windows, and Rennie Macintosh inspired
floor-to-ceiling two-inch grid, sliding room dividers create
a three-dimensional version of Wallpaper magazine. For those
who understand that last line, this is your hotel.
Open the sliding English sycamore grid panels on the wall
adjacent to the balcony door that overlooks Beverly Hills
and the stylish 40-inch Mitsubishi tube television reveals
itself along with a CD/DVD player, and an AM/FM radio. The
living area is very Zen-like with low-profile modern, tightly
upholstered furniture in a soft color palette, and accented
with chrome lamps. In the corner by the built-in television
cabinet is a writing desk with plain paper copier/printer/fax
machine, DSL access, 3-line telephone and cellular phone
with direct dial private number. The suite also boasts five
telephones, Bose speakers, and
an “Intelligent” climate and lighting control
system, which from what I gather,
will recall what temperature settings you enjoy and accommodate
you upon your return.
The bedroom maintains the same modern low-profile design
discipline with a ground-effects king platform bed with
silk shams. The large open area from the bed to the balcony
doors creates a spacious airy feeling. From the bed you
view more of the wood grid panels, behind of which exists,
you guessed it, yet another Mitsubishi 40-inch tube television.
Whoever thought of having these dueling 40s in the suite
knew they were making the ultimate grand luxury style statement.
Behind the bed is another sliding grid partition that doubles
as a headboard and room divider that separates you from
the bathroom area. The bathroom is a typically gorgeous
luxury space with marble floors, huge white towels, comfy
robes, large vanity stocked with full-sized Aveda toiletries
and generous tub replete with Aveda aroma therapeutic candles.
Now lets talk about the Style Points.
Style Point One: There’s Choy, the Door Supervisor
who takes you from your car-to-suite avoiding altogether
waiting in line for the front desk to search for your reservation.
Style Point Two: There are your personal L’ermitage
letterhead and business cards imprinted with your name and
contact information––including your expressly
designated phone number––which if you return in
a year or two, will still be yours. Style Point Three:
All non-alcoholic beverages are gratis. Forget about drinking
$3.50 cans of Coke from the
mini-bar, all of the juice, sodas and bottles of water are
as they should be, free. (Other luxury hotels take note.)
Style Point Four: There are full-sized Aveda toiletries.
A plethora of large shampoo, conditioner, candles and soaps
from Aveda including a wonderful shave cream. Someone has
not only created a marketing coup, but has added that touch
of luxury that all travelers appreciate. And Style Point
Five: L’Ermitage gets a style point for their 24-hour
flexible check in/check out policy. What this means is no
matter what hour you arrive, even if it’s at 8:00 at
night, you have until 8:00 the next night to check out!
Bravo!
The Jaan Restaurant
Many of Los Angeles’ finest restaurants are those located
in it’s hotels and Jaan, the house restaurant at L’Ermitage,
is no exception. Jaan is an exquisite dining experience.
A cross between Asian and European design and culinary disciplines––Jaan
satisfies the visual and taste sensibilities beautifully.
Located east of the hotel, it is a circular dining room
under a beautiful domed ceiling with views of the tastefully
lit thirty-foot waterfall outside. The décor is much
more traditional than the hotel, with plush draped chairs
of hand-woven silk created by the Royal Khmer weavers. The
rich dark warm-toned carpeting covers the room. Jaan is
quiet, intimate and gorgeously lit with understated fixtures.
The service is excellent, attentive and gracious.
Executive Chef Bruno Lopez is a skilled culinary
artist adept at creating modern French masterpieces that
have numerous subtle undertones of exotic essences. His
background includes over 10 years of experience with the
Ritz-Carlton Hotels. He served as the chef de partie at
the two-star Michelin restaurant “Les Trois Marches”
in Versailles and as chef de cuisine at the Pierre Restaurant
at Hotel Le Meridien in San Francisco. His menu is cleverly
designed, pairing wine suggestions alongside each specific
dish. For example, for starters, with the delicious Seared
Sonoma Country Foie Gras with Honey Lavender Fig Puree,
Poached Pears and Crispy Sweet Potatoe, Bruno suggests the
Ehrenfelser from Icewine, Canada. With the Hamachi Tartare
Caviar and Coral Oil, it would be sinful not to pair it
with the Domaine Jean-Paul, Sancerre from Loire, France.
With the unbelievable Maine Lobster Salad with Exotic Melons,
Crème Fraiche, the wine suggestion is Pouilly Fussé
Burgandy. Get the idea?
For the main course, I devoured the house specialty, the
absolutely outrageous Roasted Free-Range Veal Loin with
Caramelized Apples and Chanterelle Mushrooms. Its wine menu
pairing that I didn’t have is the California, David
Bruce Pinot Noir. Other specialties include the Pan Roasted
Black Cod, Yam Mash, and Crispy Okra with Turmeric Laced
Pineapple Jus or perhaps you’d enjoy the Marinated
Pheasant Breast with Ratte Potato Hash, Swiss chard and
Spiced Peanut Jus. For those who truly want to go for it,
the Jaan Degustation Menu is the way to go for $80. without
wine, $125. with. For dessert your choices are so amazing
and on this day there were five. I indulged in the mouth-watering
decadent Chocolate Pot de Créme, Carmelized Brioche,
Cardamom Froth and Caramel Ice Cream. Other choices included:
The Fuji Apple Crisp with Walnut Thyme Streusel with Créme
Fraiche Ice Cream; Guanaja Chocolate Beignets in Caramel
Pear Sauce and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream; and the Grapefruit
Trio with Yogurt Granite, Fresh Grapefruit Salad, Confit,
Gelée. Even if you don’t stay at L’Ermitage,
The Style Group insists that you experience a wonderful
dinner at Jaan.
The Amrita Spa
Just down the hall from our suite on the eighth floor is
The Amrita Spa at L’Ermitage. This is a beautiful experience
with just a few asterisks attached. The waiting area is
directly adjacent to the fitness area. This makes for two
glaring problems: One is the overspill of light from the
bright fitness area lighting and huge glass windows, and
the other is the noise from the whirring treadmills and
stairclimbers that permeates throughout the spa–even
into the treatment room. Just as the relaxation of Mary
Ann’s skilled hands melt away months of stress, softly
carrying you to that quiet space in your mind, just then
the grinding of the workout machinery breaks that private
envelope.
The Style Group suggests encasing the spa area from the
fitness area to eliminate these two problems. The treatments
themselves were wonderful experiences. I had a 55-minute
Swedish massage that was truly the finest I’ve ever
had. I highly recommend while in Los Angeles, you should
schedule an appointment with Mary Ann for this relaxing
treatment––despite the noise from the fitness
area, it is a great experience. I had further health and
diet related questions that she was quick to email me on,
and for that, I am extremely grateful. Other massage therapies
include: Raffles Amrita Ayurvedic Signature Massage, 85-minutes
for $150, Swedish; Deep Tissue; Sports; AromaTherapy; Shiatsu;
Reflexology; and Pregnancy massages.
The other treatment I received was the 55-minute Gentlemen’s
Facial with Nikki. She is a fantastic esthetician with a
calming spirit and soothing touch. I came out rejuvenated
and ready to take on the world. Other skin care services
include a 25-minute Refresher Facial for $65 perfect for
a lunchtime getaway; the 55-minute Deep Cleansing Facial
for $100; A Vitamin Ca Facial that goes for a full hour
and a half; and an Anti-aging Facial with Acupressure Lifting
Massage, 85-minutes for $145. On the body treatment side
there are five: The Aromatherapy Infusion, 55-minutes; The
55-minute Chamomile Soother; The Tranquility Body Wrap;
The Serenity Wrap; The Toxi-cleanse Thermal Mineral Body
Mask and lastly Raffles Amrita Spa Foot and Leg Treatment,
each for a little over $100. Additionally there are the
basic waxing and tinting services.
And lastly.
The L’Ermitage hotel is one of Los Angeles’ understated
jewels, a Zen-like design statement amidst a calm Beverly
Hills neighborhood––undoubtedly the most stylish
luxury hotel in Los Angeles. The Style Group selects L’ermitage
as one of the Best Luxury Hotels in Los Angeles.
Stephen Kamifuji
Style Director
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