The Amarano ticks a lot of the boutique hotel check boxes: luxury ambiance, modern amenities, spacious rooms, comfortable beds, intimate gathering areas, valet only parking, but somehow fails to completely pull it off. Maybe it's because there were no valets to park my car, that they'd lost another guest's car, the coldly mechanical check in, or the lack of toiletries in the bathroom. If you're aiming high as the Amarano is trying to do, you have to get all the basics right. The check-in should be smooth and welcoming. The hotel staff should make you feel like you're their only guest and they should appear (this is LA after all, where appearance is everything) genuinely happy to see you. What ruined the experience completely for me was the blight of modern hotels taken to a whole new level. In a lot of hotels, the walls are paper thin. I've been woken by mobile phones ringing in the next room that sounded like they were in my room. I've been part of conference calls with my neighbor. I can't attest to whether the Amarano has this flaw, but being woken at 4:30am by footsteps from the room above was an all time low. It sounded like there were elephants above me. Even using ear plugs, I was able to hear them pacing. Street noise is also an issue, with trucks seemingly racing past my window early in the morning. Surprisingly, I was not woken by construction workers outside my room when I discovered that the hotel is still being built and my room was right next to scaffolding.

The problem is that no matter how well this hotel does with the basics, which are all easily fixable, they still have a building with seriously flawed architecture. If you're aiming for luxury boutique, then have to start with quiet rooms with thick walls and floors and reasonable attempts at soundproofing. I really wanted to like the Amarano. My colleagues rave about it, but to be honest I'd stay at the Burbank airport Marriott again which has quiet rooms and isn't trying to be something that it isn't.

I have stayed at the Hotel Amarano for the past few years, usually 2 or 3 times per year. The location works great for my trips. The staff is friendly and will work with you on picking the best room available. I prefer the ground floor rooms with private patio. I highly recommend this hotel.

This hotel is lovely - The staff are friendly, the room service is very good, the rooms are large and well-equipped (microwave and fridge were a nice bonus).... So why only 4 stars? Well, we were put in room 328 - Which has the misfortune of being beneath the hotel gym. Nearly 3 straight hours of what sounded like boulders being dropped on the floor above us. I was told "someone is probably on the treadmill" but I can't imagine how a treadmill would make those noises! It was LOUD. Not well soundproofed. Thud! Thud! Bang Thud! Pretty much constantly all evening until the gym closed at 10pm. Also, room 328 is right next to a service entrance so when we weren't being bombarded by the upstairs thudding, we were treated with the service door banging shut (really, really loud) and carts... oh the carts. This went on much later than the noise form the gym. And finally... room 328 is a room with a connecting door (connects to the room next door). There is little to no soundproofing with the adjoining door so we heard everything that went on in the room next door. The guy in the room listened to sports ridiculously loudly all night. SO beware room 328!!!

This was my second time in two years at this hotel. I had forgoten how lovely the place looks driving up at night. I had requested a third floor room (the top floor of this hotel) and was given room 301. I advise against getting room 301, 201, or 101, as these rooms seem to be without hot water. Which brings me to the title of my review: I reported my cold shower after the first night, and was told they would check it out, but no one did. I called again that night, and was told they would fix it at 7 a.m. I stayed out of my room until 8;15, but no one had come, and Iwas checking out and needing a hot shower.
After a frantic call to the front desk, I was given another room to shower, for which I was grateful. Upon checkout, my friend reported the lack of hot water, (the woman behind us said she also had no hot shower, and she was in room #201), and the kind front desk staff gave me one night for free.
The hotel manager contacted me once I was home, and further apologized. I think the staff is largely wonderful, the rooms are fine (but can be noisy, especially if you face the street), and it is a place to which I will again return.