The unusually large one-bedroom suite at Highland Gardens Hotel is a very good value at a convenient location -- just a block and a half from all the popular sights and activities along Hollywood Boulevard. Overall, the room was clean and nicely decorated with reasonably new furniture and appliances. The kitchen was fully equipped for cooking (pots, pans, plates & utensils), but no ice-trays. However, the major problem is that all 1-BR suites have only one through-the-wall air-conditioner located in the living room or dining area which does not adequately cool the entire suite -- especially the bedroom and bathroom! After changing rooms a couple of times, it seemed most suites suffer this problem. The bathrooms were clean with good water pressure and plenty of hot water. Some bathrooms had a few chipped plaster spots in the celling and mild tile defects. Closets offer good storage space, ironing board and iron and one unit had a roll-away bed. Minor things: the TV sets are small; no free wi-fi in rooms; room phone didn't work. The interior suites also offer a nice, spacious balcony with table, chairs and umbrella overlooking the pool. The free underground secured parking is a real bonus. There's a convenient and casual breakfast offered in the nicely renovated lobby area. The large, sunny pool is surrounded by lush palm trees, flowers and other vegetation which adds to its charm. There's even a sheltered ping-pong table near the pool. It's clear that this quirky but charming hotel has seen better days, but with it's location, layout and tropical courtyard interiors, it's easy to imagine it's heyday as the hip spot for Rat Pack members, Hollywood stars, Jefferson Airplane and sadly the place where Janis Joplin died.

This is a dirty little hotel with guetto cleaning ladies that are laughing an talking loud first thing in the morning.

The tv was as big as a portable radio and just about everything in the room was broken in some way.

No hair dryer, ice, or wet bar.

The breakfast is never there on time and is cold. The coffee is disgusting and the cream was sour.

The female receptionist was rude
and acted bothered everytime I asked her for something even though all she does all day is it around on her butt.

If you want to impress someone this isn't the place. If you don't want to stay in a hostell and are totally broke with no standards then this is the place for you.

This is a nasty little hotel and looks like a place porno movies would be filmed!

Never again! Gross!!!!!

Having read some of the positive reviews, it's obvious that the quality of this hotel varies drastically room to room. We, unfortunately, got a terrible one. The headboards on both beds were leaning in and looked as though they'd fall on top of us. The table and chairs were in the same shabby/wobbly condition. The carpet was dingy and puckered up, and the shelf in the shower was missing. But it wasn't just that the place was old - it was also dirty. The carpet had not been vacuumed very well and one of the chairs had a huge stain on the seat.

As others have said, the location is great, the parking is free, and the garden/patio areas are nice, but none of that makes up for the outrageous condition of the room. Don't risk it - spend a few extra bucks and stay somewhere else.

Love this place. I think this is going to be my go-to hotel in LA from now on. It's in a good central location and the staff was friendly. This place has a younger clientele from what I saw so I'm sure it gets louder on the weekends. Things were perfectly great for us on a Monday however. I'm not going to say I didn't do a good bit of partying myself, so maybe the neighbors had a problem....but we heard no complaints.

There's parking in a locked garage under the hotel, the lobby area is renovated, the pool area was clean and inviting. We had a nice little patio area outside our first floor room which put us in perfect location to the pool.

I loved this place, but as others state, it can be a party hotel. It's and old school LA party hotel what do you expect. Hey, Janis Joplin died here for God's sake! But its a clean hotel, I thought the management was nice and friendly, and its a good location and price. Will definitely be back.