First of all, I will admit that the traffic noise at this hotel is ridiculously bad. However, if one looks at a map, one will find that there are almost no hotels in this price range that are not located where they are subject to traffic noise.

I stayed in the Hampton Inn on Sepulveda in Sherman Oaks in August and thought that noise was coming from Sepulveda. No! It's the 405. And on the other side of town, it could be any one of a number of different freeways.

There is simply no escaping it.

We were on the south side of the building 9 stories up and the noise, though constant, would peak in the early morning hours between 5:30 am and 7:30 am. The big trucks on the highway there make a ton of noise.

But, since every other hotel in this price range has the same problem, it kind of cancels it out for me.

The room did not smell bad. Housecleaning was thorough. Anything we needed, like toilet paper or shampoo was provided almost instantaneously.

The lobby is large and nicely decorated. There is a bar area that was very convenient too. The staff at the front desk was always very helpful.

When we checked in, there was a slight problem with the room. It was corrected and we were in a different room in less than two minutes.

The elevators are FAST. This is especially helpful in getting in and out. We parked and while parking is expensive, again, its expensive everywhere. The parking garage was very convenient.

I used the pool and spa and enjoyed it quite a bit. While the noise is always there and you can see the freeway, you can also see some mountains.

The pool is heated just enough to make swimming possible in winter. (We were here in January.) The spa was clean and had strong jets.

The beds were very comfortable and we had ample pillows. The TV was nice too.

We stayed for 5 nights and will stay there again when we go to visit.

While the location next to the freeway is not ideal because of the noise, it does make it very convenient to get wherever you want to go--as long as you don't want to go there during rush hour!

I would also encourage the hotel to do something about the thermostat. It was frustrating that the unit could not simply be turned off. I didn't like it cycling on and off during the night.