The Voice of an Angel on the Streets (Mayfair Hotel (Los Angeles, USA))

Member Name: flodombey

Product:	Mayfair Hotel (Los Angeles, USA)
Date:	15/04/09 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, decent rooms, staff

Disadvantages: Location is a bit hairy

I dont know whether we got lucky - because I had read some fairly negative reviews of this place and was expecting it to be terrible - but we did not have as bad a time of it as it seems some people did. If you need to stay in downtown Los Angeles on a budget though I would say this hotel ticks all the boxes.

Firstly I would say that this is not the kind of area you want to be venturing out in alone, twice my friend and I (both females) just walked 100yds to the shop for water and both times we were accosted by various unsavoury characters (one of whom was almost certainly a pimp). There were always gangs of people hanging about and if it wasnt for the fact we had a local, male friend with us we probably wouldnt have ventured out at all after dark - we certainly didnt stay in the area when we did go out at night either.

But - the room was fine, we had a twin queen room with great views across downtown, it was so quiet that we managed to sleep just fine and all the bedding was clean (its something I always check). Our room was number 1230. Yes the bathroom was tiny but ive paid more for a room with a much smaller one (in Paris - it was virtually an under stairs cupboard) and everything worked so for the price I was pretty happy - we paid around £150 ($300 at the time of travel) for the room for 3 nights so between us it was great value.

The staff were all very friendly to us and the concierge quite helpful. The front desk staff seemed very nice and were not rude to us in any way. There was no bell boy to take the luggage to our rooms but to be honest I much prefer doing it myself anyway and not feeling pressurised to tip.

I would say that really you do need a car in LA and that personally I would not have liked to use the buses from outside the hotel, again this is just due to the area. We had underestimated how much of a sprawling city LA is though and we would have wasted hours getting around if we had not been fortunate enough to have a friend with a car. The hotel has a dedicated underground car park for guests which was a couple of dollars a day - you have to get a token off them for the barrier to exit so unfortunately you cannot escape paying!

We had a surreal experience as we were checking out of the hotel - we were waiting in reception for our airport transfer when one of the local homeless people wandered in off the street (we had seen him the previous 2 days outside drinking from a bottle in a paper bag), this particular day though, it was 10 am and for once he was not yet completely hammered. On spotting us sat in the lobby next to a grand piano he simply wandered in and began playing the piano perfectly, we were gobsmacked.

It turned out he used to be a concert pianist but became an alcoholic, lost his job and ended up on the streets. He played a number of soul classics, Stevie Wonder and so on, for us and bizarrely the reception staff just turned a blind eye (despite a sign on the piano saying 'Do Not Touch'). We were so surprised, if anything this man seemed to epitomise the Hollywood dream and the way in which it spits out so many, they say everyone is chasing their dream in LA and this man had certainly had a taste of his - even if it ultimately ended up a nightmare.

Right then our transfer turned up and we had to go, but we felt inclined to give him some cash as we left - if only for his wonderful piano performance, I did say to him 'Please dont spend it on alcohol - get some food', but who knows whether he listened. He shuffled off back down the street as we pulled away and blended in with the other homeless people, this chance encounter had quite an effect on me though, he really showed that a) you should never judge a book by its cover and b) it is so easy to have it and lose it in life. I hope he is doing ok.

Anyway - all in all this was a good value, basic but clean and quiet hotel, not in a great location but then what do you expect for the price? Do not write it off purely on location, if you need a cheap place to stay in the City of Angels it is well worth considering.

Summary: Great value in Downtown LA