I always get a boost when someone comes to town and invites me for a drink at their hotel.
First off, I can order top shelf because they’ve always got plenty of cash in their per diem.
But more importantly, LA has some pretty magical hotels with lobbies that host some of the best Interior Design I’ve ever seen.
Marmont
Just entering the lobby of the Hotel Roosevelt forces you into flashback- you can almost see Clark Gable and Carol Lombard ducking into an elevator. The entire Hotel has been refurbished. And I promise you a walk around will fill your head with outrageous ideas for your pad.
For me, the LA Hotel Lobby Mecca has to be at the 
You're so right, LA is all about the hotels. And there are some incredible ones. Another that I love is the Viceroy in Santa Monica. I've always thought that would be a great place for an evening party.
Although the Chateau is up there in my personal Top 10 of L.A. hotels (because of the lobby, the garden and the hotel's great Hollywood history), my favorite hotel--based on design--is the Avalon Hotel in Beverly Hills. Located in a relatively sleepy area of BH, the hotel is a 3-story midcentury motel (plus a nearby building with more guest rooms) that's been given a super-luxe makeover. It really feels like the most unique boutique hotel in its class--"cleaned up" but maintaining a little edge of L.A. funkiness. The restaurant/bar "blue on blue" opens up onto the hotel's small pool area, and has a great vibe. Because it lacks the hype (and marketing) of glitzier "hotels-as-nightclub" concepts like the Standard Hotel-Sunset, Standard Hotel-Downtown, the Viceroy, etc, the Avalon is bit more understated. But it isn't stuffy like the Peninsula, Shutters on the Beach, the Beverly Wilshire, or the Beverly Hills Hotel. Basically, the Avalon is a very "cool" hotel for adults. (I've never spotted Lindsay Lohan here.) Check out pics at www.avalonbeverlyhills.com
brilliant
"I promise you a walk around will fill your head with outrageous ideas for your pad" thank you for this divine post/idea...so good for us proles who can't pay/stay + see inside the rooms for ideas.