‘Namaste,’ I say, bowing my head and clasping my palms together. It’s 10am on a Sunday morning, and I’ve just completed an hour’s yoga session at Playlist Yoga, a modern, music-based studio in West Hollywood, Los Angeles. Sipping my green juice full of detoxing ingredients to cleanse my body from the night before, I skip onto my next appointment of the day – brunch (with bottomless mimosas) at recently opened The Guild. Could I BE any more LA?
I’m in WeHo, as it’s affectionately known by the locals, on a three-day whistle-stop trip. It’s December, the skies are blue, the sun is shining, tall skinny palm trees are swaying lightly in the breeze. The temperature is 22⁰C, I’m back in my summer clothes, arms and legs bare, yet the Los Angelenos are feeling the cold, bundled up in winter boots and hats! So SoCal…
WeHo is a tiny 1.9 square miles amongst the sprawling metropolis that is Los Angeles, but it’s also voted the most walkable city in America. On my first day, I clock 22,000 steps, so they’re not lying! Divided into three main districts – Sunset Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue – WeHo packs a lot into its small city limits. It’s where you’ll find the hottest restaurants, nightlife, and rooftop pool scene in LA. It’s also where all of the A-List celebrities come to play, relax, shop and generally hangout amongst the locals.
During my weekend, I apparently dance to the same tunes as Justin Bieber at The Doheny Room (although I don’t even notice him!), dine next to Adam Levine (I definitely notice him) and his wife at celeb-fave Craig’s, and narrowly miss Selena Gomez leaving the new hotspot Catch. You don’t get that in my local village at home.
WeHo doesn’t take itself too seriously, so you’ll find most of the locals hanging out at trendy cafes like Gracias Madres, which serves delicious vegan (obvs) Mexican food, or at one of the rooftop bars – my fave is EP & LP, a gorgeous rooftop bar with a swanky Asian restaurant below.
When the weather really hots up, which to be fair is most of the year, WeHo is the place to hang by one of the many hotel pools with stunning views over downtown LA. You can’t top the pool at the Andaz for its location up high on the roof! I’ve visited West Hollywood for the past few years and can’t wait to return in 2017 to explore its newest hotel opening – The James West Hollywood. Quite frankly, I’ll make any excuse to go back and pretend I live there. And who knows, maybe next time, Adam Levine might see me!
To find out more about West Hollywood check out www.visitwesthollywood.com