14 of the best hotel bars in Los Angeles for visitors and locals alike

The 1970s are alive and well at the Garland, a sprawling hotel and events property celebrating 50 years in North Hollywood. The hotel is named for its original owner, Beverly Garland, star of “My Three Sons” (and later, “7th Heaven”). Today it’s still owned by her son, James Crank, and his husband, Scott Elliott. Under this second generation of ownership the property has flourished, home to 7 acres of grounds, gardens, a charming pool deck and multiple dining options, all conveniently located near Universal Studios.

Kitschy but classy, the hotel lets guests chill and drink poolside next to an enormous outdoor fireplace. The lobby bar displays a tiki influence, with spiked snow cones (like the boozy Chi Chi with vodka and coconut) as well as a drink named for the hotel itself, the Garland 1972, a mega-Mai Tai with Plantation rum, aperol, lime and a swizzle stick emblazoned with the phrase “Keep the Good Times Going!”

The hotel’s restaurant, the Front Yard, also has a bustling bar, dripping in late midcentury modalities, from Bob Dylan posters to Mexican conceptual sculptures to glass bubble cage sconces. The Holy Smokes, made with mezcal infused with Madagascar vanilla and Thai chiles, is a vignette of the valley in a glass. Listen in on the buzz and you might hear two friends debating 1980s Filipino politics, New York City fashion designer gossip, or tales of the gay bar scene in Berlin — from North Hollywood to the world, this is a superlative bar in which to be a fly on the wall.

The 1970s are alive and well at the Garland, a sprawling hotel and events property celebrating 50 years in North Hollywood. The hotel is named for its original owner, Beverly Garland, star of “My Three Sons” (and later, “7th Heaven”). Today it’s still owned by her son, James Crank, and his husband, Scott Elliott. Under this second generation of ownership the property has flourished, home to 7 acres of grounds, gardens, a charming pool deck and multiple dining options, all conveniently located near Universal Studios.

Kitschy but classy, the hotel lets guests chill and drink poolside next to an enormous outdoor fireplace. The lobby bar displays a tiki influence, with spiked snow cones (like the boozy Chi Chi with vodka and coconut) as well as a drink named for the hotel itself, the Garland 1972, a mega-Mai Tai with Plantation rum, aperol, lime and a swizzle stick emblazoned with the phrase “Keep the Good Times Going!”

The hotel’s restaurant, the Front Yard, also has a bustling bar, dripping in late midcentury modalities, from Bob Dylan posters to Mexican conceptual sculptures to glass bubble cage sconces. The Holy Smokes, made with mezcal infused with Madagascar vanilla and Thai chiles, is a vignette of the valley in a glass. Listen in on the buzz and you might hear two friends debating 1980s Filipino politics, New York City fashion designer gossip, or tales of the gay bar scene in Berlin — from North Hollywood to the world, this is a superlative bar in which to be a fly on the wall.