West Hollywood has an abundance of nightlife and is where many of the post Oscar, Emmy and Grammy parties occur. It is host to numerous nightclubs including entertainment venues like Whiskey a Go-Go, the Viper Room, the Troubadour, the Abbey, Rage, Micky’s and the Roxy. West Hollywood is also home to comedy venues including the Comedy Club and the Laugh Factory. And for those in search of more subdued settings there are the Penthouse, the Skybar, the Rainbow Bar and Grill, and Bar Marmont. The annual West Hollywood Carnaval takes place on Halloween and turns Santa Monica Blvd. between La Cienega and Doheny into a non-stop street-party packed by 100,000 costume bedecked revelers.
West Hollywood is home to many of Los Angeles’ most famous restaurants, most of which are located on or adjacent to Santa Monica Blvd. These include Dan Tana’s, Lisa Vanderpump (of Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules”) trio of dining establishments: Pump, Sur, and TomTom, Norah, La Fete, Rosaline, Barbette, Granville, Sushi Park, Tesse, Bacari, Chateau Hanare, Cecconi’s, Catch, Hugo’s, Nobu, Guisados, and Craig’s.
West Hollywood is also home to fashion, art and design. The Pacific Design Center, a mammoth three-building, to-the-trade interior design center is world famous. Moschino, Stella McCartney, Christian Loutoutin, designLAb are other famous design establishments located in West Hollywood. Melrose Avenue is home to many trendy fashion stores and galleries.
For all its seclusion, West Hollywood is just 30 minutes away from the beaches of Los Angeles-- a westerly cruise down Santa Monica Blvd will end in Santa Monica at the beach, while a drive west on Sunset Blvd ends in Pacific Palisades at the beach, just south of Malibu. Likewise, downtown is a 30 minute drive via 6th Avenue and the Valley (Burbank, Studio City, Sherman Oaks and Glendale) is just 30 minutes north, on the other side of the Hollywood Hills, accessible via Coldwater Canyon Drive or Laurel Canyon Blvd.