It’s pre-Christmas and I’m driving along Sunset Boulevard. This street runs all the way from downtown to the beach, and it truly is L.A.’s answer to city life. The Sunset Strip, in particular, runs over a few miles and is home to some of the most famous clubs and restaurants. The enormous billboards fill the sidelines with images of Hollywood’s finest.

Sunset Plaza is an even smaller stretch of the Boulevard where the restaurants pour out onto the pavements for al fresco dining and the shops are classic L.A. chic. It is in this elite section of the Strip that you’ll find the Mondrian, from the Morgans Hotel Group.

The hotel has just undergone a complete refurbishment of its 237 rooms, all designed by Benjamin Noriega-Ortiz. He successfully combined the flavour of art-deco with a slick yet comfortable style, and using predominantly white brush strokes and a taste of orange, it gives each room a fresh, sophisticated feel.

Deluxe all the way I stayed in a deluxe studio suite, which was fabulous. It had enough room to host an intimate drinks party and the king sized bed was well suited with Egyptian cotton sheets, down comforters, glorious pillows of all sizes and a flat screen TV for excellent movie viewing. Sleep here was outstanding by the way.

The lobby is airy and inviting, with a huge swing chair in the middle that you just want to go ‘whupeeee’ in, and houses the entrance to the renowned full service Agua Spa. To the side of the lobby is the Asia de Cuba bar where a sexy, velvet, orange sofa runs down the centre with a snakelike swivel, perfectly positioned for an intimate tête-à-tête. It’s all very cool indeed.

Dinner under the stars Before dinner we had cocktails at the Sky Bar. Now here is a bar that has a strict guest list,(all hotel guests are on it plus three) and a ‘who’s who’ feel about it that never disappoints. The lighting is low and seductive with the pool as its centrepiece, and the music rocks.

The Sky Bar has been on the ‘best bar in L.A.’ list for years and it didn’t let us down.

Dinner was at the critically acclaimed restaurant, Asia de Cuba by Jeffrey Chodorow, located as an outside/inside venue next to the Sky Bar. The inspiration for Asia de Cuba is rooted in the Asian cuisine infused with the flavours of tropical fruits and vegetables and Latin spices. But here’s the best part of not only the restaurant, and the Sky Bar but the hotel itself; no other hotel in L.A. can combine dining under the stars with a phenomenal city view of twinkling lights as well. We ate at a window table and could have spent a lifetime there.

Bedtime came late and with more stars. Twelve floors up, the city lights serenaded us to slumber, and the perfect mattress played host to our very tired bodies.

Jennifer Hochman-Hamm

Read the full review and book online at www.luxuryexplorer.com