What to Do in LA if You’re Here for Business (2025)

4222 Vineland Ave., North Hollywood, (818) 980-8000

“The Valley” isn’t conscionable 1 place, either—a postulation of unsocial cities and subcultures that inhabit the environs northbound of LA proper, this is the onshore of Paul Thomas Anderson films, immortalized successful the euphony of Tom Petty and Frank Zappa. If you’re successful the Southlands for events successful and astir the tv and movie industry, oregon to cheque retired the Universal Studios taxable parkland complex, you’ll prevention clip and wealth by staying close.

The Garland is your Valley escapade location port. This spot manages the neat instrumentality of being some hep and eminently utilitarian: You could travel present to lounge by the pool, instrumentality successful the gardens, and bent retired astatine the engaged bars and restaurants, oregon you could usage this spot arsenic a spot to driblet your bags betwixt each the different things you’re successful municipality to do. There’s an impressively beauteous outdoor excavation (with a monolithic fireplace), guided vicinity tours (the Brady Bunch location is nearby), and ample parking. The full happening has a Spanish assemblage flair with flashes of 1970s tiki. This spot gets treble points if you hap to beryllium traveling with your family—kids emotion the Garland.

8221 Sunset Blvd., (323) 656-1010

I don’t cognize what you’re present successful municipality for, oregon what qualifies to you, personally, arsenic a concern trip. The hotels I’ve recommended truthful acold are each swell, but I’ve included them archetypal and foremost for reasons of practicality and geography. That’s not wherefore you enactment astatine the Chateau. You travel present alternatively for the story and the history, the infamy and the iconic presumption of it all: here, wherever Duke Ellington composed “Swingin’ Suites,” wherever Stephen Stills wrote “For What It’s Worth” (“stop, hey, what’s that sound”), wherever Jim Morrison swung from the chandeliers, wherever Dominic Dunne lived portion reporting the OJ Simpson proceedings for Vanity Fair. God lone knows what’s gone connected successful these elevators, to accidental thing of the impermanent rooms, which are appointed much similar apartments and travel swathed successful spectral haunted metaphysical atmosphere, baked successful California sunshine.

You can enactment here; truthful overmuch unthinkable enactment has happened here! Nicholas Ray and James Dean rehearsed Rebel Without a Cause here! Whatever task it is you’ve got cooking—a novel, a screenplay, a symphony, oregon conscionable a humble transportation deck—I don’t deliberation there’s a conception successful the satellite that can’t beryllium improved by injecting a small Chateau mystique into its DNA. You volition spot celebrities; you volition find quiescent moments to yourself among the ghosts; you volition find yourself softly reflecting to yourself, unsocial successful your room, “Holy shit, I can’t judge I’m truly here!” There’s nary different edifice successful the satellite that is remotely similar it.

Where to Work

LA is freelancer central, and the benignant of spot wherever moving connected your screenplay (or whatever) from the barroom oregon java store has attained a benignant of mythical status. The metropolis has plentifulness to connection successful the signifier of accepted coworking spaces, backstage clubs, and laptop gardens. Here are immoderate of my favorites.

360 E. 2nd St., 8th floor, (213) 433-2400

The Centrl Office concatenation of coworking spaces is well-represented crossed Los Angeles, with locations successful Downtown and Marina Del Ray, and 2 spots successful the South Bay metropolis of El Segundo, aka “Silicon Beach” (at slightest 1 portion of the wider massif known by this moniker). Each determination has its ain mode of leaning into the “creative campus” vibe, offering a variegated array of services from suites and gathering rooms to time offices, drop-in coworking unfastened program spaces, and virtual bureau options that let for message and bundle delivery. Centrl Office does what it says connected the tin—this is simply a classical attack to the coworking abstraction model, and sometimes that’s precisely what you need, with supersonic Wi-Fi and printers and kitchens and lounges.

1370 N. St Andrews Place, (323) 381-5996

Part coworking space, portion lawsuit venue, the Preserve feels uniquely LA. Truly a field instrumentality connected coworking, the installation boasts much than 6,000 trees and plants, a precise chill bid of indoor/outdoor moving spaces, a library, bungalows, workplace offices, and gathering rooms, positive an on-site cafe and soundproof telephone rooms. Wi-Fi present is 1 GB per second; there’s valet parking and nursing rooms and wellness classes and Corian desks; radical tally full companies retired of this facility, and besides they big weddings. The building, which underwent a multimillion-dollar, award-winning renovation successful the precocious 2010s, was primitively designed by Paul Revere Williams, a patron saint of Los Angeles architecture and plan whose different works see the iconic LAX spaceship operation and the Beverly Hills Hotel. If you’re looking for a Los Angeles acquisition for your coworking needs—perhaps with an intent to hunker down for aggregate days, truthful arsenic to genuinely sorb the entirety of what goes connected here—the Preserve is for you.

5971 W. 3rd St., (323) 933-2112

Like the Preserve, the Rita House could lone beryllium here, successful Los Angeles, but the 2 spaces couldn’t consciousness much different. Rita is located wrong a 1927 Spanish assemblage gathering primitively constructed for prop and costume plan for the movie workplace manufacture successful Hollywood. The building’s unsocial past goes backmost to the roots of coworking arsenic a originative pursuit. There are monthly rank options, time rates, and a existent absorption connected contented production, with dedicated rooms for self-tape auditions and podcast taping, arsenic good arsenic larger gathering and screening rooms. You’ll find the requisite high-speed Wi-Fi and concern halfway amenities here, but it’s wrong a abstraction that feels much similar classical Hollywood Boulevard than Sand Hill Road. Every large metropolis has a coworking abstraction that doubles arsenic a people-watching and networking hub, and successful LA I deliberation that’s here.

4334 Sunset Blvd., (213) 200-0969

I emotion moving from Los Angeles java shops, and Dinosaur is 1 of my favorites for this peculiar pursuit. Located connected the borderline betwixt Silver Lake, Los Feliz, and East Hollywood, this spot is simply a originative laptop melee of radical whose names you’ve seen successful the writers’ credits astatine the extremity of assorted films and tv shows—or those who’d similar to someday be. The java comes from Woodcat Coffee, whose flagship store is implicit connected Sunset Boulevard successful Echo Park, and the store is agleam and afloat of that bully California light. It conscionable feels originative here—get crap done connected the beforehand patio, oregon eavesdrop connected the absorbing conversations each astir you. I sojourn astir each clip I’m successful LA.

Where to Eat

How could I prime 10 places to devour successful Los Angeles? How could anyone prime 20, oregon 50, oregon 101 similar they bash each twelvemonth astatine LA Times Food? That section’s play (daily!) reporting connected nutrient crossed LA should beryllium thing you commencement scouting now, successful the weeks earlier your trip, truthful arsenic to enactment hep to the astir absorbing caller worldly happening crossed the region. For me, these are 10 restaurants I’ve personally visited and enjoyed, moving the gamut crossed price, location, and experience. They aren’t adjacent needfully my 10 favorite LA restaurants, but they’re each spots I’d gladly spell backmost to, and successful a metropolis truthful thoroughly spoiled for choice, that’s saying something.

2736 W. Sunset Blvd., (213) 913-6850

Avish Naran cracked immoderate heretofore chartless atom erstwhile helium opened Pijja Palace successful 2022. I conjecture it is an Indian sports bar? But it is besides benignant of a reddish condiment Italian joint, a cocktail destination moving much oregon little wholly successful its ain originative idiom, a truly swell spot to ticker the Lakers suffer their mode done the dregs of the executive-produced-by-LeBron-James era, and truthful forth. There’s greenish chili pickle masala wings and korma curry pizzas and dosa bulb rings (a required order) and plentifulness of brew from adjacent and acold to bask it each with. Do not miss ordering a cocktail here—this is softly 1 of the much inventive cocktail programs successful the city, which is saying something, due to the fact that thing is truly quiescent astir Pijja Palace. Go present with a large group, oregon sneak successful solo astatine the bar. I privation it were 3 times arsenic big, but besides I don’t privation to alteration thing astir it astatine all.