Freehand Los Angeles

Stayed here for one night and it was great! I was traveling solo and I booked a single room here after spending way too much time looking at all the options -- I am posting this hoping that it will help someone in my same position. My goal was to find an affordable "base camp" that was walkable to the fashion district and bus lines and in a reasonably safe area, and I found exactly what I was looking for! I don't understand the negative reviews -- this is not a luxury hotel or modern resort, it is a hostel/hotel in a beautiful historic building and it seemed geared toward a young, diverse, fun clientele. In a broad sense, I would not recommend Freehand for families (not unsafe or anything, just not the target audience) or anyone looking to just hang out at a hotel for an extended period of time. From what I saw, the kitchen and exercise facilities were pretty bare bones, but the rooftop bar was amazing and there was live music going on in the lounge/lobby in the evening. My room was pretty basic, but it was clean and provided all of the necessities. I did need to have some white noise playing overnight, since I could hear some sounds from the street below (I was on the 13th floor), but no biggie for me. I will also add that the surrounding streets seemed a little dicey late at night (confident solo traveler; F40), so just use your best judgment based on personal preferences there -- I walked a couple blocks to get some late night food and had no issues, but others might have felt uncomfortable. The staff was so nice and seemed genuinely eager to help me. Special shout out to Joey at the Broken Shaker -- what a nice guy and made me feel welcome! I will definitely stay again.

Staff was friendly and helpful. Great room service and rooms were clean. Guests were pleasant and there was that awesome L.A. energy that I've come here for and got it. Very diverse here so you can find those you wish to associate or mingle with. There are some transients in the area, but that can be found in any major U.S. City.

I found the price per shared room very expensive. They are small, they are not nice, the bed above rings all the time when another guest moves. The mattresses and pillows are old, they are not comfortable. I understand that it is a lower rate, but at least offer comfort. We were 4 people and we only received 1 foot towel for everyone! The beds do not have privacy curtains. I had no problems with the reservation, everything was up to date. The common areas close at 11:00pm. The area of the city is not the best, you are afraid to go out if you don’t know the city very well. The pool has a nice view, unfortunately all the time they ask you if you want to consume something from the bar. When leaving the pool, the smell on the clothes made you understand that it had been a few days without deep maintenance or something similar. My suitcases and belongings were safe in the room. They cleaned most of the days I stayed, but they didn’t change the towels often, nor did I go down to reception to ask because I had my personal towel. Apparently private rooms have better services, it is obvious, but freehand should modify the prices of stay according to what they will offer.🌟 I haven’t received my $50 deposit back🌟