Sun Rose West Hollywood Review: Rooftop Pool, Prices, and What It’s Really Like New
If you’re thinking about staying at the Sun Rose West Hollywood, I have good news and expensive news.
The short version: The Sun Rose West Hollywood is a genuinely cool hotel with a rooftop pool, spectacular views of the LA skyline, a lobby sculpture that may or may not mess with your inner ear, and valet parking priced as though your car is being stored on the moon. Whether it's worth it depends heavily on how you feel about cocktail pools and how much you need handheld showerheads.
Why I Chose the Sun Rose West Hollywood
Two things pulled me toward the Sun Rose for my two-night stay in mid-April 2026: its proximity to Largo, where I had tickets to see Tig Notaro, and its rooftop pool with 180-degree views of the Los Angeles skyline, which I will always irrationally prioritize despite my very complicated relationship with sunlight.
Spoiler: the rooftop is fantastic. The rest depends on how you feel about paying six dollars for a dumpling.
Quick Verdict
- Best for: Rooftop pool lovers and Sunset Strip location
- Skip if: You hate expensive valet and food prices
- Worth it? Yes for the vibe, questionable for the value
| Address | 8430 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069 |
| Parking | Valet only, $75/night; no self-park option |
| Pool | Rooftop cocktail pool, open 7 AM to 7 PM daily |
| Dining | Merois (rooftop), third-floor breakfast café, lobby bar |
| Spa | The Spa at Sun Rose, 2nd floor, open 10 AM to 6 PM daily |
| Fitness | 24-hour gym, 2nd floor |
| Bowling | Two-lane alley in basement, complimentary for guests (first come, first served) |
| The Comedy Store | Next door |
| Laugh Factory | ~0.6 miles |
| Hollywood Improv | ~0.9 miles |
| Largo at the Coronet | ~1.2 miles |
Rooftop Pool at Sun Rose West Hollywood: Is It Worth It?
Let me lead with the reason we're here, because it is the watery superstar we're all hoping for!
The pool itself is 3.5 feet deep throughout, which technically makes it a cocktail pool. On a morning visit around 10 AM, when the temperature was already in the low 70s, I made it exactly one step in before leaping back out. Too cold. But the lounge chairs were perfect, the views were stunning, and sitting up there with coffee and a magazine, looking out over the LA skyline, I felt like I was thoroughly winning at life despite contributing nothing to the pool's actual water level.
I went back at 4 PM. Different story entirely. The pool had warmed up to that sweet spot where it's refreshing without being at all punishing, the area was packed, and my daughter and I managed to find a shaded table before lucking out into two recently vacated chaise lounges under an umbrella. Mid-80s outside, perfect pool temperature, Hollywood Hills behind us, LA skyline in front. With my hat, sunblock, and shroud-like SPF coverage, I was happy.
The rooftop bar and restaurant share the same spectacular real estate. From one side you get the skyline; from the other, the Hollywood Hills. You genuinely cannot spend time up there without feeling like you are on VACATION!
Speaking of vacation, be prepared to pretend you're at the airport or Disneyland and accept that you will be paying silly prices for food and drinks, or just drink the free water and bring your own trail mix! The food and drinks are priced EXPENSIVE! The Peanut Chicken dumplings we tried were delicious, but worked out to about $6 per dumpling! That's highway dumpling robbery!
If you’re making a full West Hollywood or LA weekend out of it, don’t miss my favorite fun restaurants in LA → 9 Crazy Fun Unique Restaurants in Los Angeles
And if your idea of a good evening involves hidden doors, themed cocktails, or general nonsense, here you go → Unique Bars in Los Angeles – Cool, Quirky LA Nightlife Guide
Rooms at Sun Rose West Hollywood
The room was comfortable and well-designed, with calming blue tones that felt appropriate for West Hollywood. Zsa Zsa would absolutely approve. There was a couch, a padded headboard, genuinely good pillows, and sheets that felt dreamy (for which I am quite a stickler).
The bathroom had marble finishes and the toilet had its own little room, which is a civilized arrangement. No strange peeping tom windows into this bedroom from the bathroom!
The shower, however, was overhead-only. No handheld showerhead. This is my one consistent hotel complaint, and I will continue to register it. (If I am being honest, my top preference is always a bathtub, but we aren't here to talk about my preferences. Well, actually it's my travel blog, so I suppose I am.)
The room also had a pod espresso maker rather than a pod coffee maker. Kind of weird, right? This is Los Angeles, not Lucca. I have encountered these machines enough times that you would think I would have learned how they work, and yet each encounter begins with me putting the pod in at the wrong stage and losing it to the machine's internal trash bin before I can course-correct. This happened again. Am I the only moron this happens to way too often? Can't they put a little post-it showing the pod loading sequence of events someplace?!
Pod stealing espresso machine
The resulting espresso, once I figured out the correct sequence, was pretty good once I poured in all of the creamers provided. This is the espresso machine experience in full: frustrating, educational, basically fine.
Watch my room tour video here:
Coming soon!
Amenities at Sun Rose West Hollywood
The lobby definitely makes an impression. There's a large central sculpture that is very cool, designed to look like the inside of a kaleidoscope going on forever in all directions. If you are prone to motion sickness though, approach it the way you would approach the edge of a boat in choppy water: cautiously, briefly, then find somewhere else to focus.
Check-in was warm and genuinely fun. The concierge was extremely chatty in the best possible way, happy to share whatever came to mind, including, for some reason, her experience in jarring pickles in Northern California. There was blue lemonade available as you checked in, which is a unique, small touch that lands well after a day of travel.
The hotel has a bar on the ground floor, a restaurant on the third floor, and the rooftop bar and restaurant at the top. The third-floor restaurant is also where you can pick up breakfast, which you can bring up to the pool. A number of people were working on laptops on the third-floor restaurant balconies, which seemed like a reasonable way to spend a morning.
In the basement: a two-lane bowling alley! Complimentary, first come first served, for hotel guests. I went down to check it out and they were setting up for a private party, so I only got a look at it briefly. Two lanes, a selection of bowling balls, a full bar with seating. It looked like an ideally fun spot for a birthday party, which tells you everything you need to know about how much renting it out probably costs.
There's also a gym on the second floor if you are that kind of person.
Parking at Sun Rose West Hollywood (Brace Yourself)
Valet parking is $75 per night for hotel guests, with in-and-out privileges. There is no self-parking option. Nearby third-party lots were not obviously available, and street parking nearby is either short-term meters or residential permit-only.
When my daughter came to visit, she parked in the hotel garage for approximately four hours while we went to see Tig Notaro and grabbed a drink. Her visitor parking charge was $75! The math on that is not comfortable to look at directly.
The practical upshot: once I had my car parked at the hotel, I stopped moving it. When I left the hotel I took Ubers and Waymos rather than deal with finding and paying for parking at a second venue. In West Hollywood, that's a cost-saving approach regardless of where you're staying, but it's worth knowing going in. (Of course, if you were going someplace very far away from the hotel, driving your own car and paying for parking would probably be cheaper than an Uber. Sorry, but you'll need to do math to figure it out.)
Would I Stay Again?
Honestly, probably not, mostly because of the price-to-value calculation when you add parking and food costs to the room rate. But I want to be specific about what I liked, because I did enjoy my stay!
The rooftop pool and bar are wonderful. The views are genuinely spectacular in the way that makes you glad you're in Los Angeles. The room was comfortable. The check-in experience was friendly. The bowling alley is a very fun thing to have in a hotel basement.
This is the first rooftop pool hotel I've stayed at in LA, so I lack the comparison points to know how the Sun Rose stacks up against other options. More research is clearly required, purely for the benefit of my blog readers, and I am prepared to do it.
The Sun Rose West Hollywood is located in West Hollywood, close to many comedy clubs. Best for: travelers who want the rooftop pool experience and don't mind premium pricing for the full package. Bring a hat. Leave your car at home if you can manage it.
Interested in other hotel options? Check out my favorites! → Coolest Hotels in Los Angeles California
Have you stayed at the Sun Rose or another rooftop pool hotel in LA? I'd love to compare notes in the comments.
