Which downtown Los Angeles skyscrapers can you easily go up in?

November 14, 2012 5:44 PM

Which high-rises in downtown Los Angeles can you easily get to the top of (or pretty high up in)?

As a Los Angeles resident/serious enthusiast, I'm always looking for, quite literally, new angles from which to view the city. Living close to downtown and seeing all those skyscrapers right there outside my window makes me wonder which ones you can go high up in (and then look out of) without paying or getting too much security hassle. Any relevant experience, MeFites?

posted by colinmarshall to travel & transportation around Los Angeles, CA (6 answers total)

Go for a drink at the top of the Westin Bonaventure. The bar rotates!

Park on the street or take public transportation, because their lot is absurdly expensive.
posted by justjess at 5:56 PM on November 14, 2012 [3 favorites]

L.A. City Hall observation deck

Standard Hotel rooftop bar (best enjoyed during the day to minimize the human d-bag factor)
posted by nacho fries at 6:20 PM on November 14, 2012

Check your MeFiMail.
posted by The World Famous at 7:32 PM on November 14, 2012

The Ritz-Carlton has a bar & lounge on the 24th floor.
posted by mogget at 7:47 PM on November 14, 2012

The Standard Hotel has a rooftop bar as well.
posted by Grither at 6:42 AM on November 15, 2012

Definitely the Westin-Bonaventure. The lobby feels like some utopian vision of the future from 1978. Park on the street near Third and Hope, and consider springing for one of the bar's cheeseball souvenir mugs. (You haven't lived until you've had a margarita from a cup shaped like California.)
posted by roger ackroyd at 8:09 AM on November 15, 2012