My law firm recently had our holiday party at the Jonathan Club. For regular schmucks like myself,…read morethe Jonathan Club is a private members only club with two locations - Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles. Membership prices are too rich for my blood, so this was most likely the only chance I would ever come here as you have to know a member. Naturally, lawyers have money to spend so our firm has some members. The DTLA location has very nice if dated grounds. Our party was on the rooftop so we got some good views of downtown as we chowed down and drank the afternoon away. Their bar on the second floor was where the real party was at. All the servers had good pours and were friendly. If you get the chance to visit the Jonathan Club, don't hesitate to jump at the chance!

Old world charm at its best! This club is a nice piece of Los Angeles city history. It's elegant…read moreand graceful. It is an exclusive club so you have to be a member or invited by members to use the club. The facilities are a bit old, or be nicely maintained. They've updated the rooms and bathrooms nicely so no worries for modern comfort. I think their facilities, for example, nice banquet, halls, and rooms, would be great for private events. However, for their price point, I think there are many modern hotels in this area, for example, the Intercontinental, that would be better value for your money.

I couldn't find THE OTHER ART FAIR to review. Maybe because it was only three days, but I decided…read moreto use the HANGAR to review it. It was an amazing exhibition of art of all kinds that we saw today at 11 AM when the exhibit opened. Filled with so much fun to look at. It was like a treat for every part of my brain.!!! Wonderful exhibitors to talk to about their art and experience their process and it was amazing!!! I spoke to so many people and it was so inspiring and FUN!! I missed it last year and I wasn't gonna miss it this year. I bought a $20 ticket and it was worth every penny... highly recommended and hopefully y'all will get to see all this wonderful art next year. Don't miss it... plenty of parking. And you can bring your well-behaved dogs there too! PS the Barker hanger is such a fabulous venue... and for years I have attended concerts there and events. It's a multi use venue that has been around forever and I love that it's still here when so many things are gone, Yet, The Barker hanger is still standing yeah yeah yea and I love that!!!

In search of a new food-and-beverage event for a new experience, I discovered the Los Angeles Wine…read more& Food Festival at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, CA, and immediately purchased two VIP tickets for the Saturday Bite Club. The event was from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m., and using my better judgment, we took an Uber to and from the location. Arriving about a half hour before the doors opened, the line was quite long for the VIP entry, but once the doors opened, we entered in a matter of five minutes, and the festivities began. The vibe was Pop Culture with patrons of all flavors, and everyone was sporting their personal fashion statement and personality. The place was filled with the non-stop grooves played by the resident DJ, and everyone grooved to the beats as they savored the numerous delicious chef-created bites and chased them with the various whiskeys, tequila shots, cocktails, and brews available for consumption. Notable offerings: King Hawaiian - Soft Pretzel Bites Lior Hillel - Mediterranean Street Corn; and a Pilpelchuma Prawn Uyen Le BBQ Pulled Pork Banh Mi James Bailey - Smoked Pork Lettuce Wrap Javier Lopez - Yellowfin Tuna Tostada; and Compressed Pineapple Michael & Bryan Voltaggio "Voltaggio Brothers" - Wagyu Sloppy Joe; and Matcha Zeppole Rose Previte Maydan - Hummus with Roasted Lamb Shoulder Juan "Billy" Acosta - Carnitas El Momo Okay Inak "Sora Craft Kitchen" - Icli Kofta Kat Turner "Highly Likely" - Shaved Celery Salad Irene Verceles "The Surfing Fox" - Mango Pork Belly Gino Pineda "Dialog Cafe" - Miso Salmon with Miso Butter Lindsay McDonald "All About the Cinnamon" - The Big Poppa Cinnamon Roll Julia Tokarz & Gregory Lay "East Side Cheesecakes" -Cider & Silk Cheesecake Shooter Michel Reed "Poppy & Seed" - Smoked Beef Short Rib Pastrami David Kuo "Fatty Mart" - Chili Wontons; and Pork & Shrimp Dumplings Beverages provided by: Coke, Santa Cruz Mountains vineyard, Germain/Robin Distillery, Argonaut Brandy, Icelandic, Bernardus Winery, Pinhook Distillery, Cyrus Noble Bourdon Whiskey, Knob Creek, Frey Ranch, Peroni Beer, Magna Carta Winery, Lerner Project Winery, Alto Canto Tequila, Coyote Chief Winery, The Vice Winery, Grillin' Time Cocktails, and Brushwood Distillery In addition, lots of swag and discount cards were distributed. Items such as gift bags, bottle openers, pins, shot glasses, canned beverage covers, ballpoint pens, bottle sauces, t-shirts, and even a piercing studio in the VIP area! During the evening, the music played, wine, beer, and cocktails flowed, and the food was abundant. Everyone in attendance was in great spirits, friendly, and on their best behavior. I will definitely attend the coming year.

Super big venue, very cool interior structure upon entering…read more Wasn't too hot inside when I attended Kcon 2026. Some of the signage could improve for the Kentia Hall. It was confusing how to get inside that hall. Ended up walking to the exit first. The parking at the LA Live parking structure was $44. Not sure if the price varies on different days/events.

I visited the Los Angeles Convention Center for ComplexCon 2026, and while the venue itself is…read morereally just the setting, my biggest issues were with the event organization and crowd management. The process for receiving wristbands and then making it through security felt disorganized from the start. There were a lot of people moving in different directions, and it often felt like nobody was quite sure where they were supposed to go. Once inside, navigating between the different booth areas was also confusing, with crowds frequently bottlenecking in certain places. The biggest concern, though, was what happened whenever a popular artist, celebrity, or streamer made an appearance. Large groups of guests would suddenly converge on the same area, creating extremely chaotic and, at times, genuinely unsafe situations. There were moments when the crowd movement became so intense that I was worried about getting knocked over or even trampled. I understand that managing crowds at an event like ComplexCon is challenging, especially with high-profile guests drawing huge attention. But that makes having a solid crowd-control and traffic-management plan even more important. There were definitely some fun moments and plenty to see, but the disorganization and crowd safety issues took away from the overall experience. Hopefully future ComplexCon events can improve the wristband/security process, signage, flow between areas, and most importantly, crowd management around high-profile appearances.

One of the friendliest groups of Masons in Los Angeles. The Lodge Hall can also be transformed…read more into a spacious party and dancing area with an elevated stage. Easily accommodates well over 100 people for dining and dancing.

Great facility to rent for any kind of celebration. Nice sized kitchen, plenty of dining/dancing…read morearea, & stage. Perfect for birthdays, anniversaries, wedding receptions, & graduation parties.

I planned a birthday party for 25 people here and everyone loved the event space! It definitely…read morelends itself to instagram worthy pictures (shout out to @mowglisworks for taking great shots). Judea and her team were wonderful to work with and were always transparent and communicative throughout the whole process. They worked with me on my vision for the party and helped facilitate the event. Would definitely book again!

Amazing Vibes and great company. You will never be let down by the house of hidden jewels. Very…read morerelaxing and comfortable space.

This place is a true gem. Their prices are reasonable. I love how many things there are to do…read moreinside of the hotel. I swam in the pool, hot tubbed in their spa, drank at Dukes, and hung out on their roof. My hotel room was next level and the staff is so lovely. I love downtown LA. The hotel is close to some great places to hang out like the Gallery Bar at the Biltmore for the golden age of Hollywood glam, Bottega Louie for yummy food, and it's right next to a Whole Foods and CVS. You can take the train anywhere from the hotel. It's a true gem. After check out they let you use their facilities until 5pm.

An iconic club in a historic building, the LA Athletic Club was founded in 1880 as the first…read moreprivate club in the city. It moved to this 12 story building (same architect as the LA Coliseum) on 7th Street in DTLA in 1912, with 72 overnight guest rooms and suites on the top 3 floors, for members and later the general public. The building underwent a multi-million modernization in 2016. My brother and I had the opportunity to stay here for 2 nights during his LA visit; both of us really enjoyed our stay here. Booked the two weekend nights on the Citi Travel site for 2 nights in a 2 Queen bed room, and prepaid the $544.75. There is a $40.67 per night resort fee as well, which gets charged at the time of checkout. We were able to check-in a bit before the guaranteed time of 4:00 pm (check-out is noon), which was appreciated. However, we realized that we had been given a single queen room, and there were no more doubles available. The mistake was on the Citi Travel side. While I was on the phone with their offshore call center to rectify, we got a call from Raoul from the front desk saying that they could upgrade us to one of the nine club themed suites, each with one bedroom/bath and a separate living room with sofa. We ended up getting the Yacht Club suite, and it was spacious. Both the bedroom and living room had flat tvs, and separate AC for each room (though the bedroom temperature couldn't get to the temperature I wanted as it was a really hot weekend in LA). We drew lots to see who would stay on the sofa. The bathroom was connected directly to the living room, and was older with a tub/shower combo (mediocre shower pressure), older toilet that wasn't the best at flushing, and an outside sink. There was a wet bar in the living room, with a small dorm fridge. Bottled water was in the room for sale, but it was a lot easier to fill up reusable water bottles at the plentiful filtered water dispensers throughout the building. There was also a LA Athletic Club canvas bag for sale, in each room. We didn't have a chance to checkout the many restaurants/bars nor the 2 big fitness centers. Hours are a bit limited on the weekend, as the hotel was relatively quiet during our stay. We were able to use the stretching room on Friday (before we got kicked out at 9pm) and the sauna (when it opened at 8 am on both Saturday and Sunday). I also got to take a dip in the pool (the main Olympic size one being reserved for folks doing laps, but the smaller therapeutic pool was open). The 7th Street Metro station is only 3 blocks away, and we used it to start our journeys around the city. The building is also within the current coverage area of Waymo, so took it to come back after visiting K-Town. The location is really good. Housekeeping is daily and seemed to start pretty early in the morning. There were QR codes throughout the suite, allowing one to pay gratuities to housekeeping (by room number) or front staff (by name), via a credit card. It worked for both, with an option to also pay the 10% processing fee so the recipient gets the full amount. I've never seen this before at any other hotel, and it definitely confirms the human behavior that one will pay larger amounts on a credit card than when having to pay by cash. Many famous celebrities have stayed at this hotel through the years. Perhaps the most famous guest was Charlie Chaplin, who lived here between 1914 and 1918 during his early years of fame. My one regret is that I wish we had spent more time exploring the athletic components of the building; we just had too many other things planned for his short trip. The hotel and the athletic club definitely deserve the exploration.

Despite never hosting any events here myself, I've attended fashion shows multiple times. But this…read moreyear genuinely brought the best experience for me. I arrived to the confession week by myself in my dream dress with no expectations. The venue space is very classy with much room for people to work from their laptops, host meetings, network, party, set up shop, and celebrate. I had the time of my life admiring the sustainable fashion brands and meeting such beautiful souls! I have to dock off one star because it's confusing to navigate the different buildings at times. Apparently, there were two different fashion events in the same center but they were separated by the buildings (one was vegan Fashion Week and another was a boutique market for vendors and wholesalers). The directions for where to go are not straightforward so a map in front of the building would help. Moreover, beware of building 2's rooftop if you have a dying phone or laptop! All the outlets on the work table by the wall were NOT functional!

Came here for Fate Grand Order USA Tour event!…read more This event only used the first floor, panel room, a very small part of the second floor for a display and stamp rally, and the 13th floor exhibition room. I guess other floors are used for tenants or other businesses? The ceiling is pretty high for the first floor, thus allowing the Fate Memorial Display to take up the front half and it accommodated the long, grueling merchandise line. On the first floor there is also a food court and what seems to be some small retail space. 13th floor was quite spacious and had this kind of like warehouse, Ikea feel to it. It fit all the displays and cut outs, event stages, just fine. The auditory quality of the floor was pretty good, thus allowing several stages to operate at once without one overpowering the other. Not once did it get so crowded on this floor that people couldn't move. Lighting was a bit questionable in some areas only because it obscured some of the displays and made the photos not as nice. This may have just been an organizational layout issue with the event itself. The panel room had good acoustics and enough space to accommodate the crowds that were there to watch the special shows. My issue was with the two pillars in the middle of the room that obscured so much of the view for a lot of the seats (there were TV screens that simultaneously showed what was going on to mitigate this, but I felt like it took away from the experience overall). On the busiest day of the event, I really needed to use the rest room while I was on the first floor and I guess there was only one rest room that was ENTIRELY closed off, so I was instructed to just go on the 13th floor. That was really annoying. Additionally, I do not recall seeing any water fountain, so that left many a Fate nerd dehydrated that weekend. Other than that, I think it was a fair venue to host this event.

The Los Angeles Times' 7th Annual The Gold List (formerly Bite Nite) hosted by Jonathan Gold…read more The event took place Monday, October 23rd from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the impressive, imposing MacArthur former grandiose Elk's Lodge at the edge of MacArthur Park on 607 S. Park View St. A grand time was had by all. I met Chef de Cuisine Miles Thompson (né Allumette) of pioneering California cuisine Michael's of Santa Monica from the late 1970's, & Chef Shunji of Shunji. Quick chat with Executive Chef Tony Esnault of Spring & Church & State. Great cheesy, creamy Risotto topped with Tartufo Bianco by Maude. Super Yelper Isobel L. & I got to joke around with the Howlin' Ray crew. Too many other good restaurants offering good eats. Of course got to get a photo with the host, Jonathan Gold. Can't get much better. 5 Yelp stars. "EVENT LAYOUT: There will be 6 separate areas within the event. Don't miss out and be sure to explore all!  Look for an additional email from us on Monday detailing all of the fun that awaits in each area! LOUNGE: Enjoy specialty cocktails from Knob Creek and Sipsmith Gin. LOBBY: Check out Freebird Rides and snag a sparkling wine Step on our red carpet and strike a pose GARDEN: Sample and sip with Maude, Howlin' Ray's and more PLAZA BALLROOM: The fun continues with Made-in-L.A. Craft Beers, Taco María and more GRAND BALLROOM: Snap your fingers to the jazz sounds of the Jeremy Gill Trio Taste the best bites from Bestia, Spago and more Sample wines curated by Wine LA ELKS HALL: Swing by the Fabulous Esquires Big Band Grab another cocktail from our friends at Knob Creek and Sipsmith Explore the wines curated by Wine LA ENTERTAINMENT: Live Music by: The Fabulous Esquires Big Band and Jeremy Gill Trio DJ Music by: DJ Scott Dallavo (Indie 103.1/KDAY/The Beat) ADA ACCESS: Given the nature of the venue layout, it would be extremely helpful for us to know in advance if any of our guests have mobility issues.  If you will be at the event and require ADA access, please notify us as soon as possible at eventinfo@latimes.comso that we can make all proper arrangements to ensure your convenience. FOOD ALLERGIES: If you have specific food allergies, please ensure that you inquire about the ingredients of each dish being served, directly from those serving it.  The Los Angeles Times is not involved in selection of the menu items of each restaurant serving at the event, or the ingredients within."

Beautiful 1920 event held by drink eat play! Only wished we were able to get the VIP tickets…read more Awesome thanks to Drink.Eat.Play for hosting a 1920's event here at this hotel. The event was amazing even though we ended up getting the general admission instead of the VIP (where you can experience other rooms of the event, plus open bar). Hotel is located in Los Angeles, in the neighborhood Westlake. A bit shady neighborhood, but this hotel is kept clean and new. Hotel was built between 1923-24...and dang, it still looks fantastic from the exterior to interior. Friends and I had a blast! The interior look, when the lights are dimmed - http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/Ir3Ff72E8fAIF0YCv-4lQA#hrMFWinEQLS3UBi6iRmJuA If you check out their website ( http://www.parkplazala.com/sites/courses/layout9.asp?id=445&page=13493) , you can either plan a - Ball in the ballroom - wedding reception - special events If you are interested in going to a 1920's event for next year or any kind of their upcoming events, check out their website drinkeatplay.com :) *hint: try getting their VIP tickets to any of their events because it is totally worth it! You will experience one hell of an event here. Enjoy peeps!