Decoy Lounge - North Hollywood

Work has brought me to the Valley and I needed a place to stay every Tuesday night some what close to my worksite. Researched and stayed at places at Universal City, near Burbank airport and near Sherman Oaks. Found the Beverly Garland in October 2022 and I have now stayed at the hotel at least 70 times. So I think I can finally write a review. First of all, it's not a Ritz-Carlton or a Four Seasons type of hotel. It sits on a nice property off Vineland and the 101 freeway. The rooms are fine and the paid parking has ample spots to park. The trolley to Universal Studios makes it a perfect location for tourists. The hotel markets well to England and Australia with travelers including the Garland as a stop on trips including Las Vegas as another destination. What makes the Garland is the professional staff that make check in simple and the hotel bar staff who take care of everybody like family. LA Times had a list of the Top 10 hotel bars in Southern Califonia and this bar made the list. Get a drink from Bayron and tell them Stan said to take care of you. Close to the hotel is an amazing Sushi bar called Sushi Dan. A good Mediterranean restaurant, a NY Pizza joint and a vegan Ramen bar are also in the same strip mall.

A friend and I stayed here for 6 nights. The retro style of the hotel is fun. The hotel is very quiet. It is close to Universal Studios, even having a shuttle to Universal. There is a pool, a bar, and a nearby restaurant. It feels like staying in an apartment with maid service. The front desk is super helpful in suggesting places to go. There are activities offered through the hotel. Minus? It can be tricky to use guest parking. If you leave you must key out so you can get back in. Otherwise? You are counted as still in the hotel. It was a very pleasant stay and I may stay here again in the future.

Brunch was absolutely worth it with good friends!! The best part is their vegan menu along with a very healthy, tasty menu like the salmon flatbread. Service was incredible. We waited a while before ordering as a member of our group was running late. The staff couldn't been any nicer and patient with us. Never felt rushed or left alone once food was delivered. The restaurant is attached to the hotel but opened to all. Reservations are recommended for prompt seating. The patio is nice but the indoor seating is spacious very cozy and comfortable. A relaxing place to enjoy catching with a date, friends or family.

My husband did quite a bit of research in finding a hotel for our trip to Universal Studios. The hotel was nice AND they offer a complimentary shuttle to Universal Studios/City Walk. They charge a daily valet fee at the hotel. But they also charge similar at Universal lol. I like that they offer the shuttle so we don 't have to pay for parking twice. We arrived around 8am, Crystal said our room was ready but we had to pay a bit of a steep early check-in fee, or, we could wait till it was check-in time. She waited a bit to see what we would pick between the two options and then her colleague jumped in and said if we waited a few hours, then we could be let in, no charge. Then she was like, yeah, you can do that too. Umm..why didn 't Crystal offer this to us as a 3rd option? That would 've been the kind customer service friendly thing to do. So that 's what we did and hung out in the lobby while we worked remote. They let us use the free Wifi but anyone can login even if you 're not a guest. And it was the best decision ever to hang out in the lobby because it just so happened that some of the ladies from The Golden Bachelor were ALSO staying at this hotel for the weekend for the final season finale in LA later that evening!!!! and we ran into them in the lobby while we were working. My husband and I watched the show so we were extra excited to see them there at our hotel! We ran into them on a few occasions over the weekend and April was sooo kind and sweet and offered to take a selfie with us : While we worked at a table in the lobby, I observed that Crystal and her colleague were always welcoming the guests and saying Good Morning w/a smile as they would leave for the day and just very cheerful. I liked that. However, when we finally were able to check-in with Crystal, her mood changed with us and was not the welcoming person she seemed to be. Her colleague however was helping another guest check-out and asked them how their stay was. When we checked-out, Crystal was there again and she did not ask us how our stay was, or how was everything. So the customer service was lacking from her part on both interactions. Our room was a decent size. king bed. clean. plenty of towels. I didn 't quite like the spout design in the sink because water went everywhere, every. single. time. The TV remote didn 't always work and had to move it to different spots to maybe get it to change the channel. So that was a bit frustrating. maybe it needed new batteries. There was a nice pool and plenty of lounge chairs. We didn 't try the pool but it looked fun. We did try the bar one night. It 's a small bar but there 's also outside seating where they can also bring you drinks. The gal who helped us was sooo friendly, I wish I got her name. It was quite cold that evening so we decided to just sit at the bar and be warm and then there was a different bartender there. It 's a small place and suddenly got super full with a family who was being extra loud and quite annoying. So my husband and I moved to the lobby area, got cozy on the comfy couch with our drinks and it was a much better vibe and ambiance away from the loud family. The manager came over and was very kind and asked us how everything was and if we needed anything. That was much appreciated. I then noticed their little signs on the coffee table that said no drinks in that area. Ooops! but he didn 't say anything to us and let us enjoy our drinks. Perhaps b/c he also noticed the bar was crowded w/the family? I don 't know, but thank you sir for being kind and letting us enjoy the evening! The complimentary trolley, so we got passes to enter Universal Studios 1 hour early before the park opened this day at 9AM. Their first shuttle left at 8AM and it 's a 10 minute ride to the park. We figured we 'd have an hour to kill till 9am. NOPE. lol. we got dropped off shortly after 8am and there was already long lines formed for all the early ticket people like us. lol. There was a restaurant next to the hotel. I believe it belongs to the hotel b/c we were asked if we were guests at the Garland and if we wanted to charge the meal to our room. There wasn 't much within walking distance of the hotel like a pharmacy or grocery store. That would be nice. There was a cute boutique shop next to the hotel for all your California souvenirs. The valet guy was friendly and welcomed us our first day. He was also there on our last day when we checked-out : Overall, it 's a nice hotel and I would stay here again if I ever return to Universal Studios.

If you are looking for a nice, clean, affordable hotel with the BEST customer service, I highly recommend the Garland Hotel. Every single employee we encountered (bartender, hotel manager, front desk clerk, housekeeper, trolley driver), treated our family like celebrities! They always provided top-notch, unbeatable service. My son is autistic and some people don't possess the patience it requires to interact with him, but the staff was amazing! I love that the front desk clerks manager remembered my name and would speak whenever I walked through the lobby. The bartender sat at our table with us and told him about the kid-friendly drinks he could make and told him he'd make his drink extra special and wanted some feedback on his skills lol. They have a trolly that goes to/from universal/city walk. It drops you off right outside of Tilly's (near the entrance of universal). We used the trolly a handful of times, and it was never full. In fact, it was just my family two of the times. I am someone who travels with Lysol and cleans the room after checkin, so when I say the room was clean, please believe it was impecable. I ordered some groceries from Walmart and had them delivered so we could have items to snack on and could grab a quick bite for breakfast before heading to universal. A couple days before check in, I called and had them clear out the mini fridge because I knew I would purchase snacks drinks and need that space. They don't offer free breakfast or free parking FYI. They have an outdoor heated pool, gym, and a laundry facility with free detergent.