Custom Hotel - Los Angeles, USA     

The majority of my stay at this hotel was great, the rooms were adequate for what we needed and were very clean. The pool and pool bar area was really nice, especially at night time. The bar staff were particularly helpful and friendly, as was the gentleman who operated the shuttle service, and he gave us lots of advice on the best way to get places etc which we really appreciated. We didn't eat at the restaurant, however we did have food at the pool bar which was really nice, if a little pricey. Location wise, it's handy for the beaches, but not so much if you're wanting to do the tourist-y things such as Universal Studios, Hollywood etc., although not impossible as we still managed to do this using public transport, but it is quite a journey! There is a large Ralphs next door, which was handy, and on the other side of Ralphs was a diner called KJ's which had an excellent breakfast menu, and was really good value. I really wanted to give this hotel top marks, however I was sorely let down by the Reception staff upon checking out. I had paid for the full amount of our stay when I made the booking, and throughout our stay we were very careful to not charge anything to the room. This was due to the fact that using my UK debit card abroad incurs a charge by my bank each time, so we paid for all food / drinks we had in the pool bar by cash at the time of purchase, and did not use anything from the minibar, buying water etc from the Ralphs next door. When checking out I was shocked to be given a bill for $15.00, and I explained to the Receptionist that I had already paid for the room at the time of booking, and we had not charged anything to our room. He was quite rude to me, and as he had no record or no way of tracing what the charge was for or where it had come from he asked me if I was SURE I had not drank any water out the minibar. Telling him I was quite sure, he agreed to remove the charge. I asked whether the charge had already been applied to my card before I'd checked the bill, as I knew this meant I'd of been charged by my bank as well. He assured me it had not already been charged without my authorisation, and he had removed it from the bill. Upon returning to the UK, and receiving my bank statement, I was disappointed to see the charge had been made to my card anyway, incurring a charge by my bank, the overall charge totally now over $20. I have emailed the hotel about 4 times, trying their different email addresses published on their website (including one which I used when booking and was responded to straight away!!) and still have had to reply 3 weeks later. At the end of the day it is only $20, but its more about the principle than the money, and imagine if they are doing this to people and charging them a lot more than $20. It really knocked the hotel down in my estimation. I would still recommend stopping there as the hotel itself was great, and the majority of the staff were lovely, but beware of getting ripped off by charges you haven't made.

We only stayed at the Custom for one night, actually I think we were on the property for less than 12 hours. I expected so much but all of the quirky things just came of as trying very hard and not achieving much. The place just didnt have much personality at all. It was fine and thats the best I can say. I paid just under a hundred for the room and thats felt about right. The girl on the front desk was really lovely and we got espresso on check in which was great. The rooms are small and sparse but that wasnt much of a problem. My major problem was that when I tried to have a shower I couldnt turn off the bath tap completely and with both going the drain started to overflow and I was in danger of completely flooding the bathroom. It really wasnt plesant though it had drained by the morning so no flooding occured. The other thing that wasnt plesant was the $10.00 charge on my credit card that was completely unexplained. We should have had zero incidentals so I think that they charged me for taking one of their strange little amenities of the shelf in order to figure out what the hell it was and then putting it back.... I only discoverd it since Ive been home so lucky them, they made a free $10 because I cant be botherd fighting about it.

I had a friend in town that was going to be leaving for the airport and we decided to have a relaxing-fun saturday by booking a "cool" day and night at the Custom Hotel...BIG MISTAKE! Checked into the hotel with no problems, went up to the room and it was what was expected a sparse trendy room. However the problem started when i got my bathing suit on and walked down to the pool area. There was a door man at the pool saying they needed an ID and $30 - but they would give a guest $25 per person rate. INFORM YOUR GUESTS THAT THE POOL IS CLOSED FOR A PRIVATE PARTY prior to them walking down to the pool.

I was staying at Custom hotel during the July 4th weekend. The front desk didn't tell us the bar will be closed b4 12 on the July 4th night, and also on Saturday, we tried to get into the pool and the pool bar, they said there is a private party, we need to pay 25 bucks to get in if we want to use the swimming pool and the bar. The story doesn't not end here, after I got home, I called and wanna file a complain. The lady told me her manager was out, but she took my notes and promised me that her manager would call me back within 24 hours. After 4 days, noone CALLED me. So I made a call again, and told them I have never received a response from them in 4 days and the girl transferred me to a guy, and a guy transferred my call to an ACCOUNTING DEPARTMENT. I was talking to the guy in accounting department without my knowledge, and also except for the first girl with a good manner, others were very rude and impolite during our phone conversation. I called back again and told the manager the situation, and he kept making up excuses and told me since noone was goint to the bar that night, so that's the reason y they closed down early. I said well, how could u expect ur guests knew that the bar will be closed early due to no cusomters there!!!??? I said the opening hour on the sign said that open till 2am, and that was not saying if no customers, we will close early. I stayed at few hotels in LA, this is the WORST one I have ever experienced.

My stay at Custom was truly incredible. From the room, to the service and F&B. The staff is great, and are evidently smiling because they want to (not because they have to!) Keep up the great work. A real gem of a hotel! A truly unique experience/concept! Lots of fun surprises. Worth every penny!