Expert reviews
“Stylish hostels are nothing new these days—but this Roman & Williams-designed space, which opened in summer 2017, takes the lowly genre to new levels. Worth it for the Downtown location, affordable rates, designer interiors, and rooftop bar/pool.”
Featured in CN Traveler’s 2018 Hot List.
“This hotel-hostel hybrid is one of the coolest players on Downtown LA’s ever-growing accommodation scene. Stay here for the funky décor, social vibe and the tropical rooftop bar and pool.”
What guests liked
- Friendly staff
- Excellent Wifi
- Top location
- Rooftop bar
- Super nice
All you need to know
The Freehand Hotel is located at 416 West 8th Street in Downtown Los Angeles – it is from this prime location that this four-star hotel offers the best of hospitality to visitors in the city. The hotel is famous for being close to several attractions – numerous shops and restaurants are located near the hotel building while fascinating and interesting places are also within short distances from the hotel.
The hotel is famous for its rooftop pool & bar with 360-degree views of the city that guests would make your stay in the hotel even more memorable. The rooftop pool & bar is one of the reasons the hotel is rated highly for a two-person trip; couples love the Freehand Hotel.
The hotel offers chic and posh room options such as The Burroughs Suite, The Loft Suite, King Room with Skyline View, Private Super-Six, King Room with City View, Private Quad, Corner King Studio, Cozy King with Artwell View, Studio King Room, Cozy King with Skyline View, and the Private Super-Eight.
Other accommodation options available in the hotel are Bed in Shared Super-Six: Co-Ed, Bed in Shared Quad: Co-Ed, and Bed in Shared Super-Eight: Co-Ed.
The on-site hotel restaurant offers a wide variety of local and international cuisines, prepared from fresh ingredients and served exquisitely in a stylish and refreshing setting.
Freehand Hotel offers services, facilities, and amenities such as concierge services, luggage storage, 24-hour front desk, daily maid service and room service.
Lowest price guarantee
We partner with Booking.com and Agoda. Both booking websites offer the lowest price guarantee so you can be certain you will always get the best deal for this hotel. If you have seen a better price elsewhere, all you need to do is contact the booking website and they will refund you the difference immediately. You can price match right up until the day before check-in.
Location
Recent guest reviews
9 February 2025
Good value hotel I would totally stay again :)
Cool old school vibe
Bed could be more comfortable, but it was adequate:)
9 February 2025
Good. would recommend
Value for money because of the location and the amenities at the price.
Swimming pool remained closed half of the time. Didnt replace towels often and doesnt have any bathroom soap or shampoo next to shower.
8 February 2025
Very good
Location and affordability for the weekend.
Wish there was a curtain all around the bed.
5 February 2025
Very good
Hot water wasn’t always available
4 February 2025
I recommend if you want simple, clean and central historical LA nearby and the cheapest price around.
You get what you pay for, it was the cheapest option in LA, clean bedding and bathroom within the quad room with towel and blanket per bed
Unfortunately and not the property’s fault but a women in the room was SO sick she should have been sharing a hospital ward not a hostel room putting everyone at risk. Her flu/bacteria/virus may have been shared with us all. If you’re sick, book your own isolated room or find other accommodation to be fair to other guests and staff.
3 February 2025
If you want to be able to walk to places, staying in DLA is perfect
Room was very comfortable with big, clean bathroom, comfortable bed. Tons of options of food and shopping near the hotel, public transportation was also very convenient. Felt as safe as it can
no smart TV or dishwashing liquid in the common kitchen (wanted to wash my water bottle and couldn't)
3 February 2025
Dark space
Great food and atmosphere
I have never stayed at such a dark place. No lights anywhere. Super weird
29 January 2025
The staff was friendly and informative. Always had a smile on their faces. Love the location and the historic history of
Loved the location. Didn’t need our car. Everything was in walking distance.
Paying nightly 59$ for parking.
27 January 2025
Very good
The bed was comfortable. The shower pressure was strong. The location was great. The staff was great.
The restaurant downstairs closed too early. Maybe at least have pre-made heatable meals for after hours. Just a thought.
25 January 2025
It’s was a good night
Customer service
No parking, or at least a discount or a more flexible price for valet parking
21 January 2025
Fabulous
Location and building
19 January 2025
I enjoyed the stay at Freehand overall. Booked 14 days more. I just hope its in a better room, and maybe a woman as a ro
It was in the center of downtown, near Whole Foods market and Dunkin donuts. I enjoyed the rooftop access and the quietness outside the room window. The gallons of water the shower head drops fast and hard. Lights in all rooms dim low to keep you relaxed.
There was no smoking area, the air conditioner didn’t work. Had to keep window open to keep room cool. No smoking on the roof either. House keeper did not knock or say anything when entering room.
17 January 2025
Cute lobby and great location
The staff were lovely and great location for what we were there for.
16 January 2025
Very good
Deposit was never released.
12 January 2025
Very good
Location, staff is nice, room size is great.
The lighting makes you feel like you are in The Shining movie, bed was not comfortable enough. Shower is too small. The furniture of the room needs an upgrade.
12 January 2025
Fabulous
Happy New Year everything was clean
Location
11 January 2025
Pleasant
Really cool old school themed property with thoughtful materials and color choices for the room…loved the bright color mini tiles in the bathroom. Comfy bed
Iron didn’t work
10 January 2025
Very good
Gorgeous hotel, shared rooms are very good value if you book early.
Some of the small details could be improved (no hooks or trashes in bathrooms)
10 January 2025
Acceptable
Situated in between the places where we wanted to go, example; LAX airport, Anaheim, Hollywood Blvd, WB, Crypto, Koreatown, etc. We booked this place for its location. However, uber drivers told us to be careful of our surroundings as we were downtown (and wouldn’t recommend walking at night). We were a family of 4, our room consisted of 2 bunk beds (4 single beds) and a private bathroom. Coffee downstairs of walk a minute or two for a grocery store/wholefoods. We could slightly open the window in the room for some fresh air as well as control the heating in the room. We did not utilise the pool during our stay as it was winter. Wifi was not too bad in the room.
Lower level bed (bed 1) was very noisy each time we moved. Only one chair available in the room and no table, although there was no room for it anyways. Lower level had a kitchen but only one microwave, hot water did not really work (wasn’t hot) at night time. No laundry room available in the property. Not a fault of the property but an fyi, there are a lot of homeless people around but we were not bothered as we did not bother them also. Not sure about cleaning but they did come in daily to empty out the bin, no changed sheets / towel changed unless requested.
6 January 2025
Worried
I love the amenities, rooftop bar
I didn't like that I paid for valet during my stay n my car got broken into without any damages or signs of getting broken into and never got resolved with camera footages
6 January 2025
Fabulous
Very good place safe and clean
6 January 2025
good stay in Los Angeles
Location is very good to access crypto.com stadium.
amenity goods.
5 January 2025
Overstay was awesome
Location is in good place all necessities near by
Rooms are congested
5 January 2025
I will definitely be back.
Good location.
No parking . Valet too expensive.
4 January 2025
Overall it was good location
Convinced to transportation
No kitchen
3 January 2025
Pleasant
The toilet wasn't flushing but I was able to fix it on my own.
2 January 2025
Loved my stay!
Location, facilities and rooftop bar!!
this was a great stay!
1 January 2025
Fabulous
Decent stay. As for location, its very close to the station and since there are lots of guests, you do feel somewhat safe near the hostel. The only cons I found was that the room was set at quite warm temparature and there was no way of bringing it down. Otherwise very good place with lockers assigned.
31 December 2024
Great downtown hotel for a quick stay with an awesome rooftop bar
Great location for walking around DTLA, room was perfect size for a short stay, we did have the corner king so I think it's a little larger than the regular kings, has a cool view. We love the broken Shaker on the rooftop, great cocktails and bites! Convenient valet parking.
Only problem we had was the shower knob was VERY sensitive, it was tight and then there was a point where it would go from cold to scalding hot and very hard to get just right.
30 December 2024
Pleasant
The girl at the front desk.the hair to sholder,big eyes.curly hair,she was amazing,really warm hearted. Mark the the map she gave me and patient. FEEL very good in the states.
.....
28 December 2024
Pleasant
Ease of location and check in. Sad that the restaurant was not open our Coffee available earlier than 7am. I was there for work and left at 6:30 each morning.
Restaurant being closed. The hallway and door nose at night.
22 December 2024
Lovely, stylish hotel in downtown LA.
Loved the style of the hotel Good location for us.
The lights were very dim in the room and generally in hotel
22 December 2024
Very good
Im really like the location and the staff everybody is so kind
Im think that they need a personal parking
20 December 2024
One of the best budget hostels, great pod bunks
Helpful friendly staff, good location close to transport. The best pod bunks great for privacy, lovely bathrooms One of the best budget hostels
The cleaning staff do a good job with the bathrooms but need to vacuum and clean under beds to a better standard
20 December 2024
Excellent choice
Excellent location, friendly employees.
17 December 2024
Fabulous
Pretty cool hotel. Worth staying!
The location is good. But didn't feel that save at night...
15 December 2024
Good value for money, clean, friendly staff
The hotel was in an ideal location, good amenities, friendly staff
Getting breakfast in the morning was a bit of a hassle and a long wait. There was sone day when they were closed for orders during their scheduled opening times, which meant I frequented external eateries instead.
12 December 2024
Great staff and location
Great location
There’s no room service
12 December 2024
Pleasant
good rooms, easy check-in and check-out requiring a minimal amount of time and effort, the location is definitely a plus.
I don't think this is exactly what would be expected of the hostel, but while I stayed here, one night there's someone snoring quite loudly, likely has obstructive sleep apnea, then another next night with clear signs of upper respiratory infection, possibly COVID. It is not ideal that these people with illnesses that are contagious or directly impacting others, they should be roomed to themselves to minimize impact to other, more normal, occupants.
9 December 2024
Too bad this fun place is in downtown LA.
Cool, retro, fun decor and mood. Very nice staff. Paris Baguette next for breakfast. Walkable to what few sights there are in downtown LA.
The street can get really noisy late at night on weekends, The neighborhood is a bit historic, but not in a charming way. If you have to stay in downtown LA, this is the only place I saw with much character.
6 December 2024
Very good
Location
No Lockers
6 December 2024
Will be back again! Nice neighborhood, room and friendly services. A terrible roommate.
I like the location, the room and the service. The pool on the rooftop wasn't open at the announced schedule, but that reasonable and acceptable. The bar was opening and people working at the bar were nice to me. I love the beautiful lobby at the first floor. People working at the front desk are very helpful and friendly! Guests I met in the hallways were also nice and chill. If you're lucky and have good roomates, share room will also be a good experience because everyone has some space and privacy, and the price of share room is very good comparing to other hotels and Airbnb in this area.
TL;DR I'll not book "share room" here in the future, or I'll just book room with my friends to live together. The hotel itself is perfectly worth the price. I normaly stay with clean and quiet and friendly roommates in hostels, but not that lucky this time. I booked a 4-woman-shared bedroom this time. One of my roommates was nice, one of the bed is always empty, one of the roomates was very rude. She's nice to me during the day, but she was rude at nights. Also, she's using other people's stuff without asking for permission. One day, she's watching Tik Tok or some videos 3am in the morning, laughing and talking to herself. She's not sleeping and being loud. I tried to use my locker as quiet as possible, she suddenly started to shout at me: You are always so LOOOOOOUD [loud. I think she wanted to say "noisy"?]. She also complained about things I've never done, and sounded like I made noise and pissed her off on purpose, while she was watching videos loudly and talking (to herself or her friend) all the time. She used the wrong locker, and she used all the towels in this room, including mine. Her towels used up the hooks, towel rack, and even put on the floor of the bathroom. I got another towel from the hotel staff, they were helpful and friendly. This time I came to Los Angeles to take care of very important matters and was rather busy. I only have a very short time each day (maybe 2-5 hours) to sleep at the hotel. A shower at about 9 or 10 in the morning, and get out of the hotel. I tried to rest severl hours in the busy days, and tried my best not to disturb my roommate. I really didn't have enough energy to argue or negotiate with her. I was also too busy to talk more to the staff about the details of the situation, other than ask the staff for one bath towels because my roommate used mine.
3 December 2024
Very good
Group of 3 booked a private room for 4, and the room was spacious and clean. Good locker space for storage of bags and nice amenities included. Rooftop bar was lovely to enjoy a drink.
2 December 2024
Thanksgiving break stay
The free rooftop and nice view. Also, the shower pressure was great.
The smell of the room, carpet, and elevators stink and are grimy. Also, valet is the only parking option through the hotel and it is so expensive.
1 December 2024
Fabulous
The rooftop pool and key card access for Saftey
The beds were too low
1 December 2024
Very good
A little bit smelly on the bed
26 November 2024
A great value conveniently located, for families or groups of friends.
Freehand was perfect value for a family, we rented a quad with bunk beds. The location was just right and the room was clean and well outfitted. Our only complaint would be not enough bedding to stay warm at night - to top sheet and only one blanket. In November, L.A. nights can be chilly.
a top sheet and warmer blanket
24 November 2024
Great
Freehand LA is right in downtown LA, close to everything from the Crypto.com arena and Union Station. The building is an older 1920s building and the rooms keep with that theme giving them a comfy vibe. The hostel bunks are comfy and well designed with the lamps and sockets in good locations.
23 November 2024
Very good
The pool.
I didn't like one male employee being too direct in his language. For example, you cannot shortly say "No" to a customer. Instead say "I am sorry I cannot do that, sir.". That's just one example, but many more occurred. Most employees were really good, but one was really bad.
Hotel facilities
Food & Drink
- - Restaurant
- - Bar
Business facilities
- - Meeting/banquet facilities
- - Fax/photocopying
Reception services
- - 24-hour front desk
- - Express check-in/check-out
- - Luggage storage
- - Private check-in/check-out
- - Lockers
- - Invoice provided
Activities
- - Fitness centre
- - Fitness
- - Happy hour (additional charge)
Outdoors
- - Terrace
- - Outdoor pool
- - Sun terrace
- - Outdoor pool (all year)
- - Outdoor furniture
General
- - Non-smoking rooms
- - Facilities for disabled guests
- - Family rooms
- - Lift
- - Safety deposit box
- - Heating
- - Non-smoking throughout
- - Air conditioning
Cleaning services
- - Laundry (additional charge)
- - Dry cleaning (additional charge)
- - Ironing service (additional charge)
- - Daily housekeeping
Pool and wellness
- - Swimming pool toys
- - Pool with view
- - Heated pool
- - Pool bar
- - Shallow end
- - Sun loungers or beach chairs
- - Sun umbrellas
- - Swimming pool
- - Swimming Pool
Entertainment and family services
- - Board games/puzzles
Miscellaneous
- - 24-hour security
- - Key access
- - Key card access
- - Security alarm
- - Smoke alarms
- - CCTV in common areas
- - CCTV outside property
- - Fire extinguishers
- - Breakfast takeaway containers
- - Delivered food is securely covered
- - Access to health care professionals
- - Face masks for guests available
9 February 2025
Welcoming, helpful and very acvomodating. Great range of entertainment too. Bohemian feel to the pod