Star-struck travelers love to stay at the Beverly Hilton. Seconds from Rodeo Drive and surrounded by the glitz and glamour that keeps the paparazzi’s flashbulbs popping, the hotel also hosts the Golden Globe Awards and its many parties each year. With a more than six-decade history of serving Hollywood, the hotel and its legendary eateries are some of the best places for casual celebrity encounters.

But star spotting is just one of the luxurious amenities at this glitzy locale. The lobby sparkles with crystal chandeliers and polished marble floors. Neutral tones create inviting spaces in common areas and in the spa’s five treatment rooms and guests can enjoy views of the stunning Hollywood Hills or gaze onto the hotel’s posh pool area. The hotel knows its guests expect Hollywood’s particular brand of luxury, and this holds true in its spa, where pampering treatments focus on botanical ingredients and essential oils designed to foster a youthful glow inside and out.

The Spa Experience

This close to the bustle of Rodeo Drive, it’s hard to find peace and quiet, so Aqua Star Spa creates a sense of serenity from moment you pass through its doors. Calming seafoam hues and natural stone walls set a relaxing tone that continues throughout. Guests are invited to unwind in the co-ed lounge and enjoy dried fruits, biscotti, gourmet teas and chilled water while they settle into the spa environment.

Spa services are both therapeutic and cosmetic, with a deluxe assortment of anti-aging facials, custom wraps, body treatments and cosmetic options like eyelash and brow tinting on the menu. Expect to be pampered and indulged, Tinseltown style, as therapists expertly alleviate your tight spots, smooth fine lines and brighten your appearance with an all-over spray tan.

Pampering Treatments

The staff at Aqua Star Spa knows it’s not just about feeling good, but looking good too. After a stressful week at work, I was feeling a bit under par. I settled into the treatment room, enjoying the lightly scented candle and admiring the art on the walls as my therapist suggested relieving tight muscles and tension – stress ages you, she warned – with the spa’s stretch and massage treatment. A combination of deep tissue and pressure point massage with Thai stretching, the hours I spent hunched over my computer that week melted away in minutes.

With the internal tended to, I eagerly anticipated my external renovation. It came in the way of Aqua Star’s O-2 please facial, which my specialist told me is designed to fight free radicals and brighten up skin that’s lost its sparkle thanks to the inevitable exposure to pollution, sunshine, and the stress of daily life.

Indulgences and Added Amenities

Celebrities want for nothing, and the spa strives for its guests to feel as though they’ve achieved celebrity status. Still glowing from my heavenly day of treatments, the next morning I decided to start the day off balanced with a private yoga session. The stretching warmed me up for an appointment with the treadmill at the facility’s well-appointed fitness center – the geek in me really liked playing with some of the newest Precor products on the market, and I made a game of testing as much of electronic gadgetry on the machines as I could before I was off to spend the day with a stack of magazines poolside.

An evening in higher-than-normal heels had left my arches aching, a condition my morning workout didn’t help. One of the trainers suggested I schedule a pampered by the pool foot massage. My therapist met me on deck, and soothed my feet with a heavenly rubdown while I lounged next to the hotel’s legendary waters.