West Hollywood, United States: Self-Guided Walking Tour

Looking for things to do in West Hollywood? The Sunset Strip brings together Art Deco architecture, Hollywood history, legendary comedy, music-industry stories and distinctive religious landmarks in a compact part of the city. Neywo has a free audio guide for West Hollywood with 6 narrated places, allowing you to explore these stories as you walk.

What to See in West Hollywood

The most important places on Neywo’s West Hollywood route are concentrated around the Sunset Strip and nearby streets. Together, they reveal the area’s connections with entertainment, architecture and local community life.

St. Ambrose Church

St. Ambrose Church is a Roman Catholic parish at 1281 North Fairfax Avenue, serving the local community in the heart of West Hollywood. It is one of the stops on the walking route and provides a quieter counterpoint to the entertainment history associated with the Sunset Strip.

Sunset Tower

The Sunset Tower rises above Sunset Boulevard and has been a fixture of the area for nearly a century. Architect Leland A. Bryant designed the building in 1929, and it opened in 1931. Its Art Deco style makes it one of the notable examples of the movement in the Los Angeles area.

The building became associated with Hollywood’s elite in its early years, with John Wayne and Howard Hughes among the celebrities who lived there. After falling into decline in the early 1980s, it was renovated and returned to use as a luxury hotel. It has operated under several names, including The St. James’s Club and The Argyle, and is now known as the Sunset Tower Hotel.

The building also served as the residence of the main character in the television series Lucifer.

The Comedy Store

At 8433 Sunset Boulevard, The Comedy Store has been part of the Sunset Strip’s entertainment history since it opened in April 1972. The venue is one of the country’s best-known comedy clubs and has remained a landmark of the stand-up scene.

Its location places it directly within the stretch of Sunset Boulevard known for live entertainment. For visitors interested in the city’s performance history, it is an essential stop on a West Hollywood self-guided walking tour.

Hacienda Arms Apartments

The Hacienda Arms Apartments, also known as the Piazza del Sol, is a four-story building covering 52,000 square feet. Built in 1927, it combines Italian Renaissance Revival design with Mediterranean Revival influences.

The building originally provided luxury apartments for people working in the entertainment industry, and Hollywood’s elite lived and socialized there. In the 1930s, it became widely considered the most famous brothel in California. Its fortunes later declined, and rock star Rod Stewart acquired the property in the 1970s with plans to redevelop it as a luxury hotel. Those plans ended in a legal dispute.

A suspicious fire nearly destroyed the building in 1983. After extensive renovation, it reopened in 1986 under the name Piazza del Sol. Today, it houses offices for several production companies, including Miramax Films.

Saint Victor Catholic Church

Saint Victor Catholic Church is a Roman Catholic church at 8634 Holloway Drive in West Hollywood. Alongside St. Ambrose Church, it represents the city’s local religious landmarks within a route otherwise shaped by architecture and entertainment history.

Hollywood Foreign Press Association

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association was formed in 1943 by a correspondent for the British newspaper Daily Mail. It consisted of journalists and photographers who covered the American entertainment industry for media outlets outside the United States, helping bring news of Hollywood film and television to international audiences.

The association became best known for founding and running the Golden Globe Awards. The ceremony recognized achievements in film and television and was held annually in Los Angeles from 1943 until 2023. At its peak, the organization had about 105 members from approximately 55 countries, with a combined readership of more than 250 million people.

Explore West Hollywood with a Free Audio Guide

Neywo’s free West Hollywood audio guide includes 6 narrated places and 1 walking tour. The walk, “Sunset Strip Legends: Comedy, Art Deco and Scandal,” covers 3.83 km in about 88 minutes and has 6 stops: St. Ambrose Church, Sunset Tower, The Comedy Store, Hacienda Arms Apartments, Saint Victor Catholic Church and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule. Narration is available in 11 languages, making it a practical way to turn a walk along the Sunset Strip into a self-guided tour.

Download Neywo and explore West Hollywood one story at a time. You can also discover more destinations across California and the United States.