The Spare Room

This is a beautiful space tucked into the Roosevelt Hotel. The cocktails are expensive but made with care, but if you're inside the Roosevelt you're either looking for ghosts or the bottom of a $20 cocktail, so be prepared to spend some money. The mint juleps are stunning, slapped mint, crushed ice, good bourbon. It even comes in a proper julep cup, which I'm sure purists appreciate. There are many things to occupy your interest, from the hidden photo booth to the not so hidden bowling alley. They even sell classy socks so your date in high heels doesn't have to stick her bare foot into used bowling shoes. Bowling is on the pricey side but always seems like a blast! There are assorted board games strewn about the bar to play with between drinks. The elegant decor, and elegant staff are cherries on top of the cake. I would go back to this sometimes-quiet mixology bar and play some Jenga in a heartbeat!

The Spare Room is for those evenings in Hollywood when you don't feel like lining up for noisy clubs, but just want to chill with a couple of good friends and catch up on the latest gossip. The bar is small, but never too crowded, the couches are comfy and the music not too loud. And if for whatever reason you run out of things to talk about, or your blind date turns out to be a fail, you can always resort to one of their many boardgames to lighten the mood. The drinks are more on the expensive side, so if you are on a budget stick to beer, but the whole setting is just beautiful and makes up for the empty wallet at the end of the night: Loads of dark wood, an old bowling alley and trendy people. A hidden gem is the photo booth in the wall on the left when you walk in. I think it is $5 and always good for a laugh. The closest parking (in high-heel walkable distance) is just across Hollywood Blvd in the Hollywood and Highland Center. They stay open late and charge by the hour.

I love more speakeasy-esque/experimental cocktail lounges and the Spare Room does not disappoint! I loved their cocktail menu and wanted to try everything. Luckily I had a few friends with me and we all got to sip each other's drinks. I can't remember the name but one of the whiskey ginger cocktails was totally delicious. I myself went for some weird chocolate milkshake heaven that had Jamison, Fernet, and Egg? I also got to try another drink that's home made ginger beer, vodka, and something else, and a fruity passion fruit drink. One drink's name I remember is called "Thanks, Grandma!" and it is literally a pumpkin pie that melts in your mouth. Talk about in time for the holidays... I loved every drink that I had and also loved the bartenders! They were great conversation and willing to share their recommendations, which I really appreciated. My friends and I also bowled, bought a deck of cards, and played some games while sipping our wonderful drinks. Overall it was a really fun experience. Too bad I am on a college budget and cannot afford expensive drinks like this every day or else I'd be at the Spare Room pretty often!

It's that moment again. That hold your breath, hands are shaking, all eyes are now on you moment and you're staring intently at your target. Before you even hear the sound you know something big is about to happen and it does- suddenly all the jenga tiles perched happily at your table have recklessly toppled over onto the Spare Room's floor, some now camouflaged under couches, and all preempted by your hand. Thankfully no one notices because the only thing they can hear now is the roar of the two bowling lanes off behind you. An order of another round of carefully crafted cocktails later and you and your certified partners in crime are considering switching the scene up a bit. Maybe this time with something a little less lacking in pressure from your peers? Lucky for you Spare Room has a vast array of options to offer including a list of won't leave you bored games. The scene may stay the same but the tone is different on any given night. One night the thundering bowling lanes were barely even audible and the that night dressed to impress crowd was taking it back to the twenties with a live jazz band. This Hollywood haunt has efinitely become a staple of my where to go tonight options, but let me suggest that even though the L.A. crowd prefers to arrive fashionably late this particular destination begs for an early arrival. The seats and intimate booths are limited and somewhat of a hot commodity here, and for guys that have no game you'll want to reserve one of the board variety to serve as a conversation starter, stat. Nothing sends chills down a spine like whispering sweet jenga into your cohort's ear. And hey if all else fails, the thundering lanes remnicent of the roaring twenties should serve as savior from any given awkward silence!