Last month, I flew to Los Angeles for work, admittedly one of my favorite places to travel to for a work trip. And while an out-of-the-ordinary rainy day greeted me upon touchdown at LAX, the familiar line of palm trees and nearby In-N-Out still pulled me in like a warm hug.
I'm typically a pretty flexible traveler, but at this stage in my career, the novelty of a fast work trip can wear off. So this time around, I switched things up and stayed at the Moxy Downtown Los Angeles, a Marriott Bonvoy property, which is designed with solo travelers in mind. (You can check out other Marriott Bonvoy properties using Marriott Bonvoy points for your next solo work travel trip.) There are multiple restaurants, a pool, gym, and more amenities located within
the same building as the Moxy and its sister property, the AC Hotel.
Fortunately for me, staying at the Moxy DTLA meant a fairly quick car ride from the airport (gotta love LA traffic), which made for a faster hotel check-in. A lovely concierge at the front desk welcomed me in the moodily lit lobby area, and went over the various amenities, again reiterating that I didn't really need to even leave the property if I didn't absolutely have to.
I'm not a big solo meal girl if I can help it, so eating dinner alone on my first night of this trip was out of my comfort zone (growth!) but the staff at AC Bar & Bistro was welcoming and the vibes were elite, so I felt perfectly comfortable. I ordered an appetizer of marinated olives, the hanger steak frites with arugula and chimichurri, and the Oaxacan Sour cocktail consisting of Banhez mezcal, lemon, egg white, and Angostura bitters.
While still running on east coast time, I woke up early the next morning and headed straight down to Bluestone Lane, conveniently located in the first floor lobby where I ordered two different types of toast: the peanut butter and berry toast with strawberries, raspberries, honey, and mint on multigrain toast, as well as the avocado toast, which came with cherry tomatoes, feta, prosciutto, and a sprinkle of chili flakes, also on multigrain toast. (I couldn't decide. Both were fab, no regrets.)
As I prepared for a day out and about in LA with a friend, I chilled in my room — with a corner view at that! The cozy room featuring a king-sized bed overlooking the city provided the perfect solo escape for a work trip.
Since I knew I'd have at least one day to myself in LA before work ensued, I made sure to make both plans with a good friend, as well as solo down time for myself. It was a good balance of activities, and I felt like I got a nice dose of both. We went to vintage furniture store Pop Up Home, stopped by the Damson Madder pop-up, walked Little Tokyo, and paid a visit to Erewhon, a no-brainer for an East Coaster like me. That delicious $24 Hailey Bieber smoothie? Fortunately (or unfortunately), it is good.
Emily Zirimis is the associate creative director at Popsugar. Before joining the PS team, she worked as Creative Design Director at Teen Vogue for nearly six years. She holds a BFA in Communications Design with a minor in Art History from Pratt Institute and has been working in the digital media space since 2014.
