We don’t want to overstate this, but the city of angels is going off right now.

And it’s tourism offering is growing by the day. In this handy guide, we bring you the best new places to shop, eat, stay and soak up cultural experiences so you can do LA like a local.

Shop ’till you drop

ROW DTLA (Arts District) – Originally a major hub for the distribution of produce across the region, stretching back as early as 1923, the space is undergoing historically sensitive renovations and its buildings are being thoughtfully repurposed into creative offices, retail, restaurants, and galleries.

While nearly 50 retail, restaurant, and creative office leases have been signed, when completed, ROW DTLA will include over 100 of the most progressive shops and restaurants from across the city and world—a new centre, uniting food, fashion, creativity and innovation.

AT MATEO (Arts District) – The opening of a USD $32.5 million open-air retail hub has transformed five large warehouses occupying a huge block at the corner of Mateo and Palmetto into a shopping hotspot.

AT MATEO has been designed to become the epicentre of social activity for neighbourhood, and is open from breakfast to nightcap, seven days a week. Open now.

Beverly Center (Westside) – The Beverly Center has unveiled a massive USD $500 million renovation plan, aiming to draw more shoppers with increased food offerings and improved open-air designs.

The new design will feature a continuous ribbon of skylights to bring more natural light to the eight-story mall’s interior.

In addition to great retail, an estimated ten dining destinations will be developed, including two by Michelin starred, James Beard Award-winning Chef Michael Mina. Renovation to be completed by holiday 2018.

Oceanwide Plaza (Downtown) – Oceanwide Plaza will introduce globally inspired sophistication to Downtown Los Angeles, featuring the new Park Hyatt Los Angeles, a collection of residential offerings and an open-air retail destination.

The retail and dining collection at Oceanwide Plaza will offer a selection of shops and restaurants, a 50-foot open-air galleria and a third-floor deck overlooking the Staples Center and L.A. Live. Completion of Oceanwide Plaza is expected by the fourth quarter of 2018.

Hottest new hotels

La Peer (West Hollywood) – Opened in January 2018, La Peer Hotel features 105 guest rooms and suites, a rooftop event space, poolside fitness centre and more than 8,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor dining and lounge spaces. In addition, the property’s pool – while in the centre of the bustling city – is an escape in and of itself accented by lush landscaping and handcrafted lanterns hanging from above that set the tone for an urban retreat.

NoMad Hotel (Downtown) – Sydell Group opened the Los Angeles outpost of New York’s NoMad Hotel in January 2018. The NoMad is redeveloped out of Downtown’s Giannini Place, which was built in 1923 as the headquarters for Bank of Italy (which became Bank of America).

The 12-story hotel has about 250 rooms as well as a rooftop pool. L.A. is the first city where three Sydell Group brands are represented.

The Godfrey Hotel (Hollywood) – The 60,000-square-feet Godfrey hotel will be a high-end boutique hotel that addresses the lifestyle of the contemporary jet-setting professional.

The project features amenities that will allow travellers to conduct business both locally and remotely, while enjoying the unique room and food experiences that the Godfrey brand has become known for in Chicago and Boston. The property is slated to open in 2018.

Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel (Downtown) – Proper Hospitality, the new brand headed by former Viceroy Hotels Chief Brad Korzen, is slated to debut its first Los Angeles hotel (joining their residential project, Hollywood Proper Residences) with a Downtown L.A. property located at the site of the former Case Hotel. The 13-story property, which was built in 1924, will have 148 rooms and plans to open in late 2018.

Tommie Hotel (Hollywood) – With lush greenspace and an array of communal amenities, this new Tommie Hotel is designed to entice the young professional crowd going out in Hollywood to stay for the night or weekend. The Tommie Hotel Los Angeles sits at the intersection of Wilcox and Selma Avenues in Hollywood, adjacent to an existing Mama Shelter hotel. The property is slated to open 2020.

Park Hyatt/Oceanwide Plaza (Downtown) – Oceanwide Plaza, the mixed-use project that will be built adjacent to STAPLES Centre and L.A. LIVE, will include L.A.’s first hotel under the Park Hyatt luxury badge. Slated to open in early 2019, the Park Hyatt Los Angeles will have 184 rooms, including 34 suites.

Where to eat

Petit Trois (Sherman Oaks) – Opened at the end of April, this new Valley destination is adorned with pastel banquettes, a marble bar, curved ceilings and tall front windows.

This restaurant is chef Ludo’s largest restaurant to date and he plans on executing some French finery not previously seen in his restaurants. Diners can expect daily service from breakfast through dinner.

Partido (Highland Park) – Newcomer to the ever-changing Highland Park neighbourhood is Partido, a French/Filipino weekend pop-up from Chef Lynne Tolentino and a trio of developers from CODA Equities.

Before Partido, Tolentino was with Superba Food & Bread, as the chef de cuisine. Prior to that, she spent time in the kitchens of Providence and Patina. The pop-up will eventually become a diner-only eatery with a full bar.

Oriel (Chinatown) – As Far East Plaza in Chinatown continues to evolve, so do the tenants. The latest opening is Oriel, a French-style bistro offering classics (cheese and charcuterie boards, frisee salads, croque monsieurs, etc.) a low-lit ambiance and hard to find wines.

The new spot comes from Dustin Lancaster, who’s responsible for stylish places like Bar Covell and Augustine and was designed by Sally Breer, L.A.-based designer responsible for Hotel Covell in Los Feliz and many others.

Nightshade (Arts District) – After years of anticipation, star chef Mei Lin, is ready to reveal her next project this summer: Nightshade, an expansive space in the Arts District that will feature a pan-Asian menu infused with modern touches and California sensibilities.

Jon & Vinny (Brentwood) – Jon & Vinny’s, the casual Italian spot on Fairfax, will be adding a second location to the westside neighbourhood of Brentwood, with plans to bring the same big plates of meatballs and pizza.

Likely opening of the restaurant is expected sometime in the late summer or fall 2018 at the earliest.

Soak up some culture 

The Wende Museum (Culver City) – Socialist Flower Power: Soviet Hippie Culture is devoted to a world that few people know existed and that many find hard to believe did exist: the world of the Soviet hippie movement.

Soviet hippies were part of the global counterculture of the 1960s and 70s: In collaboration with the Archive of Modern Conflict and Dr. Juliane Furst of the University of Bristol (UK), the Wende Museum has acquired the personal archives of several prominent Soviet hippies, which include photos, clothing and memorabilia that would otherwise have been lost forever.

The exhibition will be the first time any of these items have been shown to the public. The exhibition will be available May 20 – August 26, 2018.

Autry Museum of the American West (Griffith Park) – Things You Know But Cannot Explain represents Bartow’s first major retrospective and contribution to the substantial growing body of scholarship on contemporary Native artists. Bartow (Mad River Band Wiyot) established his art career in the 1980s, following service in Vietnam and a period of recovery from PTSD and alcoholism.

His work consists of large-scale paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures that often feature haunting combinations of animal and human forms and are often both deeply personal and culturally relevant.

This exhibition speaks directly to the personal and cultural aspects of traditional Native art with Bartow’s oeuvre while demonstrating his close engagement with the work of 20^th-century masters including Francis Bacon, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jean-Michel Basquiat. The exhibition will be on display from May 6 – January 6, 2019.

California Science Center (Downtown) – A new chapter of ancient Egyptian history is being unearthed to the world with the debut of KING TUT: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh, an extraordinary and exclusive exhibition celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of his tomb.

Presented by the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, Exhibitions International, IMG and the California Science Center, the new immersive exhibition will display more than 150 real artefacts from Tutankhamun’s (also known as King Tut) tomb.

On display from March 24 – January 2019 will be many items the Boy King himself used in life and in death, including: golden jewellery, elaborate carvings, sculptures, and ritual antiquities.

The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens (San Marino) – Out of the Woods, a travelling exhibition of original botanical artworks organised by The New York Botanical Garden and the American Society of Botanical Artists is on display from May 19 – August 27, 2018.

It spotlights one of the planet’s most important and beautiful resources – trees – as cultivated by botanical gardens and arboreta. The exhibition highlights the role public gardens play in engaging visitors with trees and their ecological and utilitarian roles, and underscores the conservation, research, and scholarship being undertaken by these institutions.

From more than 200 submitted entries, 43 artworks were selected for the exhibition, featuring images of trees from small county arboreta alongside those from some of the world’s most renowned botanical gardens, including The Huntington.

Academy Museum (Mid-City) – Get ready for more cinematic brilliance – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is building the world’s leading movie museum in the heart of Los Angeles.

Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano, the six story Academy Museum will contain state-of-the-art galleries, exhibition spaces, movie theatres, educational areas, and special event spaces. The museum is planned to open in 2019.