Photos: Downtown L.A.’s Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriot

The hotel near 8th Street and Olympic Boulevard opened in February and includes pleasant, low-key rooms.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A fourth-floor terrace at the downtown hotel features a swimming pool and a 12-person whirlpool.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A couple enjoys a meal at the L.A. Market, a prime breakfast place just off the JW Marriott lobby.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles’ 26th floor has a pool, but it’s also a good place for reading.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton, which opened in early April, begin at a generous 450 feet. The hotel takes up floors 22-26 of the same building that houses the JW Marriott.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

At Wolfgang Puck‘s WP24, a new Asian eatery and lounge on the 24th floor of the JW Marriott/Ritz-Carlton tower, The Times’ Christopher Reynolds encountered “great food, creatively cooked and well served.”  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

A youngster surveys Lucky Strike Lanes, an alley and eating and drinking place on the second level of L.A. Live.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The Figueroa Hotel, a fixture in downtown Los Angeles for more than 70 years, has 285 rooms and also is convenient to L.A. Live.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

The theme is Moroccan, the furnishings discriminating but economical at the hotel at 939 S. Figueroa St., where rates begin at about $150.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)

This former Holiday Inn is soon to be rechristened as the Luxe CIty Center Hotel, and its management is aiming for a four-star boutique atmosphere.  (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)