Since no one's mentioned hotels you should *not* stay at, aside from ones in DTLA: the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air are still owned by the Dorchester Group, owned by the Sultan of Brunei (one of the world's worst homophobes - Brunei has the death penalty for gays).
It's kinda remarkable how many hotels here are located within a half-mile of each other. The Strip starting at its intersection with La Cienega is an embarrassment of riches: the Sunset Tower has somehow remained a consistent draw despite having subpar rooms, but it's walking distance to the Andaz, Mondrian, 1 Hotel West Hollywood, Sunset Marquis, and one of the newer Soho House properties. It's only a few blocks further to the Chateau. All that said, Strip hotels draw too many looky-loo tourists, and the Strip on whole is obnoxious AF on weekends.
To mention a top hotel no one else has referenced yet: the Fairmont Century Plaza. They completed what I'm guessing is the priciest hotel renovation in California history. The Century Plaza is a mid-century icon, and they spent five years and $2.5 billion refurbishing it before reopening it in 2021, now as a Fairmont (after having been a Hyatt and Westin at various points). It's both stunning, and also one of the relatively few L.A. hotels that still have balconies: despite its perfect weather, you wouldn't want a balcony anywhere like the Strip or downtown solely due to noise, but the hotel itself is an oasis of calm even on weekdays. On the down side, Century City in general is all business and, as such, dead on weekends. The hotel is across the street from CAA's headquarters and next door to one of West L.A.'s largest shopping malls. Still, it's just south of Wilshire, which crosses most of the city, and is a good halfway point if you're wanting to see both West L.A. (e.g. Santa Monica & the Getty) along with areas closer to downtown.
Since I think the OP is wanting some insider-y tips, here are two of mine:
Cara Hotel: a small but charming property that's in Los Feliz and also only a few blocks to the 101. Somewhat unusually for L.A., it's practically next door to a Metro stop, and while the L.A. Metro is ridiculously scant compared to the likes of the NYC subway or getting around any given European capital, it's still better than driving in rush hour traffic. (No, it's not luxurious, but it's great for traffic-hater types like myself.) It's also near the Kimpton Everly, which is arguably the best bargain among upscale hotels: it's luxury at half the price of the Four Seasons or Peninsula. (Both of which are INCREDIBLE, to be clear, but also incredibly expensive. Same for the Beverly Wilshire.)
Plaza La Reina: one of the newest, and best, new-build properties in town not priced in the stratosphere. Extremely large rooms for this day & age (around 600 sq ft), and located directly in the middle of Westwood Village, which affords lots of eye candy in the form of UCLA studs.