24 Hours In: LA

You've got glitter in your soul. You've got celebrity on your mind. There's only one city for you. David Phelan shows you how to live the high life in Los Angeles for a day

Hotel paradiso

You awake in the presidential suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel (001 800 283 8885; www.the beverlyhillshotel.com) which you booked because of its amazing terrace with panoramic city views. Plus, it comes with personal butler. The suite is a snip at $5,200 (£3,000) a night, and the butler is just $35 (£20) an hour. Why can't you get staff like this back in Britain?

The hotel is 90 years old but, like most of this city, it's had a facelift. Hollywood legends come and go - and some keep coming back: Liz Taylor has honeymooned here six times (so far). You love the sumptuous decoration and the service that's just this side of grovelling.

A refreshing dip in the outdoor pool, a quick sunbathe and star-spotting session from your lounger - isn't that your friend Catherine Zeta Jones? - before you plump for breakfast al fresco on your private terrace or in the Fountain Coffee Shop. (Eat at the bar for the best people-watching from behind your Fendi sunglasses.)

Oh, you could have gone to the Four Seasons (001 800 332 3442; www.fourseasons.com) because the service there is to die for, and it is Star Central, but there was that little incident last time when Renée Zellweger was mistaken for a waitress. Still, she took the drinks order, bless her.

Or, of course, the very rock'n'roll royalty Chateau Marmont (001 800 242 8328; www.chateaumarmont.com), where discretion is assured. The outside dining patio and bar are for guests only, and quite right too, and the new French bistro is divine.

Take me downtown

Breakfast done, valuable shopping hours are slipping away. You take your stretch limousine to Rodeo Drive, momentarily wishing you had stayed at the Peninsula (001 800 462 7833; www.peninsula.com) with its complimentary Rolls-Royce for Beverly Hills shopping. Next time. Top of the list of stores today is Bijan (001 310 273 6544), where shopping is by appointment, which is always reassuring. It's said to be the most expensive store in the world, but it does sell such lovely menswear, and anyway, is $50 really so much for a pair of socks? And spare a moment to patronise Armani, Gucci, Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren and the rest of the A-list boutiques.

When you're done with all the delights that Rodeo has to offer, slum it at the Grove (001 323 900 8080; www.thegrovela.com), an upscale mall with its charming J Crew, Apple Store and Nordstrom shops. You will be all right here though if you turn the collar up on your Prada mac and keep your jet-black Chanel shades in place.

Time for lunch

And where better than the Ivy (001 310 274 8303)? This is a sweet place to eat, not just because the food is good but also because it's the ultimate starry hangout. Try the crab salad, maybe with the restaurant's version of a mojito, the Ivy Gimlet. You will have picked a table near the maître d's desk so that you can overhear the stars' names as they reveal their booking, or watch as those without a reservation are turned away unceremoniously. And do try to muffle your sniggers.

Of course, once you have had enough of the Ivy's key lime pie, you could always favour Le Dome (001 310 659 6919; www.ledomerestaurant.com) - if it's good enough for the likes of Liza Minnelli, Sting and Richard Gere, it might be worth your attention, even if being a location in Get Shorty did lower its currency a little.

Or, for good old-fashioned power-broking lunches, it's hard to beat Wolfgang Puck's legendary Spago (001 310 385 0880; www.wolfgangpuck. com), a favourite haunt of that dear Tom Cruise and known for having spectacular food. As they say, the only other way to get food like this was to ask Puck to cook something off the menu for you personally. As if there's any other way to order!

A little culture

Next, a little culture never hurt anyone. In downtown LA, with its street murals, it's said that you can enjoy art without even getting out of the car (001 323 257 4544; www.lamurals.org). You might prefer to visit the latest big-name exhibition at the Gagosian (001 310 271 9400). Past shows have included Andy Warhol, Helmut Newton and Howard Hodgkin and currently Viennese sculptor Franz West's work is for sale. Worth snapping up, perhaps - if they're not too cheap.

Or try the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (001 323 857 6000; www.lacma.org), now hosting an exhibition with treasures of Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs on display. No, none of it's for sale, but maybe you'll be able to pick up an idea or two for your next piece of custom-made jewellery. And, although it's a trip out to Brentwood, the Getty Center (001 310 440 7300; www.getty.edu) would make you feel right at home among the art which was bought with a budget every other museum envies.

Follow the footprints

After the art, you head over to Grauman's Chinese Theatre and its Forecourt to the Stars. Only last month, Johnny Depp was the latest to have a "footprint ceremony". It's always busy with tourists, but it's bearable in small doses.

By now you're gasping for afternoon tea. The downtown Millennium Biltmore (001 213 624 1011) serves a decent enough cup and still looks as fetching as when Winston Churchill stayed there. If there's time, have an aperitif at your hotel's Polo Lounge.

That perfect movie moment

The Sky Bar, owned by Cindy Crawford's husband Rande Gerber, at the Mondrian Hotel (001 323 650 8999; www.mondrianhotel.com) is the perfect place to start your evening. The views across LA are even better than those from your terrace (note to self, perhaps stay at the Mondrian next time) and watching the lights of the city sparkle into life makes you feel as if you're in a movie. Usually nobody who is anybody comes here before 8pm, but needs must when you've got a busy schedule.

And once you've had one drink you might fancy another (and why not?), so head downtown to the Standard (001 213 892 8080; www. standardhotel.com). The Rooftop Bar is popular with LA names from Jennifer Lopez to Kelly Osbourne. It has vibrating cushions perched on water beds - really, it's just too, too funny.

Get into the rhythm

The place to see and be seen is the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall (001 323 850 2000; wdch.laphil.org), (left) which opened two years ago at a cost of more than $250m (£140m). So they obviously pinched the pennies. Still, it means that grimy old downtown is now one of the hippest parts of LA. You're in the best seats, the orchestra costs tuppence, well, $150 (£85) or less. You can hear the house orchestra, the LA Philharmonic, which isn't bad, or Lyle Lovett, or - hold on to your Philip Treacy - Manhattan Transfer. Of course, when the building's a Gehry, there's as much pleasure to be had from the architecture as what goes on within.

If classical music isn't your thing, many of the city's other big arts venues are handily collected together in the neighbouring Performing Arts Center (001 213 628 2772; www.musiccenter.org). You quite fancy the sound of the forthcoming new musical The Drowsy Chaperone.

Supper's ready

Dinner time! And the hippest place right now, so here you come, is the Dakota Restaurant at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (00 1 800 950 7667; www.hollywoodroosevelt.com). Just renovated by celebrity designer Dodd Mitchell, the Dakota is a luxuriously decorated steakhouse. Try the ridiculously tall stacks of onion rings and a Caesar salad, which they make at your table.

Or, for something just as exclusive and loved by the celebs, there's Geisha House (001 323 460 6300; www.geishahousehollywood.com), with its 50ft-long bar serving sushi, rock shrimp and tempura. (The lobster tempura hand rolled in soy paper is exquisite.) Or you could have tasty tapas at Meson G (001 323 525 1415; www.mesongrestaurant.com). I know, I know, tapas always sounds a little cheap, and it's true you can spend as little as $200 (£115) a head, unless you're inventive with the wine list.

Late-night laid back

After you've dined at the Dakota, you nip through to Teddy's, the Hollywood Roosevelt's VIP club and the hottest spot in town. The place just redefines the word exclusive, darling.

Or you might try the new Cabana Club (001 323 463 0005), where there'll be plenty of Hollywood honchos enjoying the Mediterranean beach-club atmosphere. I mean it's easier than getting back on the private jet and actually leaving town.

Or perhaps a late drink at the Viceroy Santa Monica (001 800 670 6185; www.viceroysanta monica.com) beckons. The hotel is deeply stylish but you're here for the great poolside bar. It gets crowded at weekends, but the atmosphere is tremendous and, don't worry, there are velvet-roped areas just waiting for you.

Hotdog heaven

Still hungry? You head back in to town and try out a Los Angeles institution, Pink's (1 323 931 4223; www.pinkshollywood.com), a hotdog joint, established in 1939 as a hotdog push-cart. Now, don't worry, it'll be fun. It's open until 3am at weekends and the hotdogs are so special that Kiefer Sutherland, when he was filming in Europe, had Pink's hotdogs flown across the Atlantic to him (by which time they may have been a little cold). There are hotdogs named after celebrities: for example, the Ozzy Osbourne, a spicy Polish sausage with two types of cheese, onions, guacamole and tomatoes, is a treat. You have to queue to get served, but Diana Ross stood in line and if she can, you can. Actually, on second thoughts, send the chauffeur.

It's been a hectic day so you deserve a good night's sleep. Snuggle down in the custom-made white cotton sheets back at your suite - in a few hours you'll be climbing back on board the private jet. It's waiting for you at Million Air, the comfortingly named facility at Burbank Airport.