Opposite, Art Deco splendour at the LA Athletics Club. West Hollywood’s Le Petit Ermitage is an oasis of cool – order a cocktail, right, before (re)posing by its rooftop pool, below. Far right, raise a glass at Angel City Brewery, and below right, street art marks the spot of Apolis boutique.
SLEEP AT … HOT Oh là là! Boutique hotel Le Petit Ermitage is tucked away in a quiet residential area of West Hollywood – but there’s a distinctly party vibe at its rooftop bar, where genetically blessed guests loll poolside. Inside, esoteric decor (antiques, Erte prints) makes for a pleasing bordello vibe. Rooms from $310. (8822 Cynthia Street, +1 310 854 1114; petitermitage.com) HIP Downtown’s The Standard is a mid-century marble colossus with a head for heights and a rooftop biergarten for sin. Panoramas are incredible, rooms are bright and fashionably retro and midnight feasters can pig out in its 24-hour restaurant. Rooms from $179 approx. (550 South Flower at 6th Street, +1 213 892 8080; standardhotel.com) HOORAY Rare is a hotel that has a swimming pool, gym, spa, basketball and volleyball court on its sixth floor – but then the LA Athletics Club is a bit special. Dating back to 1912, this Downtown heritage property is where Hollywood greats once worked out, among them Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford – even Charlie Chaplin lived here. Rooms from $279. (431 West 7th Street, +1 213 625 2211; laachotel.com)
our group in the ostentatious lobby of One Bunker Hill, while the Eastern Columbia Building is the very height of Deco. Top tip: wet your whistle afterwards at rooftop bar Perch (perchla.com), off Pershing Square, for a bird’s eye ogle of Downtown’s multifarious skyline. While the Conservancy celebrates the past with its walking tours, Angel City Brewery (angelcitybrewery.com) in the so-called Arts District (most artists have already since migrated to cheaper Culver City) has transformed the past by producing some excellent beers in an old warehouse complex. These oncederelict shells are again a hive of activity, from beer-making tours to taprooms, to food truck and music events. Its IPA and pilsner is now distributed throughout California – but my personal favourite was the Mexican-inspired Srirachelada; the unlikely lovechild of a Bloody Mary
and cerveza: tomato juice, sriracha (chilli sauce), lime juice, agave, pickled banana pepper juice and Worcestershire sauce. This Renaissance is a far cry from the State’s Prohibition-era, when not only drinking was banned but dancing, singing, gambling and sport – one of many fascinating facts revealed on Philip Mershon’s Felix in Hollywood Walking Tour ($40; felixinhollywoodtours. com). Over 90 genuinely riveting minutes, the infectiously enthusiastic Mr Mershon tells the origins of America’s major film, radio, TV and record companies. You literally stand on the spot where the first
SMART FLIERS AER LINGUS flies from Dublin to LOS ANGELES four times per week.
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