Somewhere between a hip designer’s loft and a rock star’s party pad, the Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles is located in the Spanish Gothic–style United Artists building built in 1927 for actor and producer Mary Pickford and her team of silver screen stars. The hotel was painstakingly designed to showcase both historic and contemporary artistry, from Noguchi lamps and Pendleton blankets in loftlike rooms to original art deco floors and hand-drawn portraits of famous Angelenos on the restaurant’s walls.
The lobby floor garden-to-table restaurant, LOAM, is an unpretentious hot spot for power breakfasts and romantic dinners. It’s the rooftop bar, Upstairs, though, that steals the show, with its panoramic city views, inventive cocktails, and nightly entertainment—almost all of which is free (except the drinks, of course) and open to the public, and attracts a beautiful crowd in a notoriously attractive city. And, as cool as the surrounding neighborhood has become (Acne Studios and Aesop are neighbors, for example), staying in is just as fun; many rooms come equipped with a Rega turntable and old records, and some even have a C.F. Martin & Co. guitar.
