Why we love it: A 1927 firehouse turned nine-room hotel in L.A.’s revitalized Arts District
The Highlights:
- Individually designed rooms with distinctive color palettes
- Original firehouse details like massive red front doors
- A gift shop with wares by top local designers
The Review:
Occupying a 1927 firehouse that was functioning until 1980, this nine-room hotel from the team behind Los Feliz’s Hotel Covell heralds a new era for downtown L.A.’s warehouse-cum-arts-district. The neighborhood’s first boutique hotel, the Firehouse boasts several original details, from concrete floors and exposed wood-truss ceilings to pressed-tin panels and niches originally built to hold statuettes of the Virgin Mary that were intended to protect firefighters. Even the massive red doors that once ushered in fire engines are still intact, though today they open to a light-filled ground floor that houses a café, bar, and restaurant led by chef Ashley Abodeely and pastry chef Rose Lawrence. Also on the ground floor is a retail shop with a curated selection of wares created exclusively for the hotel by L.A.-based designers, including robes and striped tote bags by Clare V, bandanas and pillowcases by Block Shop, apparel by culinary brand Hedley & Bennett, serving pieces by ceramicist Robert Siegel, and furniture from ETC.etera.
Designed by Sally Breer of ETC.etera, who also worked on Hotel Covell, each room in the hotel features a different color scheme, plus vintage furniture, bold textiles, artwork selected by curator Jonathan Pessin, and kitchenettes with colorful SMEG refrigerators. The result is whimsically retro accommodations, complete with a quirky yet elegant style. In the bathrooms, guests find painted Clé Tiles to match their room color as well as Le Labo toiletries, Parachute bath towels, and Clare V seersucker robes for a touch of luxury.
