At a Glance
A true oasis in the middle of Los Angeles, the Sunset Tower epitomizes hip Hollywood but also offers a refined old world charm more recognizable in New York hotels.
Review
This 1929 Zigzag Moderne landmark on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, was reinvented in 2006 by hotelier Jeff Klein, of New York’s City Club Hotel. The quiet, retro touches of designer Paul Fortune, who decorated Marc Jacobs’s Paris apartment, conjure the ghosts of great Hollywood set decorators past. Walls in the public spaces are walnut with brass edging, pale rose Ultrasuede covers the clean-lined seating, and soft lighting emanates from streamlined brass sconces copied from originals found at Paris’s Clignancourt flea market.
The same motifs reappear in all seventy-four guest rooms, where Fortune designed every piece of sleek, brass-inlaid walnut furniture—armoires, tables, headboards—and several variations on the brass sconces. Only the brown bed bedcovers hit a flat note, though the bathrooms make up for them, offering sinks set in limestone vanities on brass legs and glass showers with rain-dome showerheads. Some suites have tubs, not all, but those that do are gigantic: ninety gallons deep. The higher you rise, the more spectacular the suites become, with flowing layouts and incomparable city views from the dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows. Those on floors twelve and fifteen also have generous patios displaying pots of fiery bougainvilleas. It all makes you feel as if you’re on top of the world.
The celebrity quotient is big-time at the Sunset, from which issues a constant stream of neighborhood folk, entertainment-industry deal makers and chic out-of-towners. The eighty-seat bistro, the Tower Bar, with a pianist and a stand-up bassist playing standards, stays open until 11 p.m.; reservations are a must. The Terrace, a new poolside restaurant with contemporary wicker seating, is a lovely urban respite.
The pièce de résistance just may be the hair salon, which is steeped in old-world charm (the rooms are reported to have been John Wayne’s apartment in the ’40s), and boasts a one-room barbershop complete with a chrome-and-leather chair, whiskey bottles and a flat-screen TV. The spa steers clear of the New Age tide. The five very large treatment suites have upholstered chairs, lamps and chaises, which make them look like elegant bathrooms. This being Hollywood, Botox, collagen and laser treatments head the menu. There’s also a good-looking gym with state-of-the-art equipment.
Written by Indagare