Downtown LA’s new breed of hotels

I recently visited Los Angeles. I enjoy L.A. for its laid-back culture, its vibrant food and beverage scene, its adventurous theme parks and glamorous hotels, nestled around the buzzing areas of Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Boulevard or Santa Monica. 

Opposites attract

Perhaps the most striking to me about L.A. is the clash of social welfare: Look to the left and you get a glance of the latest boy toy on wheels, look to the right and you see the homeless struggling for survival. It's a co-existence of humanity and capitalism that’s omnipresent around every block, and it’s been part of L.A.’s city fabric forever.

As opposites seem to have always attracted each other in La-la-land, it comes as no surprise that over the recent years I have witnessed quite some rejuvenation appearing around the downtown L.A.’s hotel landscape. At the core of the financial district, there are Flower street, Grand Avenue and Figueroa street. Some hotels have positioned themselves quite nicely as they incorporated L.A.’s historic building heritage. After all, storytelling is a critical marketing element in today’s highly fragmented hospitality business. 

NoMad Hotel 

One of such hotels is the NoMad hotel on Olive Street and 7th, which was once the headquarters for the bank of Italy in the 1920s. At this property, re-designed by French star architect Jacques Garcia, you can still find the bank’s original ironwork vault door off the lobby of the hotel, uniquely integrated into the ground floor hotel context. 

Fremont Hotel

Then there's the Fremont hotel, which carries its heritage for being a family-style hotel. The family theme is continued as a thread throughout the property, from the rooms to the rooftop bar and the exchange restaurant, located on street level, borrowing its name from the large blade sign hanging on the building's outside. 

Both hotels are part of the Sydell Group, a collection of hotels adding authenticity and local flavour into the properties they operate. 

Figueroa Hotel vs. Intercontinental Hotel 

Next, there's the Figueroa Hotel. This is a property that has been reimagined, just around the same time the new Intercontinental Hotel DTLA, the largest building on the US West Coast, opened for business. Both hotels are just a stone's throw away from each other, but they couldn't be more different. The latter of both properties boasts 889 rooms showcasing stunning views of the surrounding L.A. landscape within a close to 80-story modern, clean and masculine architecture. It features state of the art design and technology, a grand open space lobby on its 70th floor with floor-to-ceiling windows, premium Food and Beverage outlets and a stunning 73rd rooftop bar (a must-visit when in DTLA). 

The Figueroa Hotel (named "the Fig" as I have been told) is quite the opposite. To begin with, I found out that the Fig is one of the longest-standing hotels in DTLA. It was the first hotel to have a female general manager and pursued its mission of being the first hotel to accommodate the professional female traveller...over a century ago! 

The female theme is carried throughout the hotel, and so I wasn’t surprised to find a nice bottle of Pinot noir, produced by a female winemaker, as my welcome amenity with a handwritten note from the general manager (both nice touches which you wouldn’t find that often anymore in branded hotels). The hotel has transitioned to become a very stylish, feminine hotel with an authentic colonial-style heritage. 

Get closer to your customers

The interesting thing about this hotel is, that whilst it tells a genuine story, it also reflects some major modern-day trends that have been sprucing up over the past decade. 

To begin with, the hotel brings the customers closer to their employees (very similar to Joel Robuchon’s Atelier restaurant concept, where fine dining customers take a seat at a show kitchen counter inches away from where the kitchen action is happening). Right after you enter the hotel, the narrow corridor leads you past two receptionists. There is no way to not engage with them – or at least give them a nod – as you pass and are warmly greeted. 

Then there is the space sharing and networking element. Properties have gotten rid of dividing their bars, lounges and restaurants into separate areas. As you reach the main lounge and bar at the Fig, a co-working space opens up with a bar counter, a large sharing table and various seating options including a fireplace feature - all combined in one single space. With some light background music vibes playing you see people working on their laptops, sipping a cocktail or meeting up for a coffee. The concierge desk is close by, integrated into the area, thereby becoming part of the ambience and social network. 

The Fig – a case study

The Rooms

The Fig has 268 rooms - far too large to make it boutique - yet the feel remains surprisingly so throughout the hotel. The service overall is casual yet refined and familiar. There are no codes you need to respect, and you get the impression that it's not about standards but about the customer wellbeing and cultural connection. 

Food and Beverage offerings

Breva, its main restaurant, is run in partnership with the successful Apicii hospitality company, featuring Basque Mediterranean cuisine, which corresponds to the zeitgeist of restaurants we like to see in hotels - simple, fresh, seasonal, light and tasty. Another lesson applied here: let people do what they are good at and don’t try to do everything yourself.

The mandatory outdoor pool is around the back, nestled between the "Veranda" and "Ricks" for some casual snacks and a breezy beach house feeling (keeping the noise away from the hotel). 

Then there is bar Alta, a reservations-only speakeasy place, where it's all about socializing and coming together around one common denominator – the mixologist (cocktail experience). The like-minded get together here for some palate teasing and pleasing in their private space. 

Overall you can feel that the Hotel is also playing its part as a neighbourhood hotel by the way they integrate and engage with the L.A. community. You will find the locals throughout the property.

As you make your way to the rooms, the short corridors are made up of twists and turns (usually a nightmare for any room service operation). Yet as the hallways seem to disperse in all directions, there is a feeling of intimacy and character as you make your way through the passages of this grand dame. Although the hotel is a (deliberately chosen) four-star property, amenities, linens and appliances are upscale with high tech backing it up to ensure the customer wellbeing (temperature control, light dimming, connected services via iPad). 

Room service food is not available 24/7 (a criterion for a 5-star hotel rating) and doesn’t have to be (in my opinion Room Service is on its way out anyway as people are increasingly ordering meals through UberEATS or grabbing some snacks to go). 

And to not forget you’re living the dream amidst all that L.A. glamour, I found some Dom Pérignon Gummy Bears alongside some very stylish premium spirit Mickeys (half-pint bottles), provided in the rooms mini (Minnie) bar.

Price if what you pay, value is what you get

There is a hefty price tag for all this, and the Fig is right up there with its mainstream competitors, but they have found a creative way of packaging it. You begin with reserving a rate based on the room category of choice. On top, there is a daily non-optional $25 charge for a convenience package made up of, amongst others, free hi-speed wi-fi, gym access, continental breakfast and unlimited customized news press, daily in-room water and coffee refresh. Also, a daily parking fee of $35 applies (which might tick off one or the other). In this way, the added value is broken down into its individual components (comparable to ancillary pricing on planes today, except that this hotel does it in style and doesn’t really give you a choice).

Getting it right

Sum it all up and I think that this hotel has gotten it right. In times of mergers and acquisitions, cookie-cutter concept hotels and over standardization, this hotel has what it takes to oppose the megabrand trends we see in the hospitality industry today. Profitability and the need to maintain a sustainable product capable of competing on the same level as companies fortunate enough to rely on massive capital investment and powerful marketing campaigns are non-negotiable, but there are many ways to skin a cat. 

The Fig has constructed its business model on smart partnerships (their restaurant partnership and marketing their property as a member of The Leading Hotels of the World), a setting that is socially engaging, a high-profit beverage program featuring great craft and exclusivity, select furnishings, a lean operations staff (no 24/7 kitchen or room service and deliberately not opting for a 5-star positioning, i.e. reduced staff count), a smart pricing strategy, and above all, an invaluable soul that transpires throughout this iconic downtown L.A. establishment that not only entices visitors but attracts the loyal locals as well.