After stepping through the front doors of LA’s new Mayfair Hotel, one might be forgiven for feeling as though they’ve just stepped off a sleek transcontinental express train during the Jazz Age instead of fighting freeway gridlock on the way from LAX in a rented crossover.
By “new”, it’s meant that the 1926 vintage beauty is just off a top-to-bottom renovation of its public spaces and guest rooms. They’ve been redone in an aesthetic that’s faithful to the hotel’s first decade, and it’s no stretch to imagine the warm spring evening in 1929 when the likes of Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford showed up fresh from the first Academy Awards ceremony for a glittering all-night after-party.
Entering the lobby is such a visual feast it’s difficult to decide where to focus first.
The showpiece “Mayfair flower” sculpture that dominates the bar demands attention, but so do the imposing black cage chandeliers that were designed to project the tile pattern of the hotel’s original tin ceiling onto its modern replacement. Sharp-eyed fans of the film True Lies may recognize the lobby as the one Arnold Schwarzenegger rode a horse through. (It was one of three separate hotels used in the sequence).
Like any older building, there are plenty of nooks and crannies. The lobby is certainly expansive, but so is the mezzanine, where there are quiet spaces like Garden Gallery just over the bar, where there’s a living wall and a live olive tree, plus function spaces and corridors that give see-and-be-seen views over the lobby. Another floor higher is the dramatic, high-ceilinged ballroom with the original wood ceiling and a memorably modern crystal chandelier giving the room a contemporary touch. When the pool deck is finished later in the year, there will be direct access from the ballroom for hosting indoor-outdoor functions in the California tradition.
Heading back downstairs to the lobby for a moment, there’s a sunny enclosed porch where guests can relax and wile away the day; an adjacent space is slated to become the concession Fairgrounds Coffee & Tea later this year. Back in the lobby, there’s a two sided bar: one serving the lobby as M Bar, while the other is housed within The Library Bar, a cozily dark space with plenty of seating, a custom-built podcast studio, and room for a DJ booth.
A focal feature here is the art piece “periodic table of drugs” a fanciful take on notorious potent substances from cocaine to mushrooms, with what are rumored to be real samples encased securely under the glass frames.
Currently open for lunch and dinner is Eve American Bistro, named for a character in Raymond Chandler’s short story “I’ll Be Waiting”, which he wrote while in residence at the hotel.
The restaurant, by Hells Kitchen winner Scott Comming, offers a New American menu that focuses on California’s bounty, with fresh, earthy cuisine and an impressive raw bar, with plenty of fancy. Here, the ahi tartare comes in a savory waffle cone and the churros are red velvet. Guests who order dishes that need carving are presented with a selection of heirloom steak knives, and the unobtrusive service in the intimate, comfortably plush space is exceptional. Don’t leave without trying the Lobster Truffle Mac and Cheese.
Guest rooms make good use of the often eccentrically-shaped spaces of heritage buildings, with comfortable beds and well-placed outlets for wired guests. Standard amenities include Gilchrist & Soames bath amenities and Keurig coffee makers. Soaring valances and black-and-white tones complete the clean, bold lines of Art Deco design; some rooms are accented by vintage tourist maps of the Los Angeles basin.
The Takeaway
Although the 15 story hotel that when completed was the tallest west of the Mississippi is now dwarfed by modern skyscrapers, the fresh new design stealthily keeps the hotel in character as a towering beacon of Roaring Twenties glamor without missing any of the notes favored by the modern traveler.
The Math
Low season rates appear to start around $119 and vary by season and availability.
Instagrammable Moment
It’s got to be the lobby.
Loyalty
None. Just like in the 1920s.
Good to Know
The only parking option is valet, at $36 per night plus tax.
A credit card is required at check-in; cash deposits are not accepted.
Design limitations of the historic building prevent provisions for connecting rooms.
Accommodations were furnished by The Mayfair Hotel in preparation for this story.
