I was never really a huge southern California fan–until this year. Both southern and northern California kids have a strong sense of pride, and since I’m not really a beach person I just kind of weighed San Francisco over Los Angeles. But since re-visiting this city a handful of times in the past few months, I’ve since realized my perception was so totally wrong all of these years. In fact, I really love LA and have especially grown fond of downtown.
I’ve been staying at the Ace Hotel every time because it’s been the most convenient location for me with all of my appointments… plus, I just love the vibe. It opened in early 2014, just before my first stay last year. For those who aren’t familiar with the Ace Hotel chain and their mission–they renovate and bring new life to historic buildings. In downtown LA’s case, the hotel has brought a vibrant scene to the theater district inside the old United Artist’s theater.
The Ace rooftop has become one of my favorite spots for both catching up on work and relaxing with a cocktail at the end of a busy day. I’ve also eaten at their restaurant, L.A. Chapter, more times than I can count now and can attest that just about everything on the menu is amazing. Especially the salmon (if you like it super rare) and the brussell sprouts.
As much as I love and recommend staying at the Ace, in an effort to save a little (since I ended up staying in L.A. for almost an entire week) I switched half-way through to an Airbnb just a couple blocks away. In hindsight I probably should have stayed at the Airbnb the entire time but my sister and assistant buyer also joined me and this was their first time staying at the Ace and they loved it. So I was happy to share it with them!
Since we had such a great stay at our host’s, I thought I’d share in case anyone is ever in need of a cute apartment in that fashion / theater district area. And for those who’ve never used Airbnb I highly recommend–especially for traveling through Europe as it’s the only way my sister and I could have afforded our month long travel adventure last year.
We were impressed with the cute decor (the palm print chair above was a nice touch), the incredibly helpful host (Nick and Sarah), and the fact that he offered up his Netflix so we could watch movies and old episodes of Friend’s. The building also has a pretty great rooftop and speakeasy-esque bar in the basement which was a perfect end of the night spot.
Also, conveniently located just a couple blocks away and not to be missed–brunch at Bottega Louie. A total downtown gem!
It’s been fun to watch the resurgence in downtown even in just this past year. New restaurants seem to pop up on each of my trips and just this past week we spotted a few new spots being built. I’d love to hear any additional favorites in the area as I’ll be continuing to frequent L.A. often!
