Michele StuevenFrom the cultural explosion of Studio 54 in 1977, to more than 40 original one-of-a-kind hotels worldwide with countless new concepts and ideas for restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and other entertainment locales, Ian Schrager has been throwing the best parties on the planet for 50 years. His latest might be his greatest, Public West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip.
His career has never been just about design, visuals, or even nightlife. His projects have always been about people, creating windows into society itself, capturing the moment and the zeitgeist.
What was formerly the Standard Hotel has been completely redefined and redesigned. The opening was celebrated with a lavish rooftop dinner in true Schrager fashion, with a constant flow of champagne and a multi-course menu featuring beef tenderloin, portobello mushroom bolognese, and sides from local farmers, including Flora Bella and Weiser Family Farms.
Also true to form, Schrager has his own unique take on hospitality. While other hotels advertise what they have, Public West Hollywood is defined by what it doesn’t have. No celebrity chef vies for attention, and no traditional front desk slows down the check-in process. There’s no black, big, bulky TV dominating the room and no blinking lights in the Studio nightclub.
Seventy-five percent of the hotel’s public space is outdoors. The food and beverage offerings are deliberately unassuming and casual.
The lobby has custom-colored imported pure white polished Venetian plaster walls and columns by European artisans, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the lushly landscaped garden, pool area, and entrance. There are three custom-designed, unique sculptures commissioned by artist Anselm Reyle with an original bright magenta metallic finish, functioning as a reinvented and original reception experience.
Pool at Public West Hollywood (Public West Hollywood Lobby (Courtesy of Ian Schrager Company)
Designer Francois Champsaur’s sofas and lounge chairs in solid oiled teak with special pink cotton fabric imported from Italy, and custom oiled teak coffee tables dot the space that was once the Standard’s cheesy pool bar area, which has transformed into a lushly landscaped garden with seasonal California flowers and strawberry trees in bright white pots.
All four sides of the pool deck are framed with fragrant jasmine arches that look out at views of downtown Los Angeles, the Hollywood Hills, and the LA basin.
Louis on the ground floor is an original concept inspired by 1950s old-fashioned diners. It’s part gourmet market, bakery, coffee shop, and luncheonette, with a farm-to-table concept, offering an original menu of classic California favorites with seasonal, organic, local produce from local farms
There are 137 rooms, suites, and penthouses, and each room has its own private screening room, featuring an 11-foot-wide, floor-to-ceiling original projection surface and a specially designed short-throw laser display projector with 5,000 lumens and 4k enhancement, rivaling a true movie theater experience.
Louis at Public West Hollywood (Public West Hollywood Lobby (Courtesy of Ian Schrager Company)
At the heart of it all is The Roof, a three-quarters-of-an-acre private park with 360-degree sprawling views of the Hollywood Hills, Downtown LA, and the basin, designed for private events, with daily wellness classes, picnic tables, campfires, art installations, and an oversized 30-foot outdoor movie screen.
From the acoustics to the image clarity, every element enhances the cinematic experience, bringing a touch of Hollywood to the guestrooms. If you happen to watch the 1977 Academy Award-winning Annie Hall with Diane Keaton, you can catch a glimpse of the original hotel as a backdrop at the end of the film.
Schrager describes the Studio nightclub as “tantamount to dancing in a sealed-off immersive sound stage, where you can actually feel the vibrations of the music in addition to hearing it.” It’s a speakeasy-style after-hours club, built for intimate conversation as well as non-stop sweaty dancing, the original evolution of Studio 54 in New York five decades ago. A custom-designed John Pawson highly polished black scalloped bar with an absolute black granite bar top is highly polished to a mirror finish.
Never slowing down and always the life of the party, the hospitality gurus’ premise for Public West Hollywood is Luxury for All.
Studio at Public West Hollywood (Public West Hollywood Lobby (Courtesy of Ian Schrager Company)
One-bedroom suite at Public West Hollywood (Public West Hollywood Lobby (Courtesy of Ian Schrager Company)
Welcome to Public West Hollywood (Michele Stueven)