How an abandoned Art Deco bank was reborn into a hotel
It first opened in 1922 in Los Angeles and is now a very cool place to stay with velvet sofas, great food and a rooftop pool.
There’s something extraordinary about the late afternoon light in Los Angeles. Artist David Hockney has spent his career trying to capture it, the Mamas and the Papas sang about it, and architect Frank Lloyd Wright and designers Charles and Ray Eames positioned their homes to take full advantage of it.
It’s 4pm at the Hotel Per La in Downtown Los Angeles, and a flood of natural light comes through the giant iron-framed windows and casts crisp shadows in the grand hall. Guests, some reading, others sipping coffee, bask in the rays on overstuffed velvet sofas.
The high vaulted Italianate coffered ceiling adds to the unconstrained feel, restored in all its glory in swathes of blue and gold, the way it would have looked when the building opened as the headquarters of The Bank of Italy in 1922.
Like anything (and possibly anyone) in Los Angeles, the building has gone through a few changes. The Bank of Italy became the Bank of America, and then lay dormant for decades before being resurrected as part of Downtown LA’s renaissance in 2018 as an outpost of the New York design hotel Nomad.
The timing didn’t work and the hotel spent more time shut than open due to the pandemic, closing its doors permanently in March 2021 along with the NYC property.
This fresh iteration, called Hotel Per La, opened late 2022 and has done away with the dark colour scheme in its public spaces and drawn back the heavy drapes to let that beautiful afternoon light back in. In the basement of the hotel, a former 50-tonne vault now acts as a powder room, the tiny ATM next to it an unintentional automated juxtaposition.
A nod to the building’s beginnings as a bank for the community, including newly arrived immigrants, the “Per La” hotel name translates to “for the” in Italian, general manager Adrienne Craig-Aziz tells me. “It essentially means ‘for Los Angeles, and people like you’,” she says. “We’re in Downtown, which is one big eclectic mix of cultures. We try to take pieces or different elements in our design and cuisine offerings.”
It’s hardly surprising the interiors take inspiration from Italy given the neoclassical architecture (Doric columns, marble floors). Opulent Gio Ponti Murano chandeliers glitter, Bitossi ceramics are displayed in vignettes and many of the 4000 art works throughout the 12-storey building are photographs, etchings and paintings of Italian scenes.
Hotel Per La tasked local designer Jaqui Seerman with reimagining the public spaces and to also incorporate a breezy Californian look. Think abundant greenery in hand-painted pots, botanical-themed upholstery and linens in persimmon, peach and cream. The soundtrack fits the theme, heavy on Fleetwood Mac.
The 241 guestrooms and suites, originally designed by French architect Jacques Garcia for Nomad, use a colour palette drawn from that blue-and-gold vaulted ceiling in the former bank hall.
While the custom-designed embossed leather bedheads, bold circular bedside sconces, and deep velvet settees may sound heavy, in these airy rooms with high ceilings and large windows, it works.
Custom linens, bedding and bathrobes are by Bellino. Under foot are oak floorboards and brightly dyed vintage Persian rugs. The Terrazzo-floored bathrooms feature brass tapware and Argan products.
Unexpected touches include brightly patterned wallpaper lining the cupboard interior and a well-stocked minibar with very Californian treats ranging from watermelon-chilli seltzers to CBD-infused chocolate truffles.
There are three eateries on-site. The grand hall on the street level is home to Per L’Ora, a restaurant that, like the hotel’s design, marries Italian and Californian fare.
While other hotel guests sit at the 30-seat marble bar sipping aperitivos, I sit down for an early dinner. Chef Andrew Smith’s menu includes spaghetti alla checca with heirloom tomato, fine herbs and whipped goat cheese, and agnolotti with tajin chilli seasoning, lime, Mexican cotija cheese, roasted corn and coriander.
Scallops, mushroom risotto and black cod with blistered tomato round out the second course and highlight the Mexican, Californian and Italian influences.
The wine list keeps with the theme, serving chardonnay, cortese and Italian and Californian reds. Next door is a cafe offering pastry treats and good coffee every morning. If that’s too far to travel, a Nespresso machine can be brought to your room on request. On the roof, the poolside Bar Clara serves Mediterranean-style small bites such as prawns with harissa and charred lemon and plates of fresh fruit, as well as coastal wine and cocktails.
Up here, among the herb garden and potted orange trees, there are views across Downtown, including to the Eastern Columbia Building, a striking Art Deco edifice clad in turquoise terracotta tiles. You could spend the day lounging poolside but the lure of this area is irresistible.
This is one part of LA where you don’t need a car. Within steps is The Broad, showcasing the greatest hits of contemporary art, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and, yes, Hockney. Also nearby is the Museum of Contemporary Art. The European-style Grand Central Market is close and tome-filled The Last Bookstore, which has an annex dedicated to art and design titles, is around the corner, which is handy as there’s a sun-dappled sofa waiting for me at the hotel to lounge on with my new purchase.
In the know
Hotel Per La is at 649 S Olive St,
Los Angeles, a 45-minute drive from LAX; from $US226 ($344) a night.
Andrea Black was a guest of Hotel Per La.
