Los Angeles: LA story

With a new airport terminal set to open and ambitious Downtown redevelopment, Jenny Southan finds the City of Angels on the brink of a surprising transformation. As the brilliant light of the noon sun reflects off the silvery curves of Downtown’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, it looks as though LA has invited a Cubist artist to turn his hand to architecture. The surfaces of the Frank Gehry-designed stainless steel building jut out at wholly unconventional angles, but it doesn’t seem to bother the local suits, who walk by purposefully with copies of the LA Times tucked under their arms, pausing only to glance at their watches.

Adjacent is a construction site that, by the end of next year, will be home to the new US$100 million Broad Collection museum. Opposite, work is set to start on the 40-hectare 101 Park District, thanks to the visionary decision to cap a portion of the Hollywood 101 freeway to allow for the creation of a green lung akin to New York’s Central Park. Stretching from Grand Avenue to the Los Angeles River, it will have pedestrian walkways connecting it to government buildings and will bring together the districts of El Pueblo, Chinatown, Bunker Hill and Civic Centre, which were divided when the highway was built in the 1950s.

The concert hall was one of the first buildings to contribute to the rebirth of LA’s financial district in the early noughties, at about the same time as the postmodern Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels was unveiled. But as Mark Liberman, president and chief executive of the LA Convention and Visitors Bureau, says, it was AEG’s 20,000-capacity Staples Centre that was the initial catalyst.

“Downtown has changed a lot over the past 15 years, and the opening of the arena [in 1999] was the start of the renaissance,” he says. “New business came in, restaurants and nightlife, and then condos were built and people started moving in – now we have about 80,000 residents.”

AEG, which is also responsible for London’s O2 Arena, went on to open the LA Live entertainment complex – home to the Nokia Theatre, Grammy Museum, ESPN’s studios, a 14-screen cinema and dozens of restaurants – next door to the Staples Centre in 2007. It added a tower housing JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton properties (see overleaf for a review) in 2010.

As a consequence, the district has acquired a certain allure it previously lacked. “Many of our [film] premieres are held Downtown now and the Grammys take place at the Staples Centre so we have all the excitement of Hollywood,” Liberman says.

For the corporate traveller, the district remains a prime place to be based for large events. The Los Angeles Convention Centre, which is one of the biggest in the US with 66,890 sqm of exhibition and 13,660 sqm of meeting space, is due for a radical overhaul and a name change, to LACOEX (short for LA conventions and exhibitions). It is anticipated that the venue will be expanded via a raised structure over Pico Boulevard, with the West Hall being replaced, a ballroom and a green and white glass exterior added, and the whole project connected to the upcoming new-build Farmers Field football stadium, at a cost of US$275 million. (The stadium will require an additional US$1 billion or so and will open in 2016, in time for the NFL season.)

Last year, LA welcomed a record number of visitors – almost 27 million people, up just over 4 per cent on 2010, with spending up 8 per cent to US$15.2 billion. Liberman says: “Today people are looking for a good deal and I tell them: ‘You can go to New York for three nights or San Francisco for five nights, or come to LA for seven,’ because we know our hotels are that much cheaper.” The number of travellers from China increased by about 24 per cent last year, and Liberman says 2012 is on its way to being a record year for conventions.

New hotels on the horizon include a combined Marriott Courtyard-Residence Inn property under the AEG brand, set to open in the financial centre in 2014. The nearby Wilshire Grand is to be torn down and rebuilt as a 540-room hotel under the ownership of Korean Air by 2015. The Luxe City Centre opened last summer near LA Live, while the former Kyoto Grand has been rebranded as the Doubletree by Hilton LA Downtown and is being given a new look in time for this spring.

Beyond Downtown, new and renovated luxury hotels are popping up all over the place. Cipriani’s 137-room Mr C in Beverly Hills was unveiled in June, while the trendy 57-room Redbury and Starwood’s W, with 305 rooms and 143 residences, both opened in Hollywood in 2010. The Dorchester Collection’s 103-room Bel Air was lavishly revamped and reopened in October, while the Roosevelt in West Hollywood is undergoing a major facelift and the iconic 193-room Peninsula, also in Beverly Hills, has just completed one.

Staying in Tinsel Town or Beverly Hills is the preferred choice for business travellers working in the entertainment industry, but it also makes a nice alternative to Downtown. Offer Nissenbaum, general manager of the Peninsula hotel, says: “Beverly Hills has the largest concentration of five-star hotels in LA, along with a central location and the types of facilities that are well suited to meetings and power breakfasts. It has a nice residential feel and is without noise and traffic jams. It also has phenomenal restaurants, great shopping and you can walk, which is not the norm for California.”

Over at LAX, located about 25km from Downtown, the experience of international passengers will soon be transformed thanks to the construction of the US$1.7 billion New Tom Bradley International Terminal. An airport spokeswoman says: “We have committed to Qantas that we will have one gate ready for one of its A380s this September.” However, passengers won’t be passing through the new facility until spring 2013 – until then, they will be bussed to and from the existing Tom Bradley International Terminal.

As well as 18 new boarding gates – nine of which will be configured for the superjumbo – it will feature a dining and retail hall operated by the Westfield Group. The architects have also endeavoured to make it aesthetically appealing. The spokeswoman says: “As we are by the ocean, what we came up with was a design for the roof that is reminiscent of waves. And as we are in southern California and are known for the sun, when you get to the arrivals level on the upper portion of the terminal it is all glass.

“So when you get off the plane you are going to see Los Angeles – you are going to see the mountains and the Hollywood sign. We wanted to create something that would really put the LA into LAX.”

• Visit discoverlosangeles.com, lovebeverlyhills.com, lawa.org, visitwesthollywood.com, la-next.com

Where to eat

Bazaar by Jose Andres Located in Starwood’s SLS hotel, Bazaar is a low-pressure yet uber-trendy place to host a client dinner and has been a favourite of film industry types since the property opened in 2008. Served in a dimly lit yet buzzing network of open-plan dining spaces, the food is a molecular gastronomical take on Spanish tapas, with traditional dishes available, generous portions and delicious and surprising flavour combinations.

• Average tapas meal US$70 
• 465 South La Cienega Boulevard, Beverly Hills; tel +1 310 2465 555; thebazaar.com

Jar Expect to be clinking cutlery alongside Hollywood celebs if you book a table at this discreet contemporary chophouse, which serves dinner and Sunday brunch. Wood-panelled walls, white tablecloths and vintage prints set the scene, while the menu lists American specials such as pot roast and prime Kansas City steak. There is also a semi-private dining space for 14 people.

• Average two-course meal US$60
• 8,225 Beverly Boulevard, West Hollywood; tel +1 323 6556 566; thejar.com

Bouchon Bistro Opened by world-renowned chef Thomas Keller in 2009, this sophisticated French bistro serves lunch and dinner Monday to Friday, and brunch and dinner at weekends. Polished brass, dark wood and mirrors complement the artistically presented, moreish food – order from the raw bar, request a simple croque madame or splurge on a hearty boeuf Bordelaise. It also has al fresco seating and a bakery.

• Average two-course meal US$55
• 235 North Canon Drive, Beverly Hills; tel +1 310 2719 910; bouchonbistro.com

CafE Pinot Ideal for a lunch meeting, Café Pinot offers outdoor seating on its verdant poolside terrace and quality Californian-French cuisine made with ingredients from local farmers’ markets. Also open for dinner, the menu lists options such as rotisserie chicken with Dijon mustard glaze, lobster risotto and striped bass with cannellini ragout. Private events can also be hosted.

• Average two-course meal US$50
• 700 West Fifth Street, Downtown; tel +1 213 2396 500; patinagroup.com

Eveleigh From its salvaged wooden floorboards and quaint herb garden to its homely cuisine and neighbourhood vibe, the Eveleigh embodies the shabby chic ethos. Incorporating Mediterranean and Californian cooking, the theme may be rustic but the result is distinctly cosmopolitan – the truffled French fries are a good example. Choose from small or large plates, cheese or charcuterie boards for dinner, or the likes of avocado toast and spelt hot cakes for weekend brunch. Lunch is served on Fridays.

• Average small plate meal US$40
• 8,752 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood; tel +1 424 2391 630; theeveleigh.com

Food trucks The latest craze to hit LA is gourmet takeaway vans selling authentic fare from around the globe (see picture below). For a few dollars you can eat Korean barbecue one day and burritos the next, or work your way down the line of vehicles, sampling everything from dim sum to traditional crêpes. You will find them parked all over the city but keep an eye on Twitter (findlafoodtrucks.com aggregates tweets) or go to foodtrucksmap.com to find out where they will be next. For a Tried and tested review of the Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles, click here.