The Ingallen
As you step into the entrance hall of the newly opened Downtown LA Proper, it feels like you are entering the culmination of a decades-long struggle to restore downtown Los Angeles to its status a century ago.
The original pink and white marble tiles and wood paneling from the 1920s have been restored, but their glamor has been topped by a new gorgeous frescoed ceiling by Abel Macias with birds and plants that will make it hard to get your phone out for a moment just seconds after the photo Arrival. This is not a globalist high-end hotel in a class of its own.
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The Ingallen
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The latest from the creative mind of Kelly Wearstler, the property complements popular Proper group properties in Austin, Santa Monica and San Francisco. It’s also the newest addition to our exciting new hotel series, the New Room with a View.
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The Ingallen
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Every year I come to LA it seems like downtown has moved further from its former reputation. While you may have felt uncomfortable walking to your hotel from dinner, now there are so many people outside and so many restaurants, clubs, and new hotels that the streets are full for LA.
Downtown Proper is across from the Herald Examiner building, which was designed by William Randolph Hearst’s personal favorite, Julia Morgan. The Proper is located in a former private club and then in the YWCA – in fact, two of its signature suites were remodeled from the indoor pool and basketball court on the lower levels. (The pool suite with a ceramic mural by Ben Medansky is particularly epic.)
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The Ingallen
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The property has 148 rooms, all decorated in the “relaxed luxury” style Proper is known for. A casually dressed tech millionaire won’t be turned away or uncomfortable. While it’s an aesthetic feast, it’s a bit toned down than some of Wearstler’s other projects. The abundance of ceramic tiles (over 100), lighting fixtures (by Morgan Peck), and unique furnishings almost rival this historic building, but it has an American West lightness that naturally blends in with the old tower.
The story goes on
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The Ingallen
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The rooms have large windows that overlook a view of Los Angeles that many may not be familiar with – that of a canyon-like boulevard with towering buildings.
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The Ingallen
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Staying in a new hotel can sometimes lead to minor annoyances as the problems with the staff and the offers are ironed out. A side effect of the pandemic work situation, however, was that almost every new hotel, from ultra-luxury to the side of the motorway chain, has to struggle with the service aspect. You just have to roll with it and be patient. And yet the service here under the direction of Stephane Lacroix was already on the point – helpful, but unobtrusive and so friendly that even a jaded traveler could take it twice.
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The Ingallen
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There are currently two restaurants – Caldo Verde is the downstairs restaurant founded by James Beard Prize winners Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne and serves Western Mediterranean cuisine. The rooftop restaurant is Cara Cara, with more SoCal food, but its main attraction is the photogenic pool, framed by black and white tiles, that looks out over the city and, on a clear day, the distant mountains.
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