The 727-guestroom dual-brand Moxy Downtown Los Angeles & AC Hotel Downtown Los Angeles are set to open on April 12 in downtown Los Angeles. The 37-story hotel will have 12 new dining and entertainment venues and 13,000 square feet of meeting and events space.
The dual-branded hotel is on the corner of South Figueroa and Pico streets, directly across from the Crypto.com Arena and the Los Angeles Convention Center. Level 8, the multidimensional concept by Los Angeles’ Houston Hospitality, its scheduled to open later this spring.
Lightstone, developer of six Moxy hotels in New York City and Miami Beach, Fla., is bringing the brand to Los Angeles. The 380-key Moxy will have a range of options for socializing and dining while the 347-room AC Hotel will have an AC lounge and AC kitchen as well as the La Lo La Rooftop tapas bar on the 34th floor. The two hotels will share Level 8, developed by hospitality veterans Mark and Jonnie Houston comprising eight dining, drinking and entertainment venues along the eighth floor.
“By integrating the two hotels, plus Level 8, into a single building, we’re creating a myriad of experiences never before offered in Los Angeles—and keeping it all affordable,” Mitchell Hochberg, president of real estate developer Lightstone, said in a statement.
“Bringing together Moxy and AC Hotels allows guests to make the most of their stay while experiencing two very distinct personalities,” says Matthew Boettcher, VP and global brand leader of distinctive select brands at Marriott International. “Guests can take advantage of extra amenities, such as the AC Lounge for co-working during the day, while having more whimsical social options with Moxy in the evening.”
Architecture and Interior Design
Moxy and AC Hotel Downtown Los Angeles were designed by Gensler and global design studio Yabu Pushelberg. The structure consists of an L-shaped tower, one side for Moxy and the other for AC Hotel, on top of an eight-story podium. The podium itself is wrapped in a 15,000-square-foot live LED screen.
Yabu Pushelberg’s interior design creates distinct identities for each hotel while remaining cohesive. For Moxy Downtown LA, the firm departed from the typical SoCal formula of palm trees and sunsets, evoking instead the California desert. Inspired in part by the 1969 film "Easy Rider," the hotel's interiors are meant to be “sexy, irreverent and playful,” the company said in a statement, with references to biker culture, desert reptiles and the “gritty romance” of the open road.
The lobby has an open ceiling and an eye-catching jumble of design elements, including a retro-style motorcycle and sidecar. Organic materials, such as rammed-earth walls, reference the desert landscape, while mirrored columns and iridescent mosaic tiles add vibrancy. The snake motif on the lobby carpet connects to the snakeskin-clad bar in the adjacent Bar Moxy. A mezzanine level has two Meeting Studios along with additional seating, including oversize lounge chairs, vintage arcade games, an armadillo-shaped LED neon sculpture and a DJ booth.
The 380 rooms at Moxy Downtown LA have floor-to-ceiling windows, distressed leather headboards that evoke a worn motorcycle jacket and markings on the wall to reference the “hobo hieroglyphics” used by during the Depression. Adaptable, space-saving furniture and storage solutions let guests make the space their own. The bathrooms, lined in iridescent copper tile, have a rain shower and an elongated sink carved from lava stone. Hanging on one wall is a sculpture that consists of chrome motorcycle handlebars mounted on a taxidermy-style plaque.
In contrast, Yabu Pushelberg imagined the interiors for AC Hotel Downtown LA as an artist’s loft, bringing the Spanish roots of the AC Hotel brand into conversation with the Latin heritage of Los Angeles. Warm, light-filled public spaces are contemporary and welcoming, while the guestrooms are meant to encourage work or relaxation. The Sky Lobby on the 34th floor has textured plaster walls, box beam ceilings, a sculptural redwood reception table and curated artwork.
Adjacent to the reception area, the AC Library has a black steel fireplace as a visual focal point. From the AC Library, guests enter AC Bar & Lounge, a hacienda-style venue that serves breakfast, evening bites and drinks. The room is anchored by a 9-by-6-foot work commissioned from Turkish artist Aykut Aydogdu, a surrealist portrait of a woman whose head, tilted back, merges with a sun setting on the water.
AC Hotel’s 347 guestrooms serve as residence-like respites from the energy of the city, with an open-plan design providing a seamless flow. Platform beds are dressed in crisp linens with a rich leather headboard. An integrated bench, closet, and oversize desk along one wall encourages productivity, while a tufted, geometric rug ensures plushness underfoot. Artwork above each bed depicts swimming pools and iconic Los Angeles buildings radically edited to present a new perspective with a splash of color. Dividing the living area from the bathroom is a full-height mirror and integrated stone sink/vanity that seems to float over the shelves below.
“We always think hard about the sociology and strategy around design, how it affects people and how it makes them feel connected to something,” said Glenn Pushelberg, founding partner of Yabu Pushelberg. “Moxy and AC are different brands, but both appeal to travelers who don’t want to stay in a conventional hotel. They’re both for adventurous, bold, curious tastemakers—so the design can’t be generic.”
Drinking, Dining and Entertainment
With two unique hotels under one roof, guests at Moxy Downtown LA and AC Hotel Downtown LA have access to 12 dining and drinking options: Bar Moxy, Bluestone Lane Coffee Shop, AC Bar & Lounge, La Lo La Rooftop and the eight venues at Level 8. The 30,000-square-foot floor includes the Mr. Wanderlust cocktail lounge, South American live fire grill Qué Barbaro, poolside dining and carousel bar Golden Hour, French-Japanese teppanyaki restaurant Maison Kasai, seiro mushi and hot pot restaurant Lucky Mizu, nightclub Sinners y Santos, oyster and ceviche bar Mother of Pearl and Brown Sheep Taqueria on the terrace. The spaces were conceptualized by the Houston Hospitality team, with design in collaboration with Los Angeles-based interior and architectural design firm Undisclosable.
Meetings and Events Space
Moxy and AC Hotel Downtown LA’s 13,000 square feet of meeting space was created by San Diego–based Basile Studios and located directly across the street from the Los Angeles Convention Center and Crypto.com Arena. The seventh-floor facilities were envisioned as the former headquarters of a fictional furniture factory. Modeled on a vintage factory floor, the 600-capacity main events space can accommodate conferences, banquets, weddings and parties. The room is surrounded by 16-foot panels of steel and frosted glass that are backlit to resemble exterior walls lit by natural sunlight; the LED lighting can dim to simulate different moods and times of day. The space can be divided in two.
Two boardrooms are separated from the main events space by a plaster-coated arch. The Fig Boardroom is good for smaller events or breakout sessions, with floor-to-ceiling walnut panels and 1960’s-era cabinetry. The Pico Boardroom can be used for breakout sessions or standalone events. The space was inspired by a historic factory “paint booth” and resembles a contemporary art gallery.
At the Moxy Downtown LA, two glass-walled studios on the lobby’s second-floor mezzanine can be reserved for private gatherings. Each studio is designed with modular furniture that reconfigures to fit the needs of meetings and the two can be combined into one space for larger events, along with the option to include the mezzanine.