W Hollywood...It's a Start

Those who know me well have endured more than their fair share of my yammering about the experiences I had working on the W Hollywood project. From not-for-print debauchery working with the sales & development teams, mind numbing schmoozing into the wee hours, and non-stop promotion of the Wow and Wonder of Starwood, I am intimately familiar with all things W Hollywood. One day I will write a t.v. series about it. Think ‘Law & Order,’ meets ‘The Office,’ with Real Estate development as the backdrop. Trust me, there’s something there.

You can imagine, then, my eagerness to experience how the big vision known only to me as architectural drawings, renderings, virtual tours, and scale models had actually come to life amid the most iconic intersection in the world. Sadly, but not surprisingly, the dream, or at least my vision of it, somehow got lost in translation on the corner of Hollywood & Vine.

Don’t get me wrong, it is an amazing project that serves as a decent example of exactly the type of development that Los Angeles needs. The W Hollywood was a marquee development for the CRA in their push for smart growth, sustainability, and transit-oriented development in Los Angeles, so it's a real feather in their cap to see the project succeed. I am a true believer in the urban renaissance taking place in Hollywood and, now that the economy is in the tank and building starts have all but seized, it's especially exciting for Hollywood to see the vertical result of all the hard work and planning that went into this project.

Since its opening on January 28th, the hotel, night club, and restaurant are brimming with activity, basking in the glow of their newness. The crowd is mixed, but slightly more upscale than the typical Hollywood club set.

The service needs some work. Intuitively, you can sense that the staff had but a couple of weeks to develop their plan of action, and they aren't operating like a well oiled machine just yet. I sat at the bar of Delphine, the hotel's casual restaurant, for ten minutes before the guy next to me noticed I hadn't been approached about a drink and took it upon himself to flag down the bartender. It was a test on my part, and I probably would have been thirsty for at least another five minutes had the guy not intervened. A small detail, perhaps, but lack of attention to detail and service drives me batty and is a sure fire driver towards eventual obsolescence for a restaurant if you ask me. I'm sure they'll step it up soon. Moving on...

My biggest regret about this project is the fact that this progressive undertaking happens to be built around a dying brand. I had a sneaking suspicion at the time I worked for the project that all of this austere, modern grayness would lose some of its hip sensuality in full scale. Not to mention the fact that the W decor and design elements were already a bit dated when this project was in full planning five years ago. The unfortunate reality is that the sleek, minimalist architecture that seemed so 'now,' is all but over today. I hate to say it, but the building and interiors already look drab and the paint on the walls has barely dried.

Elements that were supposed to really set the W Hollywood apart, like the public art displays, are lackluster. Erwin Redl's 'Wave of Lights' over the motor court entrance was supposed to be a 'dream-like vision' of 'a blanket of sparkling white lights suspended in seemingly weightless motion, a translucent glowing passage-way beckoning to all who approach.' They look more like what my dad used to do to the outside of the house during the 'great light wars' around the holidays. Really nothing special. Still, the hotel has ample and flexible meeting rooms that will serve as excellent junket space when the studio business comes flooding back to Sunset Blvd...

The most important element of this development remains its link with smart growth principles and TOD, and in my opinion, these factors have not been promoted nearly enough in the course of opening the doors to the general public. The project is LEED certified which means it uses less energy and produces less pollution, a must for ALL new developments. The entrance to the hotel is built around the Metro Red line stop and anyone who remembers what it looked like before would likely agree that it has definitely been improved. Now we just have to get moving on that Subway to the Sea...

While the project fails in some areas, it succeeds in its presence alone by bringing interest to the area and renewed hope that one day developers will be swinging their hammers again in the shift towards high density, urban infill, mixed-use projects that will support a sustainable live/work/play environment in Hollywood and beyond.

The W will serve as a sort of litmus test for the movement towards anti-sprawl development that makes necessary amenities readily available (where's the Trader Joe's?) and public transportation a convenient and affordable option in Los Angeles. Only time will tell, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, and the W has at least lead us out of the gates in this larger urban experiment. Now, it's a matter of truly and wholly meeting the needs of the community, rather than hedging bets on conceptual fantasy that misses the mark in practicality.