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Inside the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 465 S La Cienega Blvd [map], Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90048
November 4, 2008 at 10:41 AM | by | Comments (0)

As we mentioned yesterday, we took a tour of the eagerly-anticipated SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills on La Cienega Boulevard. However, we were not allowed to take any interior pics as the hotel is still putting the finishing touches on some of its spaces. (But if you have any, you know you can send 'em to us!)

That said we are relying on that old-timey journalistic trick of providing you color with words to tell you what you will find in SLS, peppered with a few of those renderings.

The hotel is absolutely not what we expected. What we gathered from the limited renderings the hotel handed out, was a large public lobby space that flowed into the José Andrés-helmed The Bazaar restaurant with Starck furniture replicated everywhere. That is not what you get. There is a lot of stuff going on here. In fact, there's so much to SLS that we need to break up our coverage in three parts. This here is the first part where we walk you through the lobby, check-in and the guest rooms.

The Guests-Only Lobby: When you pull your car up to the all-white SLS, which is adorned with the SLS initials and crest, you will drop it off for the valet in front of a wide set of steps which lead up to a restaurant. If you are just hoping to dine at Bazaar, then this is your entrance. If you are a guest, you need to look behind you at the other entrance which has a red-carpeted walkway, giant potted plants and what looks like Philippe Starck's own living room furniture. This is the guest-only entrance.

From here you will walk into the guests-only lobby which has two, long, high-top communal table serviced by a small kitchen (called Tres) and more of Starck's living furniture adorned with faux-mink blankets. Just a note: Every piece in the hotel is Starck-inspired not crafted by Starck himself. Also, there are tons of furnishings everywhere with very few repetitions.

This guests-only hang-out room also features wood-burning fireplaces and bookshelves line almost every inch of the walls, filled with real books (mostly on art, fashion and music.)

Check-In: Hang a left and you will enter a dark space in which the seemingly only light is the one emanating from the check-in desk at the back. Behind the desk, you will find the answer to what SLS stands for--and that is whatever you want it to be. SLS has written on a large tablet all the things that SLS could stand for. Soft Like Silk. Sam Loves Starck. Starck loves Sam. Someone's Lingering Stroll. Really, it's anything you want. Which also works for the hotel as a whole. It can be anything you want it to be. Also, a special check-in attention is given here for SPG gold and platinum members.

Guest Floors: From the check-in desk, you move a mere matter of steps and you are in the red, mirrored elevator bank. When the doors open, the interiors of the elevators reveal themselves to be life-size portraits of well-dressed, stylish people (we don't want to say models, because some were not conventional model-looking) set against stark white backgrounds.

On each guest room floor is a sort of small lounge. These were not complete when we wandered through, but a hotel rep tells us they will be sort of mini-living rooms complete with Starck-inspired furniture and pool tables.

Room Reaction: Inside the guest rooms, prepare to have your vision of the traditional hotel room turned on its head. If you like predictability in your hotel rooms, then you should not stay here. The focus of the room is the bed. Apparently, Starck wanted to create a sort of floating hotel bed. Thus the bed sits in a clear, but sturdy frame with two shelves jutting out from each side where a Macally Tune Pro iPod dock/alarm clock sits on one and a pen and pad sit on the other.

The desk is located behind the bed and all that is in front of you is a 40" Sony plasma TV placed within a floor-to-ceiling black light box. It's crazy.

There is also a leather chaise lounge in the room and this location depends on what type of room you get. Views will vary but you can see the Hollywood sign from the east-facing rooms. Additionally, some rooms have terraces.

The Bathrooms: The bathrooms are equally stunning in terms of design. Yet for lack of better words, we are calling them coke table bathrooms--all black and mirrored. There is a bit of difficulty determining which is a mirror and which is the real stand on which the white towels are placed.

A sliding door can also open or close half-way in front of the sink, allowing you to pick and choose your level of voyeurism. With the door half-open, you can spy on your lover while you wash your face. Or you know, you can not miss a minute of Oprah. Close the door and you are guaranteed privacy.

Some rooms will have the egg-shaped bath, others will have a standing shower. We liked the design effect of the bath, but would probably feel more comfortable in the shower.

Amenity Madness: The baths feature SLS-branded luxuries which come in artistic plastic dispensers, meaning you cannot take these home. But you can buy it from the Ciel Spa downstairs.

The mini-bar features alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks as well as goodies that are divided into two baskets--Saints and Sinners. You can figure that one out. Pringles? Definitely not in the Saints basket.

There is also a DVD player in the TV, wireless and wired internet at $12.45 a day, and bathrobes in the closet. The rooms also have 24-hour room service menu created by Chef José Andrés.

Up Next: Inside The Bazaar at SLS

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