HotelChatter

Sleeping In
The rooms at Palihouse, since they are meant for a seven-day stay or more, are incredibly spacious each with their own living area and kitchens. The smallest rooms start at 600-sq.ft.

For people staying a month or more, the hotel offers larger residence units with full-sized appliances and either one or two bedrooms complete with terraces. However, this is not a condo-tel. Those residence units are strictly for hotel guests. For now, at least.

The rooms have all the modern amenities you want/need from a hotel like flat-screen TVs, complimentary WiFi, and in-room dining plus a few more like those washers and dryers, the kitchen and all its utensils and appliances and vintage touring bikes which are in the lobby.

Each room is slightly different in layout and design, depending on what you book. The standard rooms have exposed brick and a dark grey color scheme while the residences have hardwood floors and a lot of white.

Rates right now are going for about $250 but the price can fluctuate depending on whether or not its awards season or on how long you plan to stay. Someone shacking up for two weeks or more can negotiate a decent nightly rate.

Hanging Out
Aside from the design and the personal touch that Brosh and his team has brought to each room, we really liked the public spaces.

There's the espresso bar tabac which Palihouse intends to be a "neighborhood stopover--a place locals and guests alike can drop in for the morning newspaper and coffee or afternoon pick-me-up."

Then there's the lobby lounge which is supposed to remind you of an "eccentric, well-traveled relative with a penchant for collecting vintage, one-of-a-kind furnishings and art."

We don't have such a relative and we're not sure many people do, but anyone with an eye for vintage pieces and odd but functional design (like the headless dog speaker stereos that flank the DJ desk) will enjoy checking out the wares.

We also liked how everything flowed into one another--the espresso bar, the lounge, the reception area and the restaurant. It's all very low-key and humble. It's definitely not "OMG you are walking into the hottest bar and the hottest restaurant right now." And we like that Brosh was able to resist that sort of scene.

Socalizing With
The Hall is the hotel's sole restaurant which occupies the back half of the first floor and is predominantly an open courtyard although there is a smaller enclosed dining room.

The restaurant serves brasserie fare, or "Southern French Provencal classics" if you will, for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as brunch on the weekends.

Once you are finished you can move on over to the lobby lounge for further conversation or to listen to the local DJs as the Palihouse wants the lounge to be a place for DJs to practice as well.

Bottom Line
For those of you who need an extended-stay place in Los Angeles but can't handle a Courtyard by Marriott, this is worthy of checking out. It's probably perfect for artists, screenwriters, directors and other creative types who want their surroundings to be as unique as they are or at least aspire to be.

It's not for anyone who needs full-service attention from the hotel 24-hours a day.

Anyone who has business over on the Westside may also want to skip this place as traffic getting to and from could be horrendous. On the brightside, a Palihouse Venice is coming in 2009. Similarly, if you want to live up the LA party scene, Palihouse's location in West Hollywood is pretty much central to all.

We'll be monitoring the reviews of Palihouse as they come in but for now, the only thing we don't like about this place is that it won't accept guests for just one night.

Stayed at The Palihouse Holloway recently? Tell us what you thought.