The best of both worlds: The Moxy Hotel Downtown LA and The AC Hotel by Marriott Downtown

Downtown Los Angeles has had a meteoric rise (or rather rebirth) in the past decade. Blessed with buildings with beautiful bones (think ostentatious art deco, and roaring twenties, New York City high-rises) it’s become a bustling vibrant hub amongst the rest of sleepy LA. Being more of a New York person, I often find myself wandering Downtown LA (DTLA for short), going to a pop-up restaurant that’s opened on a car park roof, visiting a dive bar with a Ms Pacman machine or being bougie and looking at the Wes Anderson-esque cake display at Bottega Louie. With space to build, DTLA, has become the base for a plethora of museums, such as the Broad (full of Warhols and the Yayoi Kusama infinity mirror rooms) The Museum of Metropolitan Art and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, home of the LA Phil as well as high-rise hotels that have space to play around with design, which is evident with the Moxy Downtown Los Angeles and the AC Hotel by Marriott Downtown Los Angeles, dual hotels that coexist in the same high-rise skyscraper. It’s a unique concept, which sounds good on paper, but I found it even more perfect in practice.

A dual hotel concept in DTLA is made for the traveller who likes the best of both worlds

When the president of Lightstone, Mitchell Hochberg, who built the two hotels and his team were granted permission to build a high-rise hotel in DTLA with 727 guest rooms, even they were daunted by the magnitude of the size of their plans. Dreaming as big as their building plans, the team had a stroke of genius and decided to build not one, but two hotels in the building in the space that would interact with one another to create a unique, fluid hotel experience for the guests. Hence the Moxy Downtown Los Angeles & AC Hotel by Marriott Downtown were born. 

Designed almost like two L-shape Tetris blocks, or the Ying and Yang sign, the two hotels have a completely different vibe the second you step through the doors, with Moxy on the ground with their cool aesthetic and the AC by Marriott, a haven up in the clouds. If you’re staying at the AC Hotel by Marriott Downtown, you take the lift and be whisked up to the 34^th floor of the palatial lobby, with wraparound panoramic views of LA in a zen space in the sky, complete with a rooftop bar with views all the way to the beach and the Hollywood sign. I started off at the Moxy, next door, where all of the action is on the ground floor. 

Taking inspiration from the California desert and the film Easy Rider, design studio Yabu  Pushelberg has created a fluid space on the ground floor that’s got the younger traveller in mind. It’s literally across the road from Crypto.com arena, home to the Lakers and plenty of music concerts, meaning it’s easy access after you’ve been cheering on your team or your favourite artist. The whole hotel is a clever mix of modern and retro, with arcade games and pinball machines, and even a motorcycle and sidecar on display. There is a modern sleekness of metals and soft furnishings (including pouf stools with leather daddy boot harness details) mingled with more Cali desert vibes of rammed earth walls and giant foliage spilling out in the lobby really brought the space together in a considered eclectic mix. It’s an intelligent area which manages to transform seamlessly from day to night, which I saw first-hand, mainly due to their cleverly placed bar, which is off-centre in the space, almost tucked away during the daytime.

When I arrived from my flight, I sank into a super comfy armchair and relaxed before I checked in, absorbing the cool relaxing tones of the space, with the charming Bluestone Lane coffee shop to get a bite to eat, as well as hot beverages and healthy smoothies. I contemplated a game of chess or playing an arcade video games on offer to really get my relax on. There is also a versatile mezzanine space where you can hold meetings or make a cosy work-nest, but the whole space is a chill area where you can have some downtime before heading out to explore the city.

Bar Moxy, with its Mad Max cage structures and distressed barstools, is there to offer you a beverage should you fancy one during the day, but it really takes (asymmetrical) centre-stage at night with the metallic finishes glowing with the electricity of the night. The hotel hosted an opening party whilst I was there, which really showed off the versatility of the space, complete with tarot and aura readings, ice-cream sandwich trucks, with plenty of space to mingle (thanks to that trusty off-centre bar again.) Plenty of creatives turned out, including fashion brand Celine’s creative director Hedi Slimane, to celebrate the space. The man’s famous for his love affair with Los Angeles, so if you can get him there, then you know you’re on the right track. The evening space felt worlds away from the lush lobby I started my trip in, but still had that low-key lush LA vibe, which is an impressive feat.

The two hotels have been designed in such a clever way that you can explore and pick your space to hang out in, depending on your mood

When the jet lag caught up with me at the party, and I went to retire to my room, the elevator opened, and out popped a friend I had not seen for over 10 years. He and his friends had been enjoying the party but wanted somewhere a bit quieter to hang out and catch up. This is where the symbiosis of the hotels really shone through for me and how you’re encouraged to explore both hotels, depending on your mood. Turning into a tour guide, before turning into bed, I told them about the La Lo La rooftop on the 34^th floor at the AC, next door. They were flawed by the view and the outside space with plenty of room to quietly sit and enjoy the view and each other’s company. The two hotels have been designed in such a clever way that you can explore and pick your space to hang out in, depending on your mood, with the AC, it’s all about embracing the calm. 

The AC’s common areas take reference from the brand’s Spanish roots, imagining an artist’s loft, with art and contemporary serene spaces. The AC library that leads through to the bar and lounge has floor-to-ceiling windows that flood the space with pale light, and have beautiful views. I found myself popping up there in the morning and also at sunset to really take advantage of the panoramic views of LA, from the quiet sleepy sun shining over the Hollywood Hills to the twinkling lights of the night-time. The space has plenty of quieter socialising spaces, complete with sculptures, art, and fireplaces where you can have breakfast and dinner. Like Bar Moxy downstairs, the space is transformed at night, going from a chic tranquil space you can lounge in, to a beautiful dinner setting which offers small plates and Spanish-style tapas (including a mouth-wateringly-prepared steak) with incredible views of the City of Angeles twinkling away as you dine.

The rooms for each hotel offer something different whilst having connectivity too. It was explained to me that they had been created slightly smaller than your usual room in LA, making them more affordable price point, but to be honest, I didn’t notice the difference (and they’re still practically palatial in comparison to an NYC hotel room where you can barely even fit your suitcase in.) Both have floor-to-ceiling windows with gorgeous views. LA doesn’t do a lot wrong, but along with traffic and disingenuous wannabe star, I’m adding showers to the list. The two hotels wronged this right with their rainforest showers. The Moxy keeps it cool with distressed leather headboards, evoking a leather biker jacket, industrial fixtures in the bathroom and deconstructed copper pipe and concrete wardrobe frame. The AC has a much cleaner aesthetic, with crisp white linens, plush rugs, Hockney-esque artwork of swimming pools and a living area space that has a sense of zen.

A lot of the connectivity between the hotels is fluid and nuanced, which I really enjoyed, with subtle differences, like the finishes, or moods of the room subtly yet impactfully altering the vibe. There is one section that unabashedly connects the two, and that’s Level 8, a mind-blowing multi-dimensional entertainment space, full of bars, restaurants and live entertainment. It even has a pool and a club. Level 8 is a festival of fun things to do, that slices through both hotels like a fun layer of frosting through a slice of cake, and everyone loves cake. 

Level 8 is the brainchild of the Houston brothers, who are experts at creating interactive and immersive spaces. We took a look around the space, which was still being built, and will be opening in late summer 2023 and is going to be a labyrinth of fun things that you can get immersed in. It starts at Mr Wanderlust, a cocktail bar, that leads through to different spaces, which you enter through a faux fireplace or a waterfall in an Alice in Wonderland meets speakeasy style fever-dream – a Houston Brother’s speciality. The brothers gave us a taster by taking us on a bar crawl of their immersive spaces in LA, entering bars through wardrobes, vending machines and even a hidden staircase under a bed in a guesthouse, that gave way to magical spaces with live music, cabaret, karaoke and magic shows (bonus points for transporting us in a Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Sprinter van – I felt just like Jen Shah on the run from the FBI.)  Once you’re through the speak-easy entrances, there’s plenty to pick from. Like Alice, you simply have to pick your wonderful poison.

You can choose your own adventure, even if you want to have a more low-key one. 

French-Japanese teppanyaki is on offer at Maison Kasai, traditional seiro mushi and hot pots at Lucky Mizu and an alfresco oyster & ceviche bar at Mother of Pearl. There is even the Brown Sheep Taqueria taco truck if you want delicious but not too fancy.  Everything ends in a cathedral-inspired club, Sinners Y Santos with a speak-easy entrance, that will have a mix of live music, acrobatics and surprise performances in a venue that looks like a church. It’s an ambitious space, but one that feels both at home and unique at the same time in Los Angeles. Level 8 is crammed full of excitement, but also, spaces for you to have fine dining and relaxation, as well as more lively energy. It’s easy to imagine having one of those incredible (if not hazy) nights there, when you planned just to have a quick bite to eat and quiet one with some friends but ended up watching a secret gig that appeared out of nowhere. The space encourages exploration and excitement. Not being much of a drinker, but one for a bit of social content, I could see my space, the South American fire grill Qué Barbaro which opens out onto a pool, complete with a Golden Hour bar that is shaped like a fairground carousel. That’s the beauty of Level 8, you can choose your own adventure, even if you want to have a more low-key one. 

Whilst most of the spaces in both hotels are tranquil, it seems very fitting to have a beating, chaotic, fun heart of the hotel, with a labyrinth of fun. One moment you’re sitting enjoying fine dining, with harp strings above you that lead to an actual harp being played, and the next second you find yourself exploring and end up outside with fairy lights and a taco truck, before ending up in a pulsing club environment. It’s immersive, seamlessly spilling from indoors to outdoors and back again. 

The two hotels are clearly going to be a destination in DTLA where you can immerse yourself in entertainment and fine-dining for the night, or a comfortable place to rest your head after exploring Nintendo World at Universal, vintage shopping at Melrose or a cute little hike up in the Hills, as I did. I’m a natural sceptic (forever being told off for rolling my eyes during a Zoom call) so when the concept was explained to me, I took it with a pinch of salt, but experiencing the spaces for myself, the concept just makes sense, after all, why pick one, when you can have your cake and eat it too?

Rates at The Moxy Downtown LA begin at $199 per night at moxydtla.com and AC Downtown LA begin at $219 per night at achoteldtla.com