Palihotel Melrose

After a successful dip into the hospitality pool with the Palihouse Holloway in West Hollywood, the Paligroup is back with what’s perhaps a more traditional vision, both in form and in function. The Palihotel operates like a classic boutique hotel, which means guests spend more time in the common spaces and less in the rooms — the casual Southern-style restaurant, The Hart and the Hunter, is the hub of social activity, its power to draw a crowd multiplied by the scent of warm, buttery biscuits occasionally wafting outside.

The rooms come in double and queen layouts, both compact and urban, some with courtyard views and others with outdoor verandas. While the look isn’t modern, exactly, it is very much of the moment. This decade-spanning, bohemian-rustic style is a breath of fresh air after years of boutique-hotel minimalism. And the real genius of this place only becomes apparent when it’s time to sign the bill — at this price it’s hard to think of another hotel that’s its equal.

If you’re a Hollywood lifer the location might feel ever so slightly peripheral, compared to the original Palihouse, which is a few blocks to the north and west, and more decidedly in the thick of things. But for out-of-towners on a retail bender this stretch of Melrose is shopping paradise; anyway, as the saying goes, nobody walks in L.A.

How to get there: Palihotel Melrose, located in West Hollywood, is a 30-minute drive from Los Angeles International Airport, but the trip can take up to an hour depending on traffic.