Gold Diggers

It’s not every day that you come across a hotel with a name like Gold-Diggers, but even more remarkable is the fact that the name might not be the most unusual thing about it. The original Gold Diggers was a bikini bar, which is exactly what it sounds like, and the sign still remains above the Santa Monica Boulevard entrance. Above the bar was a small residential hotel, and behind it was a rehearsal space where all manner of L.A. rock royalty is rumored to have practiced in their young and lean days. In short, it’s a building (and a location) with plenty of character — perfectly suited to a modern-day rock-and-roll hotel.

And that it is. Not only is it a richly textured and eclectic boutique hotel — one perfectly in tune with the tastes of the Los Angeles creative class — but it’s also a recording studio and a cocktail bar complete with a stage for live performances. Rooms come with Sonos sound systems and carefully curated in-room record collections, as well as high-end 2920 Sleep beds dressed in Parachute linens, and a selection of locally sourced snacks and minibar items.

You don’t have to be a rock star yourself to stay here, but the idea is that if you wanted to cut an album by day, try out some new songs in front of an audience in the evening, and crash in one of the hotel’s 11 rooms by night, you could do it all under one roof. And even if you’re not, you’re more or less guaranteed a memorable experience — the design, the art, the clientele, and even the East Hollywood location are a world apart from the rest of Hollywood’s boutique hotels.