I spent a night at night at the historic Hotel Figueroa in the heart of downtown Los Angeles and very much enjoyed it….once I was inside the property.
Review: Hotel Figueroa – Los Angeles, CA, Part Of Hyatt Unbound Collection
Built by the YWCA, this historic hotel opened in 1926 as a hotel for solo women travelers. At the time, most were not allowed to check into a hotel without a male chaperone. At this hotel, only women were allowed.
The result was a “paradise of female energy” (as the hotel now describes it) and a hub of intellectual and artistic progress that attracted women from all over the world.
We spent a night here during our tree trial because it was cheap ($150/night) and because it was very close to the hospital where my wife works.
This is Category 5 hotel, so better to pay most nights than to use points.
Common Areas
The hotel was totally overhauled in 2014 from a Moroccan theme to a Spanish Colonial Revival style. The spacious lobby and bar highlights that theme and also features a cozy fireplace (it has been a colder year here in LA) and lots of artwork.
Guest Room
We were upgraded to a junior suite, room 210. We used stairs rather than an elevator to reach the room, which I love about old hotels.
The room was cozy, but nicely appointed with a living room area with couch, chair, ottoman, coffee, table, and desk and a bedroom with a king sized bed. At only about 330 square feet I’ve had much bigger standard rooms, but it did the trick for us.
The bathroom was long and narrow with two sinks, a shower on the left, and water closet on the right. No bathtub. Toiletries were from Claus Porto.
The room had no view (picture the hotel has laid out like an E on its side, so my room faced the window of another room).
I appreciated the coffee machine in the room with pods from Vittoria, one of my favorite Australian companies.
Plugs were located around the room and there was two plugs and a USB-A charger on the desk.
$30 Destination Fee
The hotel tacks on a $30 destination fee per night, waived for World of Hyatt Globalist members. It includes:
- Daily freshly brewed coffee with custom milk and syrup station at Café Fig (for two)
- Day pass to LA’s Artha wellness experience – yoga, sound bath, cryotherapy
- Complimentry pass to 2000sqft Wellness and Fitness Club
- Two boxed waters per room daily
- 10% Discount at DTLA museums (full list at front desk)
- 10% Discount at DTLA architectural tour
- 10% Discount to private fitness classes by Yada Yoga
- Access to pool deck and loungers
- Access to hotel art gallery and invitation to all artist events
- Access to all public events at La Casita
- Access to hotel guest exclusive events and beverage tastings
I believe these fees should be optional, full stop, but I appreciated the free barista-made coffee each day at Café Fig. I typically consume one coffee each afternoon and it was nice to have a cortado in the lobby bar.
Since the kids were with me, I did not get a chance to try the Artha wellness experience, something I would like to do again (the cryotherapy and infrared sauna at least).
Pool + Fitness Center
The fitness center was extremely basic, just a small guest room with a trio of machines.
Although my stay was only a month ago, my understanding is that the hotel very recently opened up a new and much larger (and needed) fitness center.
Outside the fitness center was a nice patio overlooking the pool below and the nearby JW Marriott – Ritz Carlton hotel.
The pool, being nearly 100 years old and formerly a YWCA facility, is quite deep. My daughter cannot swim yet so playing with her in the pool while having to tread water became quite a workout for me!
The kids loved the pool so much we had to return…three times…
Dining
The hotel has a number of on-site food and beverage options.
Bar Magnolia
The beautiful lobby bar includes dark wood and plants with not just alcohol, but coffee.
In the morning, filter coffee is free included in the destination fee until 11:00 am next to the bar:
Cafe Fig
The kids and I had breakfast at Cafe Fig–I love that breakfast went to 11:30 am, allowing us to have a productive morning before brunch.
Great coffee and cold-pressed juice and Claire Marie and I shared avocado toast and chilaquiles.
Augustine ordered chicken and waffles (my suggestion when he was about to order just plain waffles) and that was a big mistake…the chicken was quite spicy and he did not like it or eat.
I got him a pain au chocolat which he liked much better.
Great breakfast and the bill was fully covered as a Globalist.
Cafe Fig has a nice outdoor terrace as well.
La Casita
The focus on La Casita is cocktails and Mediterranean food, but it is closed Monday thru Thursday and so I did not get a chance to try it.
Sparrow
Sparrow is described as “a modern coastal Italian restaurant with an expansive menu by Chef AJ McCloud and Chef Joana Cruz.” Heidi got off from work late and after so we put the kids to bed (and yes, we told them exactly were we’d be downstairs) and came down here to eat.
The food was very good, with the grilled branzino superb and the pasta bolognese rich and flavorful.
We had Zeppole for dessert with sweet whipped ricotta and nutella ganache caramel sauce.
It was not cheap considering we had no appetizer and only ordered one bottle of water, but it was a nice quiet time after a busy day.
When we got back, the kids were not sleeping…
Room Service
A limited room service menu is available, which we did not take advantage of.
Bar Alta
On the upper level a second bar called Bar Alta appears to be permanently closed or only open for special events. It’s a very attractive bar, but was locked for the duration of my visit and there is no mention of it on the hotel website.
Hazardous Location
Let me be clear: the hotel location is pretty horrible. I’ll detail this in a separate post, but there were all sorts of drug deals going on outside the hotel. It’s not a horrible area in theory–The Pantry, the restaurant of former Mayor Richard Rioridan–is a block away and there is also a Capital Grille and Ralph’s Grocery Store (where I got dinner for the kids) very close.
But it is a seedy part of LA and not a place I felt comfortable in at night outside the hotel grounds.
I know this is a deadly indictment of the hotel, but for what’s it worth it was not a dealbreaker for me…it was just very nasty when I went out to meet Heidi when she got off work.
Parking
A parking lot adjacent to the hotel makes parking very easy. But the nightly parking fee is $48 plus tax and tip for valet parking and self-parking is not available (thought they let me park myself because I forgot my Tesla key and had to use my phone as the engine starter).
CONCLUSION
Yes, the hotel cannot escape its location and I wish the police would shoot up the drug dealers instead of letting them shoot up freely in front of the hotel…but that’s another issue for another time. The hotel itself was quite nice, with great food and service and a very comfortable room. The pool was nice and the hotel has just opened a large new fitness center. I actually would return and look forward to do doing so. But it’s not the sort of place you want to walk around outside at night.
I had a very similar experience here in July – stayed with another couple and our children. I drove up from San Diego and booked an AAA package for $5 more that included valet parking. I had booked the 1-bedroom suite as it was only marginally more than the base room.
The room and hotel are beautiful, the pool is a very nice oasis, the breakfast was delicious – however the area around the hotel is unpleasant for sure with a lot of unstable people and drug use. We were only there 48 hours and saw several incidents during that time.
There is already an update on Globalist breakfast – they now offer a smaller menu just for Globalists, with only 1 main course and coffee and juice (no bottled juices) per person, and they give you breakfast coupons at check-in, and they take off the charges there at the restaurant. Anything else would cost extra – it’s even stated on the coupon,
Also, disagree on the drama on where the hotel is located. There are plenty more parts of downtown LA I would be more concerned about. But like any urban cities, be mindful of your surroundings.
That’s sad to hear and would be a reason for me to think twice about returning. That green juice was greatly appreciated.
How was the noise from the 110? Hopefully good soundproofing in the room.
It was not bad.
I am not sure extrajudicial executions by the police are a proportionate punishment to the crime of drug dealing.
I’ve stayed at this hotel 2-3 times with most recent one being back in September. Booked two rooms under the corporate rate and I’ve got a call from the front desk on the day of arrival and the guy wanted to talk about the upgrade (!). That never happened to me before being a globalist for past 7 years straight. He wanted to give me a nicer room that what I was upgraded into already but wanted to know if it’s ok if two rooms are not connected. I said fine as the second room was for my sister in law. She was upgraded to a junior suite and our room was further upgraded to… a suite that’s like a presidential suite.. biggest suite in that hotel and it’s like 3 times the regular room. Plus all other globalist benefit (waved resort fee, breakfast etc) was extended to the second room and that’s not supposed to happen. Hotel definitely went above and beyond proactively. Front desk recognized the royalty and also noted my past stay yeas ago and I genuinely felt I was welcomed me back.
As for the arrounding area, may be the early timing but I didn’t see any drug users or dealers. I actually stayed at the IHG Indigo a block away few weeks later, it was a Saturday night… 9pm and actually walked to a taco truck that was located around the corner of entrance to the Figuera and I felt just.
Intrigued by the “Benefits Surcharge” on each bill. Is that a charge for other benefits, Globalist or something else… or just another random surcharge?
Just a bogus charge passed onto all guests.
Seems as if the offerings of bars, dining etc is good, but I look at these rooms and feel that they will not age well at all. This will be a tough looking property in 3-5 years. Great review, Matthew…I’ll stick to The Shay though.
Don’t you love it when you always get presented with a bill with a big fat tip field for something that’s supposedly free or included (talking about the Coffee drink)? In Europe, when it says “breakfast included ” it means you sit down, eat and leave. In the US it means “well, why don’t you sign that bill, add a big fat tip and maybe, but only maybe, we remove the cost from your bill at checkout”. What a screwed up thing. My favorite is when I am always supposed to sign the bill at Ventana Big Sur where it’s all inclusive and a 22% gratuity is already included, But no, wait for the bill please which has another big fat tip field. If something is included or free, please don’t bother me with signing checks qnd tip fields.
With the new Globalist breakfast menu, you don’t need to sign anything at all. Problem solved!
I stayed at the hotel in 1996 on my first trip to the USA. The Front Desk staff warned me NOT to go South outside the hotel (towards USC). I made it a point to be back in my room before it went dark as the area felt really unsafe.
Looks like nothing has changed much