Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne reviews the W Hollywood Hotel & Residences in Hollywood, writing the new hotel/condo can be thought of as "equal parts Chateau Marmont, L.A. Live and Pershing Square." And while he calls it an "urban-planning experiment for the city," the design "is not what you'd call an elegant addition to the rapidly expanding Hollywood skyline." The best part of the review of the hotel, which opens today, may be the insider information that's dropped: Kevin Daly of Daly Genik, was told by the W to design the cabanas as "a Venus flytrap for supermodels," while a stripper pole in the hotel's bachelor suite had to be removed because the area wasn't wheelchair accessible. But it's not all Maxim-types the hotel is trying to attract--the building is also trying to lure the junket business to Hollywood. So, how will all these worlds interact? "What it will mean for the civic fabric of a quickly gentrifying, densifying Hollywood remains to be seen. The W brings together several parts of L.A. culture that typically spin in separate orbits, raising the question of how much these groups will actually interact under the complex's aggressive neon glow. Will junketeering reporters from London newspapers and Chilean TV rub shoulders with commuters, publicists or hotel guests in the lobby bar? Will the condo owners and the apartment tenants find any common ground?" Meanwhile, the commenters on Curbed have been split on the design, but there's been plenty of negative reaction so far. Part of reader Supecube's assessment: "Squandered yet another opportunity to make a mind-blowing building. Yes, on the other hand you don't want to scare mid-westerners off. So in the end banality prevails with an half hearted attempt at a little Kelly Werstler. Develop onward! "
· The W Hollywood Hotel & Residences: An urban complexity [LA Times]
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