Alsace LA is an enchanting, design forward boutique hotel in LA’s historic West Adams neighbourhood with architecture by NMDA Architects and interior design by Home Studios

If you’re heading to LA this summer, get your design fix at Alsace LA. Having debuted in 2021, the hotel is anchored around a lush interior courtyard and a secluded in-ground pool retreat embellished with dreamy desert landscaping that adds to the hotel’s oasis-like charm. Central to the hotel's ethos, Alsace LA was envisaged with the West Adams community in mind - seeking to serve locals and business owners as an amenity, partner, and supporter.

The diverse and creative West Adams area is rich with stunning historical architecture, standing as one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Los Angeles. In addition to its iconic homes, today’s West Adams boasts a thriving restaurant scene, unique retail storefronts, bountiful street art, and a variety of cultural and nonprofit organisations.

Alsace LA marks the second hotel project from Home Studios, who was approached by the client after they fell in love with Home Studios’ cult-favourite interior design for various hospitality projects, including Vini e Fritti and Caffe Marchio. Founded in 2009 by former book editor Oliver Haslegrave, the studio’s aim is to help tell the stories of inspired outsiders through the artforms of architecture and interior design. Best known for the distinctive look and feel of their hospitality projects, Alsace LA translates the most memorable and eye-catching aspects of Home Studios restaurants into a fully realised design destination.

The purpose-built property reflects Home Studios’ devotion to details and narrative-driven approach to design, which has resulted in a space that feels both of the neighbourhood and continually open to evolution as the community expands.

Throughout the hotel the design highlights the power of visual storytelling, riffing on charming elements like Bauhaus-inspired curves, white oak ceilings and floors, and site-specific art. With an emphasis on the unexpected, the hotel is truly a one-of-a-kind space, made culturally relevant with contemporary art, photography, and playful design details. Alsace LA’s layered exterior and interior design details include the eclectic use of vintage and custom furnishings and lighting. Fluted textures, terracotta plaster, and warm wood materials subtly reference California’s diverse vegetation and natural environment to create the ambiance of home, one that is of the neighbourhood and distinctly Los Angeles. Upon entering the hotel,  guests are greeted in an intimate, tucked away lobby, which mimics a Mediterranean-style portico (porch). Residential in feel, the hotel’s central courtyard filters light through each of the hotel’s three stories. The serene and inviting rooms provide guests with congenial amenities as if staying in a well-curated residence. While each guest room features handcrafted details, larger suites also feature a balcony or terrace, a custom dining table, and a bespoke pull-out sofa.

Each 230 square-foot guest room features handcrafted details, whereas larger suites feature a balcony or terrace, a custom dining table, and a bespoke pull-out sofa - blending the charms of old-world travel with new-world comforts. Additionally, Home Studios designed custom furniture for each light and airy room, including upholstered headboard panels, rattan and wood wardrobes, and sculptural brass hooks, transporting travellers to a warm oasis in the midst of a dynamic and energetic urban resurgence.

With an emphasis on the unexpected, the hotel is truly a one-of-a-kind space, made culturally relevant with contemporary art, photography, and playful design details that incorporate subtle references to European antiquity by way of local craft. For example, the lobby’s tile mural, developed by Home Studios in collaboration with local LA artist Lukas Geronimas Giniotis, draws on themes of ancient mosaic art, featuring figures in repose amongst an abstracted landscape of fauna and classic architecture. Like scenes from mythology, each of Giniotis’ tile motifs hint at the use of space throughout the hotel’s common areas: divers near the exit to the pool, figures playing near the gym, and bodies ascending stairs.

Home Studios’ history of and admiration for essential design and locally-minded collaboration has resulted in a destination built for leisure-seeking travellers and Los Angeles residents alike.