Infacet the multimillion-dollar renovation on the Stile DTLA

The historic Twenties tower that after housed the beloved Ace Hotel is getting into a brand new period simply in time for the summer season.

Two years after opening within the iconic Spanish Gothic constructing on South Broadway, Stile Downtown Los Angeles has unveiled its multimillion-dollar renovation and its growth from a limited-service lodge to a full “creative hub.” The makeover provides a 24/7 membership-based inventive lab with state-of-the-art music studios, co-working lounges, an up to date rooftop bar referred to as Somewhere Special, a restored theater and a curated retail store for the neighborhood.

“We don’t really want to call it just a hotel — it’s more of a hub,” says Jaisun Ihm, CEO of AJU Continuum, the funding firm that bought the historic area.

Throughout the area are throwback touches — as an example, lodge friends can borrow a Walkman and browse the curated cassette library with titles like Sade’s “Promise,” Paula Abdul’s “Forever Your Girl” and the Isley Brothers’ “Between the Sheets.”

Behind the huge overhaul is South Korea-based AJU Continuum, which bought the property in 2019 however didn’t change the identify till 2024. The challenge marks the funding firm’s first U.S. growth.

“We don’t really want to call it just a hotel — it’s more of a hub,” says Jaisun Ihm, CEO of AJU Continuum, which is greatest identified for its culture-forward Ryse Hotel in Seoul. With Stile, Ihm says their mission was to “connect L.A. to Seoul.”

Ryse, Ihm says, encapsulates at present’s eclectic way of life lodge: “It’s grounded in street culture. We say it’s iconoclastic. It’s youthful in nature.”

AJU Continuum teamed up with L.A. structure and inside design studio Design, Bitches — the group behind the stylish Checker Hall in Highland Park and Verve Coffee Roasters within the Arts District. Ihm didn’t care that it was Design, Bitches’ first lodge enterprise. After working with a number of corporations over time, he was bored with seeing the identical aesthetic all over the place and wished to work with a group that might convey a “bold” perspective, he says.

When the creatives at Design, Bitches obtained the invitation, they have been all in. “I’ve always wanted to do a hotel,” says RA Rudolph, the studio’s co-founder. “I love hotels and I have opinions,” they add, laughing.

For Angelenos who frequented the Ace Hotel, a maverick venue that helped revitalize downtown L.A. for a decade starting in 2014, strolling by way of Stile will really feel each acquainted and new. While the constructing’s bones stay intact — a requirement of its historic-cultural monument designation — the area has an industrial-modern twist impressed by L.A.’s inventive spirit.

For instance, the United Theater on Broadway, which was as soon as the 1927 flagship film palace for the influential United Artists collective (Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith), now options contemporary carpet, modernized sound and stage tools and roughly 125 new lighting fixtures impressed by the foyer’s unique Spanish Revival-style chandelier. As a nod to the constructing’s legacy, the place Hollywood’s earliest icons broke away from main studios to manage their very own work, AJU Continuum has launched its personal in-house reserving group for the reside leisure venue. Also, the enormous neon “Jesus Saves” signal that has sat atop the constructing since its days as a church remains to be there — and the house owners don’t have any plans to take away it.

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1. A clawfoot tub inside the Loft King Suite. 2. Lounge chairs inside the Loft King Suite. 3. Hotel guests lounge in the rooftop pool. 4. Adriana Castellanos and friends hanging out in the lobby bar. 5. Photos taken in the photo booth at the Somewhere Special rooftop bar.

Some of the most significant changes can be found in the hotel lobby, which features a curated convenience store called the Goodie Shop, which is adorned with throwback boomboxes. Located next to the front desk, which was significantly condensed, the store is filled with a selection of California-sourced snacks and beverages, lifestyle goods, Stile-branded merch and travel essentials (phone chargers, toothpaste, hair care, etc.).

On the opposite side of the lobby is SparkHouse, a private members club and creative hub for up-and-coming musicians and creatives. The two-story space features professional recording studios, podcast and video suites, co-working lounges and meeting spaces, which are slated to open by early next year once permits are approved, Ihm says. SparkHouse’s cafe and bar is open to the public and sells tea, coffee (try the honey matcha latte), wine, beer cocktails and small bites. Ihm says programming at SparkHouse will include listening sessions, live showcases and even a mentorship program for rising artists.

“I’ve always wanted to do a hotel,” says RA Rudolph, the co-founder of Design, Bitches.

The rooftop bar, which offers stunning skyline views of the city and a pool, is now called Somewhere Special. The design team removed about 90% of the plants that used to pack the area to maximize space for dancing and mingling. Also, the pool area, now painted in a playful shade called Carrot Orange, has more seating and a photo booth nearby.

All 182 guest rooms were given a fresh coat of dusty rose paint, new custom carpet, furniture and upgraded bathrooms. In each room, you’ll find Korean amenities like face masks, a custom robe by a local brand called Room Service Los Angeles and books from the former Los Angeles University Cathedral that occupied the space from 1991 to 2011. With the hotel motto being “stay by your own rules,” Rudolph says it was important for them to make the rooms adaptable to each guest’s needs and to prioritize comfort. The result is uncommon room layouts like the tri-suite king room equipped with two twin-sized beds and a king bed split by a privacy divider that doubles as a playful art installation. Rudolph, who used to travel often with her now-adult children, says that’s the type of room they always wished had existed.

Stile’s arrival comes at a precarious moment for downtown L.A. In recent years, the neighborhood’s once buzzy hospitality and nightlife scene has experienced dwindling foot traffic, slow pandemic recovery and increased vacancies. Some business owners say crime and neglect are driving away customers. Nearly 1,000 businesses left downtown in 2024. Launching a high-concept lifestyle hotel is a bold gamble.

The Goodie Shop, a new curated convenience store, is filled with a selection of California-sourced snacks and beverages, lifestyle goods and travel essentials.

But Ihm says he hopes that Stile will help rejuvenate the area and create an ecosystem that will support neighboring businesses as well. Rudolph says they already starting to see that change.

“It’s been nice to see that in the last year that I’ve been coming here to work on the project, it’s livened back up again,” Rudolph says. “Especially this block, it feels better.”