Can Suede Save the Tacky Bonaventure?

Suede Bar, downtown's newest lounge, opened last week with little fanfare. Can the red suede bar that promises "beautiful staff" and a "sexy ambience" save The Westin Bonaventure from its tacky self or is it just more of the same?

Downtown's Westin Bonaventure Hotel is odd. While it was perhaps a shining beacon of commerce and luxury travel when it first opened in 1976, the fading hotel now reads more like a bad 70's porn film. It's kind of groovy, but ends up creepy. The addition of L.A. Prime in the 80's, a move thought to return the Bonaventure to its glory days, did little to change the minds of downtown residents and out of town guests. The Bonaventure's only cachet seems to stem from its role in several films including this month's Hancock, Escape from L.A., This is Spinal Tap, and perhaps most fittingly, the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century show.

Will Suede Bar, with its cigar humidor and coconut mojitos, give The Bonaventure a much-needed boost? Will it become a destination for the after-work crowd to lounge and play and feel "sexy"? We doubt it, but we're willing to check it out to be sure.

Photo by gamillos via Flickr