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The Standard's Last Remaining LA Location Is Closing
The Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
(
Daniel Incandela
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Creative Commons via Flickr
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And just like that, The Standard’s footprint will disappear from the city.
The downtown Los Angeles hotel, famous for its rooftop pool and bar, will shut its doors “indefinitely” on Jan. 22, 2022, according to a recording on the hotel’s main phone line.
The shuttering will come one year to the day after The Standard in West Hollywood, the original location, closed its doors for good due to lease increases.
“It is with a heavy heart that we must announce the closure of The Standard Downtown,” the recording said. “After 18 years of unconditional love for our hotel, our guests, our team and our community, from the bottom of our heart, we thank you for everything.”
While real estate outlet TheRealDeal reports entrances have appeared boarded up, a spokesperson for The Standard said they were planning to renovate the location but couldn’t continue because of the pandemic.
“We made the proactive decision to negotiate a significant buy-out of our long-term contract rather than push to reopen and operate an unrenovated [hotel],” the spokesperson said. “If the property were to be sold to a buyer committed to completing the renovation, we would be open to re-engaging.”
The Standard stayed temporarily closed during the pandemic, according to its website. There were hopes to welcome guests back in the “near future.” The Standard’s other locations — two in Thailand, one in the Maldives, another two in New York, and ones in London and Miami— are still open.
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The original hotel was first opened by André Balazs in 1998. After selling the chain in 2017, it expanded to nine locations around the world, including Bangkok and the Maldives. The downtown location’s grand opening was 20 years ago.
The closure is amidst a successful time for reservations. L.A.'s hotel industry is the only one to fully rebound to pre-pandemic demands, according to the global hotel commerce platform SiteMinder. In October and November, hotel bookings were at or greater than 2019 levels.
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