The Shay, a Destination by Hyatt

Thirty Five Commissions Beside the Metro Tracks

Culver City spent a century making pictures and then, quietly, became one of the more interesting places to stay in Los Angeles. The Shay sits at the centre of that shift, in Ivy Station, the mixed block that rose beside the Metro tracks where the rail yards used to be. Studio Collective, the agency behind Hotel Figueroa downtown, handled the interiors and took the cue from the industry around it: leather wrapped handrails, patinated metals, native hardwoods. The art came next, thirty five works commissioned from local makers rather than bought by the yard. What the building ends up feeling like is a neighbourhood project that happens to rent rooms.

Why It Works

The first reason is the art programme, which is unusually serious for a hotel of this size: thirty five commissions, all local, all credited, with a code beside each piece linking to the maker. The second is the kitchen. Two restaurants from Danny Grant's group is more culinary weight than a hundred and forty eight room hotel normally carries, and both rooms draw Culver City rather than only guests. The third is the connection. The Metro E Line runs from the door to downtown in one direction and to Santa Monica in the other, which in Los Angeles counts as something close to a superpower.

Why This Location

Ivy Station stands on Washington Boulevard at the edge of downtown Culver City, and the historic core, with its restaurants, the Kirk Douglas Theatre and the old Culver Hotel, is a five minute walk. Sony Pictures occupies the lot across the way, the tech studios have taken the buildings around it, and the Culver Steps run up towards the gates. The Metro E Line platform is at the foot of the building, about twenty minutes from downtown Los Angeles in one direction and a similar run to the beach at Santa Monica in the other. Venice and Marina del Rey are fifteen minutes by road, the airport about twenty. The Ballona Creek bike path starts nearby and ends at the sea.

Fast Facts

• Price: Premium

• Vibe: Art led, industrial, sunny, neighbourhood

• Rooms: A hundred and forty eight rooms and suites, contemporary, with the building's industrial vocabulary carried inside

• Best For: Studio and production trips, car free stays in Los Angeles, weekends built around food and galleries

• Our Favorite Thing About the Hotel: The thirty five commissioned works by Los Angeles artists, each one credited on the wall beside it

• Dining: etta at street level for wood fired cooking and Celestina on the roof for Mexican inspired plates and cocktails, both from Danny Grant's group

• Amenities: Rooftop pool with a programme of pop up music, comedy and wellness, fitness centre, eight thousand square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, pets welcome

• Attractions: Downtown Culver City (about five minutes on foot), Sony Pictures Studios, Metro E Line at the door, Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles (around twenty minutes each by rail), Venice and Marina del Rey

Etta, Celestina and the Pool Deck

Two kitchens, one vertical. Etta occupies the ground floor and cooks over wood, an open room that fills with Culver City on a Friday and does not empty at nine. Celestina is on the roof, Mexican inspired, and shares the deck with the pool, which was the first of its kind in the neighbourhood. That deck is the hotel's social engine: pop up music, comedy nights, wellness sessions, and the long flat light Los Angeles keeps for late afternoon. Both restaurants come from the What If Syndicate, the group behind a Michelin starred kitchen, which is why the food is not an afterthought.

Rooms Built on Industrial Memory

A hundred and forty eight rooms and suites, contemporary rather than themed, with the vocabulary of the building carried inside: patinated metal, native hardwood, leather on the handrails and the door pulls. Studio Collective kept the palette warm and the lines simple, so the commissioned art does the talking. Rooms on the upper floors look over the Culver City rooftops towards the hills, and pets are welcome throughout. Beyond the bedrooms, eight thousand square feet of event space runs from boardrooms to a ballroom, which is why production teams tend to book the building rather than only the rooms.