SLS Beverly Hills Grand Opening
UPDATE: Here’s a quick peak set of photos and video.
It’s about time the SLS Beverly Hills finally opened. After several delays, this former Le Meridien Beverly Hills celebrated with a less than conventional grand opening. Rather than cut an opening ceremony ribbon, Sam Nazarian and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa rang a bell to salute the newest luxury hotel on the LA block. Sam and his design parter, Philippe Starck, always said this would not be some ordinary hotel. So far this statement has been holding true since the ringing of the opening bell.
For those who don’t know, Sam Nazarian is an iconic entertainment mogul in Los Angeles. He and his SBE Entertainment company seek to redefine the high-end hospitality industry by delivering a revolutionary lifestyle. Today, SBE boasts some of the hottest nightclubs (Area and Hyde Lounge) and restaurants (Katsuya) in La La Land, and now it’s trying to build an empire of hotels with its SLS Hotels collection.
So what makes the SLS Beverly Hills more seductive than the rest of the 5-star hotel crowd? The mysterious little details. At the SLS Beverly Hills, the chairs were designed in 177 distinct styles. There are pool tables on every floor. The flat screen TV’s in the guestrooms seem to appear and disappear from view. Seven lifestyle suites with imported Italian fitness equipment are also available, complete with private in-room trainers on call. There’s also two separate lobbies – one for overnight guests and the other for dining, shopping, or partying guests. What I find most unique is The Bazaar, which Chef Jose Andres designed as several restaurants sharing an open flow seating area. The chef wants people to move around freely and not feel chained to a table. Sadly, I make it sound like some food court, but LA Eater has the full inside scoop on the luxuries of The Bazaar.
Patisserie at The Bazaar
At the end of the day, what the heck does SLS even stand for? According to Sam Nazarian, it’s actually not an acronym at all. ”SLS is not an exact acronym for anything in particular,” Nazarian explains. ”Most importantly, it is a name that will become synonymous with timeless elegance, intelligence, humanity, discovery and a completely novel guest experience.”
Seems ambiguous, but judging from the photo below I’d say one of the S’s could easily stand for Sultry.
Rooftop poolside cabanas at the SLS Beverly Hills . . . did you notice the mirrors?
Source: Hotels Magazine, LA Times
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