From
From $280/night
Rooms
147
Setting
Broadway Corridor
Best For
Design · Rooftop · DTLA
Reviewed
May 2025
Reserve Room
"The intimate lobby is stunning — small in size but not in style. A tropical mural by Abel Macias Studio swirls with birds, monkeys and foliage across the curved ceiling. It is the sort of thing Diego and Frida would have approved of."
The 1926 Renaissance Revival building at the corner of 11th and Broadway had lived several lives before Proper Hospitality arrived: designed by architects Curlett and Beelman, it was once an athletic club with a basketball court and indoor pool that now form the bones of two of the hotel's most distinctive suites. Kelly Wearstler began her redesign with the brief that Downtown Los Angeles was experiencing a cultural renaissance and that the building's history should anchor the result. The 147-room hotel that emerged draws on Mexican Modernism, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Moroccan aesthetics while remaining absolutely specific to the Broadway Corridor it occupies.
THE PROPERTY
South Park and the Broadway Corridor sit at the historic core of DTLA, a neighborhood that has absorbed decades of investment from the creative industry and is now home to The Broad, MOCA, the Crypto.com Arena, and some of the most compelling Deco architecture in the American West. The hotel sits at the corner of 11th and Broadway, which puts it within walking distance of all of it. The Orpheum Theatre is across the street. The building itself is a registered historic landmark, and Proper's renovation — careful, site-specific, and unmistakably designed — treats it as such.
LOBBY CULTURE
The lobby is small but consequential. A tropical mural by Abel Macias Studio covers the curved ceiling with birds, monkeys, and foliage. Stained glass by Judson Studios, a historic Los Angeles glasswork atelier, guides guests from the lobby level to the Cabrillo restaurant below. Ceramic murals by Ben Medansky and Morgan Peck appear at the front desk and in the pool suite. The effect is intentional layering — every surface has a story and a maker attached to it. This is a lobby that rewards looking closely.
DESIGN NOTES
Wearstler drew on Mexican Modernism, Moroccan tilework, and a deep familiarity with vintage Los Angeles in her approach to the interiors. Over 100 handmade tiles were sourced and placed across the building. More than 100 vintage and custom pieces were incorporated into the 147 rooms and public spaces, alongside collaborations with L.A.-based artists whose work fits the building rather than simply filling it. The tiled baths draw from Moroccan interiors. The rooms are small by some standards and entirely themselves by all of them.
BAR & SHARED SPACES
Cara Cara on the rooftop is the social center of the hotel — a poolside restaurant and bar with panoramic views of the DTLA skyline, firepits, and a menu built for grazing in the sun. The ground floor Cabrillo now serves breakfast. Dahlia, the cocktail lounge, operates as a tea room by day. The hotel's two suites carved from the original athletic club spaces — one from the basketball court, one from the indoor pool — are among the most distinctive rooms in any hotel in Los Angeles and worth booking for the story alone.
Downtown L.A. Proper is the best argument for staying in DTLA rather than drifting west. The building is the right building, the design is unmistakably Wearstler, and the rooftop pool at dusk with the city grid below is one of the better views in Los Angeles. The rates are honest for what you get. At this price point in this city, nothing else comes close.
— The Lobby Edit · Founder's Note
ROOMS THAT MATTER
The 147 rooms are not large. That is the honest answer. What they are is precisely designed: vintage furnishings, original window casings, Wearstler's fearless color in the right places, and Aesop amenities throughout. The Moroccan-tiled bathrooms are better than the rooms they serve. The Athletic Club Suite and Pool Suite, both carved from the building's former sporting facilities, are in a different category entirely — architectural relics converted with care and booked well in advance.
THE VERDICT
The best-designed hotel in Downtown Los Angeles by a meaningful margin. Wearstler's work here is site-specific, layered, and honest to the building it occupies. The rates are fair for what you get, the rooftop is one of the better places to be in DTLA at dusk, and the two athletic club suites are reason enough to plan a trip around.
Editor's Note
The most considered hotel in Downtown LA. Wearstler's design is site-specific and honest. The rooftop does the rest.
The Lobby Edit Score
8.9
/ 10
Design credentials are unimpeachable. The rooms run small but every surface earns its place. The rooftop and the two athletic club suites lift the overall.
Property
Downtown Proper Los Angeles
Brand
Proper Hospitality
Category
Design Boutique
Rooms
147
Opened
2020
Address
1100 S Broadway, Los Angeles, CA
Rates From
$280
Per Night · Direct Booking
RESERVE VIA PROPER HOTELS
Collections
Design
Downtown
Los Angeles
Americas
Rooftop
Art
Kelly Wearstler
Historic
FEATURED PARTNERS
Your brand belongs in spaces like this.
THE LOBBY EDIT REACHES DESIGN-FORWARD TRAVELERS WHO BOOK ON INTENTION. PREMIUM PLACEMENT AVAILABLE FOR ALIGNED PARTNERS.
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Moments at Downtown Proper Los Angeles
Broadway Revival
Category Scores
Design & Materials
9.2
Atmosphere & Scent
8.8
Lobby Culture
8.7
Service
8.8
Rooms & Suites
8.5
Food & Beverage
8.7
Value
9.2
Sense of Place
What Downtown Proper does to a Tuesday evening in DTLA — not what it looks like, but what it feels like when the rooftop fills and the city grid goes orange below.
SIGNATURE SCENT
Aesop throughout — the Tacoma and Resurrection ranges, clean and site-agnostic in the best way.
LOBBY ENERGY
Creative industry, design travelers, DTLA regulars. A crowd that chose the neighborhood before the hotel.
MATERIAL CHARACTER
Handmade Moroccan tile, vintage finds, Abel Macias murals, Judson Studios glass — layered and local.
TIME OF DAY
Morning belongs to Cabrillo and the lobby. Evening belongs to Cara Cara and the rooftop grid view.
Downtown Proper Lobby Culture Score: 8.7. The Macias mural and the Judson glass make the arrival the best moment. The rooftop makes the evening.
Suites
That Earn the Stay
Junior Suite
530 SQ FT · KING · PLASTER WALLS · MOROCCAN BATH
From $450/night
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Premier Suite
641 SQ FT · KING · 1 BED 1.5 BATH · SEPARATE LIVING ROOM
From $650/night
Book This Suite
Corner Suite
880 SQ FT · KING · 1 BED 1.5 BATH · CORNER VIEWS · FIREPLACE
From $950/night
Book This Suite
Pool Suite
2,777 SQ FT · KING · INDOOR POOL · OPEN PLAN LIVING
From $2,500/night
Book This Suite
Basketball Suite
1,430 SQ FT · KING · 1 BED 1.5 BATH · DOUBLE-HEIGHT CEILINGS
From $1,800/night
Book This Suite
The Common Ground
Dining, Bar & Shared Spaces
Where the hotel earns its rate beyond the room.
CURATED BY THE LOBBY EDIT
Where to Eat
THESE PLACEMENTS ARE OFFERED QUARTERLY TO RESTAURANTS THAT MEET OUR EDITORIAL STANDARD. LEARN ABOUT PARTNERSHIP →
Three restaurants worth the walk. One for every part of the day.
While You're Here
What to Do Nearby
01
The Broad
A 10-minute walk. One of the best contemporary art museums in the country, with a permanent collection that includes Koons, Kara Walker, Cindy Sherman, and a Kusama infinity room. Book timed entry in advance.
03
The Orpheum Theatre
Directly across the street. A 1926 Broadway movie palace still hosting live performances. Check the schedule before you arrive.
05
Grand Central Market
Five minutes on foot. The 1917 market hall is the most democratic lunch stop in DTLA and worth an hour even if you're not hungry.
02
MOCA Grand Avenue
A 10-minute walk. The permanent collection is strong and the building by Arata Isozaki is worth the visit on its own.
04
Broadway Historic Theatre District
Walk north from the hotel along Broadway. The concentration of intact movie palaces from the 1910s to the 1930s is unmatched anywhere in the country.
06
Arts District Walk
A 15-minute walk east. Street murals, independent galleries, Stumptown Coffee, and the cluster of restaurants around Tasting Kitchen and Bestia.
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Photography courtesy of the property
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