Room Number: Hotel Figueroa’s Artist Suite is L.A.’s Best-Kept Secret

Every hotel has a little secret that only the locals or frequent visitors know. Something that sets it apart from

Hotel Figueroa

Every hotel has a little secret that only the locals or frequent visitors know. Something that sets it apart from every other place, and brings people back year after year. Sometimes the secret is less a secret and more a hidden gem. Regardless, for every road-tripper, wanderlust adventurer, or world traveler, CELEB is exploring the world of hotel secrets and delights in a new series, Room Number. Come along with us to explore these little-known gems. We’re starting with Hotel Figueroa in Los Angeles; hardly little-known in and of itself. But did you know that there’s a special Featured Artist Suite opening later this month? And it’s everything you’ve come to expect from the Hotel Figueroa name, and more. 

Hotel Figueroa’s Special Place in History

Hotel Figueroa

“Hotel Fig” holds more than a special place in Los Angeles, it also holds a special place in history. Built originally in a Spanish Colonial Revival Style, the Figueroa was an oasis in a growing and bustling early 1900’s Los Angeles. In the 1920’s, most hotels wouldn’t allow a woman to check in without a male chaperone. This prevented women from traveling far from home unless she had a willing companion. Hotel Figueroa was open in 1926 by the YWCA and marketed as “an ideal stopping place for ladies unattended.” Imagine, if you will, suddenly being able to stop halfway between home and a far-distant location, without needing the permission and patronage of a male in your life. Freeing, convenient, empowering; it was all of these things and more. It was a revolutionary step, and helped pave the way for the women’s rights movement in Los Angeles.

In 1928, floors were opened specifically for male guests, and in 1930 it was opened fully to all sexes. Over the decades, Figueroa wore different mantles and served different functions in the community, at one point serving as a semi-permanent residential hotel. In the ’70’s, it was re-styled as a Moroccan retreat, losing some of the Spanish Revival flair but maintaining its signature architecture. 

Hotel Figueroa

In 2014, the hotel was purchased by Green Oak Real Estate and Urban Lifestyle Hotels, and began the 3-year-process of stripping back the Moroccan trappings and embracing once again its Spanish Colonial Revival style. Having completed the updates and restoration, Hotel Fig re-opened in 2018.

Since its inception, the Figueroa has proudly hosted a variety of socially conscious rallies and political speeches, and served as a hub for feminist and socio-political progress. 

The Featured Artist Suite

Hotel Figueroa

If you’re looking to cozy up with history, the Figueroa is offering something new and fantastic this summer: the Featured Artist Suite. For this exciting new feature, Figueroa transformed its signature Figueroa Suite. Once clad in the soothing whites and browns of a sky-high oasis gazing down on Figueroa Street like a resting adventurer, the Figueroa Suite is taking on new life this summer. 

Hotel Figueroa

Opening on June 20th, the Featured Artist Suite is featuring the iconic work of their 2021 Featured Artist, Shyama Golden. The suite is now transformed into a museum and a vacation destination in one; with living plants, trellises, and more nature-centric art. The newly-95-year-old hotel is embracing modern culture and taking a page out of the book of pop phenomenon movie Night at the Museum, allowing you to stay the night in your very own art suite. 

Hotel Figueroa

In a press release, Fig’s team shares, “With a proud history of showcasing the works of local independent female artists across Los Angeles and California, the hotel’s collaborative Featured Artist program includes a rotating onsite art exhibition and special event programming throughout the year. The collection evokes thought and deeper meaning, evolving notions of femininity and how these are experienced, performed, and reinforced through art and society, and will embody the spirit of new beginnings tied together by themes of growth, connection, healing and identity, following one of the most consequential and tumultuous years in the collective human experience. Shyama’s collection offers an immersive world where the mundane collides with the fantastical, and explores our connection to each other even during a time of isolation.”

Figueroa Offers Sass and Class

The Night at the Museum experience is just one of the exciting new offerings at Hotel Figueroa. The hotel boasts a coffin-shaped pool, which is rumored to be reminiscent of the founder’s wish to bury the patriarchy. And alongside the pool this year, travelers can enjoy Veranda al Fresco, which is a “Mexico City-inspired coastal eats washed down with refreshing cocktails in a cool, relaxing environment under the shade of a lush cactus grove and soothing botanicals & greenery,” according to the hotel’s press release. 

And on Memorial Day, Hotel Figueroa launched a, “Summer’s Not Dead,” staycation package. Packed with features including two complimentary cocktails to take with you when floating on the pool’s future demise of the patriarchy, extended check-out to allow for some sleeping in, and a Pom Pom pool float. The hotel also has an ongoing offer for California residents – 26% off, in a nod to the hotel’s 1926 opening. 

Each suite at the Fig is unique, offering the same blanket relaxation and wellness-centered lodgings but with a touch of personalization and uniqueness throughout. The hotel has always taken its place in history seriously, respecting the women who dreamed it into being and the place it has maintained in social progress throughout the decades. But they don’t take themselves too seriously; hotel Fig is relaxing, luxurious, and beautiful, and not the least bit stuffy or rigid. If you’re looking for an oasis getaway in the heart of downtown Los Angeles this summer that will enrich your soul while revitalizing your body, the Figueroa’s Artist Suite may be the destination you didn’t know you needed until now. 

Visit Hotel Figueroa to plan your stay. 

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