The Inn Crowd

Rita Konig Brings British Charm To The Decor Of Hollywood’s Hottest New Hotel.

- Sheila Marikar

FROM THE OUTSIDE, NO. 850, a new 23-room hotel in West Hollywood, looks quaint, clean, and Victorian via Cape Cod. The hotel’s facade dates back to 1918; in its past life, the edifice was divided into bungalows that housed the workers who were building a railroad between Hollywood and Santa Monica. When the bungalows went on the market in 2013, Jeff Klein, the hotelier famous for the sleek Sunset Tower Hotel nearby, seemed an unlikely buyer—the decaying assemblage of buildings bore little resemblance to his fashionable landmark a few blocks east. But he had a vision, and he hired architect Marc Appleton, known for his restorations of properties such as Santa Barbara’s San Ysidro Ranch, to turn the bungalows into an in-the-know hideaway. “The big guys are getting beat up by Airbnb because they don’t understand how to create personal experiences,” Klein says. “I asked myself, How would I want a neighborhood hotel to feel? I wanted to make something unique and special that reflects the environment, that’s singular, that’s authentic. When something becomes corporatized, it loses its soul.”