This year saw the opening of many significant event and meeting venues in Los Angeles. Here's a look at the best restaurants, party rooms, hotels, corporate event venues, conference centers, and private rooms to open in 2016. These new and renovated Los Angeles venues suit groups large or small for private and corporate events, business dinners, cocktail parties, conferences, weddings, and more.
Opened in June to much public attention is Skyspace from U.S. Bank Tower owner OUE. The space on the building’s 70th floor offers 360-degree views from California’s tallest open-air observation deck, nearly 1,000 feet above Downtown Los Angeles. For events, the 3,500-square-foot private space and bar holds 300 for receptions. The space also connects to the new Skyslide attraction, an all-glass slide from the 70th floor down to the 69th—along the outside of the building. On the 69th floor, there are also two outdoor observation decks facing northwest and southeast, totaling 2,500 square feet.
In April, the 1933 Group unveiled a dramatic revitalization of Highland Park Bowl, originally established in 1927. The space remains true to its Spanish Revival aesthetic and Prohibition-era roots and now has eight bowling lanes plus dining and a bar. The space is available for full buyouts for 350 people. A private room, Mr. T’s Room, holds 60 for receptions. The venue has a colorful history: An on-site “pharmacy” once provided prescriptions for medicinal booze, which people could then drink along with their bowling experience.
In February, Santa Anita Park debuted a complete renovation, and this season was the first to have access to the new facilities. All 13 suites at the racetrack were revamped with seating for as many as 40 people, flat-screen TVs, retractable glass windows, catering and beverage service, and a private wagering machine and betting concierge. Below the luxury suites are more than 1,200 renovated boxes. Additionally, the overhauled Chandelier room has panoramic views of the track and a look in keeping with the room’s 1930s roots. The venue also renovated a speakeasy-like space, accessible by invitation only, which is hidden behind a nondescript door that opens to a small room done in dark wood, leather furnishings, and a polished bar.
Sherry Yard’s new culinary project, the Tuck Room Tavern, opened in June at iPic Theater Westwood, serving American fare. Cocktails draw inspiration from Hollywood’s Golden Age, including punch bowls meant to be shared. Dishes include Santa Monica farmers' market nightly specials, brioche-crusted Maryland crab cakes, reuben croquettes, and grilled rib eye. The venue has room for 250 guests standing, or 75 for seated events. The Parlor Room holds 60 standing, or 30 in lounge seating. The Den holds 40 seated guests, or 60 for receptions. And the Conservatory holds 25 seated guests, or 70 for receptions.
In April, Viceroy Hotel Group rebranded as Viceroy L’Ermitage Beverly Hills. After a 10-month transformation from interior design team Smith/Firestone Associates, the hotel has unveiled 116 redesigned suites, revamped meeting spaces, the new French bistro Avec Nous, and other upgrades. Starting at 650 square feet, rooms in the all-suite hotel are the largest guest rooms in Beverly Hills, and are decorated in shades of grey and purple with details such as Venetian cut-glass mirrors, white onyx marble details, and bespoke artwork. Runway-like dressing rooms are appropriate for a Hollywood crowd. The hotel’s presidential suite is equipped with five French door balconies featuring sweeping city views, a living room with crystal lighting fixtures, a full kitchen and dining room for entertaining, a screening room with plush chaise lounges, a study with fireplace and chess table, and a private spa treatment room.
Opened in March, the Great Wolf Lodge Southern California is a meeting and event destination located in Orange County with more than 21,000 square feet of flexible conference space with integrated technology. The resort also offers a 100,000-square-foot indoor water park and dining options.
Actress Jessica Biel is a partner in the restaurant Au Fudge, which opened in March. The concept is family-friendly dining in an environment chic enough for adults, too. The 4,200-square-foot venue includes an indoor dining room, patio, retail space, and various activity and event areas. These include a “creative space” with arts and crafts and games, as well as a small treehouse-like space, accessed by a spiral staircase, and strewn with cushion seating. Combined, the spaces seat 200. Vintage and antique accent pieces and reclaimed wood floors contribute to the eclectic decor in the venue, recognized as the Environmental Media Association’s first Green Seal restaurant.
In October, hospitality company SBE opened nightlife venue Nightingale Plaza. Formerly home to Greystone Manor, the property’s name pays homage to the venue’s native neighborhood: Nightingale Drive is a small road tucked away in the posh so-called “Bird Streets” of Beverly Hills. SBE enlisted architectural and design firm the Rockwell Group for the design of the 6,500-square-foot space, meant as a modern interpretation of a classic European courtyard. Guests enter the venue through three circular, terraced chambers. Inside are four distinct environments: the main club room, an intimate porch bar, a V.I.P. back bar, and a plush outdoor garden. The venue has room for 500 for receptions. The main room has LED walls and a kinetic ceiling covered in folding mirrored panels, which transform the venue into a digital light spectacle over the course of an event. Equipped with a Funktion-One Sound system, the venue’s ceiling and walls are soundproof and acoustic for live performances and DJ sets.
Brent Bolthouse opened doors to the Bungalow Huntington Beach in July. The space offers signature cocktails paired with bites off the new menu from the venue’s exclusive culinary partner, Bear Flag Fish Company. A design collaboration between Studio Collective and Bolthouse, Huntington Beach marks the Bungalow brand’s second location and incorporates elements from the popular Santa Monica space while paying homage to Huntington Beach's surf history and community. There’s room for 470 for receptions in the venue.
Partners Beau Laughlin, Brett Cranston, and Jay Milliken opened the seafood-focused restaurant Sawyer in Silver Lake in May. The 2,400-square-foot indoor-outdoor space seats 90 in a U-shape indoors. The high-design space has detailed tile work, butcher-block countertops and tables, modern Windsor chairs, hand-painted wall accents, flowered wallpaper, a large handmade copper door, and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the street. There's also an intimate back patio with olive and birch trees and a fireplace.
