The historic 1920s tower that once housed the beloved Ace Hotel is entering a new era just in time for summer.
Two years after opening in the iconic Spanish Gothic building on South Broadway, Stile Downtown Los Angeles has unveiled its multimillion-dollar renovation and expansion from a limited-service hotel to a full-fledged “creative hub.” The makeover adds a 24/7 membership-based creative lab with state-of-the-art music studios, co-working lounges, an updated rooftop bar called Somewhere Special, a restored theater and a curated retail store for the community.
“We don't really want to just call it a hotel; it's more of a hub,” says Jaisun Ihm, CEO of AJU Continuum, the investment company that purchased the historic space.
There are retro touches throughout the space: For example, hotel guests can borrow a Walkman and explore the curated cassette library with titles like Sade's “Promise,” Paula Abdul's “Forever Your Girl” and the Isley Brothers' “Between the Sheets.”
Behind the massive overhaul is South Korea-based AJU Continuum, which bought the property in 2019 but didn't change the name until 2024. The project marks the investment company's first expansion into the United States.
“We don't really want to call it just a hotel; it's more of a hub,” says Jaisun Ihm, CEO of AJU Continuum, best known for its innovative culture. Ryse Hotel in Seoul. With Stile, Ihm says his mission was to “connect Los Angeles to Seoul.”
Ryse, Ihm says, sums up today's eclectic hotel lifestyle: “It's based on street culture. We say it's iconoclastic. It's youthful in nature.”
AJU Continuum partnered with Los Angeles architecture and interior design studio Design, Bitches – the group behind the elegant Checker Hall in Highland Park and Verve Coffee Roasters in the Arts District. Ihm didn't care that it was Design, Bitches' first hotel project. After working with several companies over the years, he was tired of seeing the same aesthetic everywhere and wanted to work with a team that brought a “bold” perspective, he says.
When the creatives at Design, Bitches received the invitation, everyone accepted. “I always wanted to make a hotel,” says RA Rudolph, co-founder of the studio. “I love hotels and I have opinions,” he adds with a laugh.
For Angelenos who frequented the Ace Hotel, a hipster spot that helped revitalize downtown Los Angeles for a decade starting in 2014, walking through Stile will feel familiar and new. While the bones of the building remain intact (a requirement for its historic-cultural monument designation), the space has a modern-industrial feel inspired by the creative spirit of Los Angeles.
For example, the United Theater on Broadway, once the flagship 1927 movie palace for the influential United Artists collective (Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and DW Griffith), now features new carpeting, modernized stage and sound equipment, and approximately 125 new light fixtures inspired by the lobby's original Spanish Renaissance-style chandelier. In a nod to the building's legacy, where early Hollywood icons broke away from major studios to control their own work, AJU Continuum has launched its own in-house booking team for the live entertainment venue. Additionally, the giant neon “Jesus Saves” sign that has stood atop the building from its days as a church is still there, and the owners have no plans to remove it.
1. A clawfoot tub inside the Loft King Suite. 2. Lounge chairs inside the Loft King Suite. 3. Hotel guests lounge in the rooftop pool. 4. Adriana Castellanos and friends hanging out in the lobby bar. 5. Photos taken in the photo booth at the Somewhere Special rooftop bar.
Some of the most significant changes can be found in the hotel lobby, which features a curated convenience store called the Goodie Shop, which is adorned with throwback boomboxes. Located next to the front desk, which was significantly condensed, the store is filled with a selection of California-sourced snacks and beverages, lifestyle goods, Stile-branded merch and travel essentials (phone chargers, toothpaste, hair care, etc.).
On the opposite side of the lobby is SparkHouse, a private members club and creative hub for up-and-coming musicians and creatives. The two-story space features professional recording studios, podcast and video suites, co-working lounges and meeting spaces, which are slated to open by early next year once permits are approved, Ihm says. SparkHouse’s cafe and bar is open to the public and sells tea, coffee (try the honey matcha latte), wine, beer cocktails and small bites. Ihm says programming at SparkHouse will include listening sessions, live showcases and even a mentorship program for rising artists.
“I’ve always wanted to do a hotel,” says RA Rudolph, the co-founder of Design, Bitches.
The rooftop bar, which offers stunning skyline views of the city and a pool, is now called Somewhere Special. The design team removed about 90% of the plants that used to pack the area to maximize space for dancing and mingling. Also, the pool area, now painted in a playful shade called Carrot Orange, has more seating and a photo booth nearby.
All 182 guest rooms were given a fresh coat of dusty rose paint, new custom carpet, furniture and upgraded bathrooms. In each room, you’ll find Korean amenities like face masks, a custom robe by a local brand called Room Service Los Angeles and books from the former Los Angeles University Cathedral that occupied the space from 1991 to 2011. With the hotel motto being “stay by your own rules,” Rudolph says it was important for them to make the rooms adaptable to each guest’s needs and to prioritize comfort. The result is uncommon room layouts like the tri-suite king room equipped with two twin-sized beds and a king bed split by a privacy divider that doubles as a playful art installation. Rudolph, who used to travel often with her now-adult children, says that’s the type of room she always wished had existed.
Stile’s arrival comes at a precarious moment for downtown L.A. In recent years, the neighborhood’s once buzzy hospitality and nightlife scene has experienced dwindling foot traffic, slow pandemic recovery and increased vacancies. Some business owners say crime and neglect are driving away customers. Nearly 1,000 businesses left downtown in 2024. Launching a high-concept lifestyle hotel is a bold gamble.
The Goodie Shop, a new curated convenience store, is filled with a selection of California-sourced snacks and beverages, lifestyle goods and travel essentials.
But Ihm says he hopes that Stile will help rejuvenate the area and create an ecosystem that will support neighboring businesses as well. Rudolph says she’s already starting to see that change.
“It’s been nice to see that in the last year that I’ve been coming here to work on the project, it’s livened back up again,” she says. “Especially this block, it feels better.”
