On Saturday, while the rain poured down outside, Marge Simpson in yellow body paint and Carrie Bradshaw with McDonald’s bag in hand (Big is moving to Paris) strutted down a makeshift runway at the new Public Hotel in West Hollywood. The white-columned, neon-lit lobby evoked a tropical destination. Comedians John Early and Kate Berlant, respectively dressed as a package of salami and an extra-long pharmacy receipt, judged the costume contest — with Carrie taking home first place. The Halloween party, thrown in collaboration with Eckhaus Latta, was part of a glamour-packed opening week that featured a string of performances by Zsela, Tinashe, Muna, as well as DJ sets by Karen O and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Ms*Gloom. At the Eckhaus Latta party, there was also a guest appearance by mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman, dressed up as a cat.
Throughout the weekend, party-goers returned night after night to swan around the colorful, minimalist John Pawson-designed hotel. At Eckhaus Latta, they were back in various sartorial looks: Karl Lagerfeld and his cat, Choupette; Mia Farrow in “Rosemary’s Baby”; Miu Miu’s go-to stylist Lotta Volkova and her partner, the painter Artem Nanushyan, dressed in the Italian fashion house’s iconic aprons from the spring/summer 2026 show; multiple runway references and Marie Antoinettes. It was a place to see and be seen, and also, after the customary photoshoots and crowd-scanning, let loose.
The 137-room-hotel comes courtesy of Ian Schrager, the 80-year-old hotelier who co-founded the iconic Studio 54. It’s a more playful, intimate approach for Schrager, who has spent the last four-plus decades building on his then-novel vision for boutique nightlife-cum-hotels, spurring a whole new wave of operations (and imitations). With dozens of hotels around the world under his belt, why West Hollywood now? “I’m in an opportunistic business,” says Schrager with the same quick-tempoed gusto that put him on the map all those years ago. “If there was an opportunity on Sunset Boulevard, no matter when, I would take it. And if there was another opportunity I would do that as well.”
He approached the Public with the same goals that guide every project: Do something new, and create an environment that brings people together. “I treat it as if someone is coming into my own home,” he says of his ethos. “They have to be absolutely comfortable. They have to feel that they are being looked after.” So he framed the rooms around a nightclub, a pool, a massive rooftop park, three dining and entertainment spaces and a lobby with ample options for guests to lounge.
The self-proclaimed perfectionist’s first order of business upon opening: “Make sure that the hotel can provide a really unique and exciting experience.” In other words, throw a party and invite a who’s who of L.A.’s fashion, nightlife and cultural milieu. “You don’t get another chance — it either hits the mark or it doesn’t,” he says, likening the first week of hosting to staging a theatrical performance. “We’re doing a show, and there’s no room for error. That’s been our approach from day one.” Schrager’s new space joins a cluster of West Hollywood hot spots known for their parties and luxury accommodations: the Sunset Tower, Chateau Marmont, Petit Ermitage and the West Hollywood Edition, a larger-scale space Schrager opened in 2019. Then there are the countless bars and restaurants and shops that dot the strip. “I see the hotel right in the middle of all that,” he says. Famously, the Public’s 8300 Sunset Blvd. address is the former home of André Balazs’ the Standard, both a rival and descendant of Schrager’s concept. Now, Schrager is giving the storied building another lease on life. And if the opening celebrations were any sign, it’s geared up to be the West Coast counterpart to his flagship Manhattan location.
Schrager opened his first L.A. hotel, the Mondrian, 30 years ago, a five-minute walk away from the Public. But he’s more interested in talking about what keeps him coming back rather than what has changed. As he tells it, he has been around long enough to see past ups and downs, the trends, the cultural paradigm shifts. “Everything is cyclical; the vagaries of the economy, those things don’t affect me,” he says. “It may go up, it may go down, but the Sunset Strip is forever, the way Broadway is forever.” For all Schrager’s ideas of community and the club, the Eckhaus Latta party was proof of concept: A preview for how L.A. will use the space in months to come. “I hope it creates a high tide and everybody on the Sunset Strip gets the benefit of the tide rising and gets lifted up,” he says. It’s not often that faces become familiar after only a few nights into a new venue’s run — but it’s certainly a sign that the Public isn’t just another hotel on the strip, but, for many, a place to be.
Meka Boyle is a writer and editor based between New York and Los Angeles.
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