Last summer, the reservation calendar for the hotel going into the old Standard at 8300 Sunset seemed designed to keep people out. WEHOonline reported that dates before September 16 showed rates above $2,100 a night with an 18-night minimum. The paper read that as placeholder pricing on a building that was clearly not finished. The July opening came and went. PUBLIC West Hollywood finally opened on October 30, the Friday before Halloween.
Eleven days earlier and about a mile west, the former Bootsy Bellows nightclub at 9229 West Sunset reopened as a restaurant. Over the same few weeks, a wine bar from one of Los Angeles's best-known wine merchants opened at 9000 Sunset.
Together, these three openings change the Strip's daily schedule. Two addresses that were known for staying out late came back built around breakfast pastries, rooftop afternoons and a kitchen that closes at 10:30. The nightlife hasn't left. It now shares a building or a room with something you can walk to at 7 a.m. or book for an early dinner.
The 24-Hour Diner Is Now a 6:30 a.m. Bakery
Anyone who remembers the Standard probably remembers its diner. WEHOonline described the 24-hour counter as the place for "the awful yet worth it Standard hangover." Alma and Croft Alley took over that space in 2018. The same room is now Louis. PUBLIC's own site calls it a bakery, coffee shop, gourmet market and luncheonette, open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On opening day, the glass counter was full of pastries and there were tables along the windows.
So the room that used to serve people still out from the night before now opens for people starting their day. It also closes before sunset, which no version of that space has done before.
The pool has changed the same way. In WEHOonline's telling, the Standard's pool was a big, casual party where hotel guests and WeHo residents both felt welcome. The new pool area is more sophisticated, with greenery and glass barriers that tuck the seating areas away. WWD reports that the hotel's two food outlets by the water are Pool Bar, which serves lunch, dinner and drinks after dark, and Pool Deck, which serves daytime food.
Ian Schrager has a long history on this street. He was behind the Mondrian makeover and Skybar in the 1990s and the West Hollywood EDITION at Sunset and Doheny in 2019. He kept a late room here too. Studio is a 150-person nightclub that WWD says "revisits the spirit of Studio 54." Now that the building starts its day at 6:30 a.m., the club is one part of the hotel rather than the main event.
The Roof, Priced by the Hour
For neighbors, the most useful part of PUBLIC is on top of it. The hotel's Roof page describes an open-air terrace with 360-degree views, an outdoor gym with shade, sunrise wellness and fitness classes, picnic tables, ping pong, swings and seesaws, art installations and weekly movie nights. Hotel guests get in free during their stay. Everyone else needs a pass.
| Pass | Hours | Price | How to get in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day pass | 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. | $35 | Buy at Louis on the first floor |
| Night pass | 5 p.m. to late | $20 | After 5 p.m., use the side door to the right of the main hotel entrance |
The hotel sells the day pass for "relaxing, working, playing, picnicking, or lounging under the sun." Because the day pass is sold at Louis, a morning coffee there can easily turn into a few hours of working on the roof. The night pass costs less, so the hotel prices its rooftop evenings below its rooftop days. If you aren't staying at the hotel, the Roof works on a ticket.
A Nightclub Room With a Dinner Menu
Little Luck took over Bootsy Bellows, and the Hwood Group's own history explains why. "We live and breathe West Hollywood, have been in that space for 13 years, plus clubs and lounges on Sunset and in surrounding areas," co-founder John Terzian told Eater LA. So the company that ran the club for more than a decade chose to turn it into a restaurant. Co-founder Brian Toll told the same outlet:
"The era of just great food with a boring ambiance is over. The places with good lighting, music, and good energy are thriving. People want the balance of good dining and good energy."
The room seats up to 196, with a 10-seat bar and two private dining rooms. There is also a DJ booth and a vinyl wall of about 4,000 records, with DJs on Fridays and Saturdays. Chef Erik Idos came home to Los Angeles after cooking for Jean-Georges and Nobu. His menu starts with egg salad on milk bread, with caviar on request. It moves through a raw bar of sashimi, nigiri, oysters, and scallops and uni on the half shell, then to garlic lobster noodles and a bone-in short rib ssam with gochujang miso and lettuce cups. Kevin Lee of Tokyo Noir wrote the cocktail list, which includes a reworked lychee martini made with Ketel One, bergamot, alpine herbs, Daiyame Shochu and dry vermouth.
The hours show the change most clearly. Little Luck is open Monday through Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight, and the kitchen closes at 10:30 p.m. A room that used to fill up late now serves most of its night between those two times.
A Wine List That Starts at $14 a Glass
christian's Wine Bar & Restaurant at 9000 Sunset Blvd, Suite 100, belongs to Christian Navarro. Los Angeles magazine notes that for the better part of three decades he was president of Wally's, which grew into one of the most influential wine shops in the country.
The list pours more than 80 wines by the glass, priced from $14 to $1,400, from a cellar of roughly 1,000 labels. It leans toward grower Champagne, Grand Cru Burgundy and Bordeaux. That price range covers both an easy Tuesday glass and a bottle most people only read about. The kitchen cooks seasonal California-French food over a live-fire grill, dry-ages fish as well as beef, and serves a Wagyu burger and a caviar bump brought to the table. Los Angeles magazine says the Strip "has never lacked for places to be seen, but it's rarely been a place to drink this well." Reservations are at christianswinebarandrestaurant.com.
One Day on the Strip, Using All Three
Put the hours side by side and the three places fit into a single day on Sunset, one that would not have worked on the Strip a year ago:
- 6:30 a.m. to midmorning: Coffee and pastries at Louis, 8300 Sunset. Buy a $35 Roof day pass at the counter if you want to stay and work upstairs.
- Afternoon: The Roof until 5 p.m., or lunch at Pool Deck. Louis closes at 4:30.
- Early evening: A glass at christian's, 9000 Sunset, where the list starts at $14.
- Dinner, Monday through Saturday: Little Luck at 9229 West Sunset. Order before the kitchen closes at 10:30. On Fridays and Saturdays, the DJs are the part of the night that still feels like the old club.
- Late: The $20 Roof night pass, through the side door at PUBLIC.
Down the hill, the city's own winter season is about a month away. The WeHo Winter Ice Rink opens on the Great Lawn at West Hollywood Park, 647 N. San Vicente Boulevard, on Friday, December 11. It starts with a 4 p.m. grand opening and runs through January 3, 2027. Ninety-minute sessions cost $20 to $25 for ages 16 and up and $15 to $20 for ages 3 to 15, with skate rental included. The Rainbow District Winter Market runs alongside it December 11 through 13. The rink is open 2 to 9:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The city's announcement has the full schedule, and sessions can be reserved at wehoicerink.com.
Knowing which blocks of Sunset now work by day and which still come alive at night is part of how we read West Hollywood for our clients, whether they are buying, leasing or holding a property near the Strip. If you would like a conversation about your part of the neighborhood, Jennifer Purdue Property Group would be glad to hear from you. Book an appointment.
