The Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites is a , 33-
story
Story or stories may refer to:
Common uses
* Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events)
** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting
* Story (American English), or storey (British ...
hotel in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, constructed between 1974 and 1976. It was designed by architect
John C. Portman Jr.
John Calvin Portman Jr. (December 4, 1924 – December 29, 2017) was an American neofuturistic architect and real estate developer widely known for popularizing hotels and office buildings with multi-storied interior atria. Portman also had a pa ...
. The top floor has a
revolving restaurant
A revolving restaurant or rotating restaurant is usually a tower restaurant eating space designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on ...
and bar. It was originally owned by investors that included a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate
Mitsubishi Corporation
is Japan's largest trading company (sogo shosha) and a member of the Mitsubishi keiretsu. As of 2022, Mitsubishi Corporation employs over 80,000 people and has ten business segments, including finance, banking, energy, machinery, chemicals, an ...
and
John Portman & Associates
John Calvin Portman Jr. (December 4, 1924 – December 29, 2017) was an American Neo-futurism, neofuturistic architect and Real estate development, real estate developer widely known for popularizing hotels and office buildings with multi-storied ...
. The building is managed by
Interstate Hotels & Resorts
Aimbridge Hospitality is a global third-party management company with over 1500 hotels globally.
The company was originally founded by Dave Johnson in 2003 with eight hotels. As of 2021, Aimbridge held 1,218 properties in its portfolio with a co ...
(IHR), and is valued at 200 million USD.
Postmodern design
![Bonaventure Hotel construction](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Bonaventure_Hotel_construction.jpg)
The hotel and its architect John Portman have been the subject of documentaries and academic analysis.
In his book ''Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory'' (1989),
Edward Soja
Edward William Soja (; 1940–2015) was a self-described urbanist, a noted postmodern political geographer and urban theorist on the planning faculty at UCLA, where he was Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning, and the London School of Ec ...
describes the hotel as
a concentrated representation of the restructured spatiality of the late capitalist city: fragmented and fragmenting, homogeneous and homogenizing, divertingly packaged yet curiously incomprehensible, seemingly open in presenting itself to view but constantly pressing to enclose, to compartmentalize, to circumscribe, to incarcerate. Everything imaginable appears to be available in this micro-urb but real places are difficult to find, its spaces confuse an effective cognitive mapping, its pastiche of superficial reflections bewilder co-ordination and encourage submission instead. Entry by land is forbidding to those who carelessly walk but entrance is nevertheless encouraged at many different levels. Once inside, however, it becomes daunting to get out again without bureaucratic assistance. In so many ways, its architecture recapitulates and reflects the sprawling manufactured spaces of Los Angeles.
Fredric Jameson
Fredric Jameson (born April 14, 1934) is an American literary critic, philosopher and Marxist political theorist. He is best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends, particularly his analysis of postmodernity and capitalism. James ...
discusses the hotel in his book ''
Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism
''Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism'' is a 1991 book by Fredric Jameson, in which the author offers a critique of modernism and postmodernism from a Marxist perspective. The book began as a 1984 article in the ''New Left Re ...
''.
Floors and elevators
The hotel is a 33-story building, with no floors numbered "7" or "13"; the top floor is therefore numbered "35". The four elevator banks (each containing three cars for a total of 12) are named by colors and symbols: Red Circle (the only one that goes to "35"; the other three only go to "32"), Yellow Diamond, Green Square, and Blue Triangle. The color-coded system of directions was a later addition, as visitors found the space confusing and hard to navigate.
Location filming
Several bronze plaques commemorate elevator scenes from three major films:
* ''
In the Line of Fire
''In the Line of Fire'' is a 1993 American political action thriller film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starring Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich and Rene Russo. Written by Jeff Maguire, the film is about a disillusioned and obsessed former ...
'', September 1993, "Green Square" elevator
* ''
True Lies
''True Lies'' is a 1994 American spy action comedy film written and directed by James Cameron. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Art Malik, Tia Carrere, Bill Paxton, Eliza Dushku, Grant Heslov and Charlton Heston. ...
'', September 1993, "Red Circle" and "Yellow Diamond" elevators
* ''
Forget Paris
''Forget Paris'' is a 1995 American romantic comedy film produced, directed, co-written by and starring Billy Crystal as an National Basketball Association, NBA referee and Debra Winger as an independent working woman whose lives are interrupted b ...
'', November 1994, "Yellow Diamond" elevator
It has been featured in many movies and television series over the years including: ''
Interstellar'', ''
Strange Days'', ''
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century'' (as part of the city of New Chicago),
''Wonder Woman'', ''
Blue Thunder
''Blue Thunder'' is a 1983 American action thriller film from Columbia Pictures, produced by Gordon Carroll, Phil Feldman, and Andrew Fogelson and directed by John Badham.
The Blue Thunder helicopter itself did exist as two copies of modifie ...
'', ''
It's a Living
''It's a Living'' (renamed for season two as ''Making a Living'') is an American sitcom television series set in a restaurant at the top of the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. The show aired on ABC from October 30, 1980, until June 11, 1982. A ...
'', ''
L.A. Law
''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series that ran for eight seasons on NBC, from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994.
Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it centers on the partners, associates and staff of a Los ...
'', ''
The A-Team
''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...
'', ''
Breathless'', ''
Matlock'', ''
This Is Spinal Tap
''This Is Spinal Tap'' (also known as ''This Is Spınal Tap: A Rockumentary by Martin Di Bergi'') is a 1984 American mockumentary film co-written and directed by Rob Reiner (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Christopher Guest, M ...
'', ''
Nick of Time'', ''
Midnight Madness'', ''
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
'', ''
Hard to Kill
''Hard to Kill'' is a 1990 American action thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth, starring Steven Seagal, Kelly LeBrock, William Sadler and Frederick Coffin. Seagal's second film after '' Above the Law'', it features him as Mason Storm, a d ...
'', ''
The Lincoln Lawyer
''The Lincoln Lawyer'' is a 2005 novel, the 16th by American crime writer Michael Connelly. It introduces Los Angeles attorney Mickey Haller, half-brother of Connelly's mainstay character Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch.
It was adapted as ...
'', ''
Chuck
Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to:
People
Arts and entertainment
* Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet
* Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer
* C ...
'', ''
Heaven Can Wait'', ''
Xanadu'', ''
The New Dragnet'', ''
Moby Dick
''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whit ...
'', ''
The Fantastic Journey
''The Fantastic Journey'' is an American science fiction television series that was originally aired on NBC from February 3 through June 16, 1977. It was originally intended to run 13 episodes, as a mid-season replacement, but NBC cancelled the ...
''
[Photograph of some of the cast in front of the building http://www.snowcrest.net/fox/journey/GR/journey4.JPG] and was destroyed (via special effects) in ''
Escape from LA'', ''Epicenter'' and ''
San Andreas''. You can see it under construction in the 1975 film ''
The Wilderness Family'' (released a year before the hotel opened). In cartoon form, the building can be seen in the first shot of ''
Jem'' in the episode "The Beginning", and in the anime ''
Steins;Gate
''Steins;Gate'' is a 2009 science fiction visual novel game developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus. It is the second game in the ''Science Adventure'' series, following ''Chaos;Head''. The story follows a group of students as they discover and develo ...
''. In November 1979, the ABC soap ''
General Hospital
''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...
'' videotaped some on location scenes there dealing with Luke Spencer, played by Anthony Geary who was hired to assassinate Senator Mitch Williams. In 1999, ''
Power Rangers Lost Galaxy
''Power Rangers Lost Galaxy'' is a tokusatsu television series and the seventh season of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, based on the 22nd Super Sentai series ''Seijuu Sentai Gingaman''. The series was the first to follow the Sentai tradition of ...
'' used the building as the administration building of the space colony Terra Venture, with Red Ranger Leo falling from the building after a battle with main villain Trakeena.
In 2002, the hotel was the location for a ''
Fear Factor
''Fear Factor'' is an American stunt/ dare game show that first aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006 and was initially hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The show was adapted by Endemol USA from the original Dutch series titled ''Now or ...
'' stunt which involved crossing a bridge of plexiglass discs on cables suspended on the lobby's fifth floor.
The television series ''It's a Living'' was set in a restaurant atop the Bonaventure. The hotel is also showcased in episodes of ''
CSI'' and its exterior can be seen in ''
Americathon
''Americathon'' (also known as ''Americathon 1998'') is a 1979 American comedy film directed by Neal Israel and starring John Ritter, Fred Willard, Peter Riegert, Harvey Korman, and Nancy Morgan, with narration by George Carlin. It is based on ...
'', ''
Mission: Impossible III'', ''
Almighty Thor'', ''
Hancock Hancock may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Hancock, Iowa
* Hancock, Maine
* Hancock, Maryland
* Hancock, Massachusetts
* Hancock, Michigan
* Hancock, Minnesota
* Hancock, Missouri
* Hancock, New Hampshire
** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshir ...
'', and at the beginning of the
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...
"
Dancing on the Ceiling
''Dancing on the Ceiling'' is the third solo studio album by American singer Lionel Richie, released on July 15, 1986. The album was originally to be titled ''Say You, Say Me'', after the Academy Award-winning track of the same name, but it wa ...
" music video. The building made appearances in the 1991
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...
music video ''
Step Back in Time
"Step Back in Time" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue from her third studio album, '' Rhythm of Love'' (1990). It was released as the album's second single on 22 October 1990, and distributed by PWL and Mushroom as a CD single, cas ...
'', the 1985
Survivor music video "
The Search Is Over
"The Search Is Over" is a 1985 power ballad by the American rock band Survivor. It was the band's third single and second top-ten hit from their 1984 album ''Vital Signs''.
Background
Former keyboardist/guitarist for the band and co-songwriter ...
", the 2004 video game ''
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', the 2012 video game ''
Call of Duty: Black Ops II'' (in the "Aftermath" multiplayer map) and in the 2013 video game ''
Grand Theft Auto V
''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...
'' with the name "Arcadius Business Center"(having three towers instead of four towers and featuring glass elevator animations). The hotel was also used as a setting for R&B singer
Usher's music video for the 2002 hit single, "
U Don't Have to Call
"U Don't Have to Call" is a song by American singer Usher. It was written by Pharrell Williams and produced by the Neptunes for Usher's third studio album, ''8701'' (2001). The song was released as the third US single from the album and the fifth ...
". A pivotal scene in the season four (2005) episode "Another Mister Sloane" of the espionage drama ''
Alias
Alias may refer to:
* Pseudonym
* Pen name
* Nickname
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film
* ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006
* ''Alias the ...
'' took place in the Bonaventure Hotel as well, while it was also featured in season one (2017), episode 5 of another espionage drama, ''
Counterpart
Counterpart or Counterparts may refer to:
Entertainment and literature
* "Counterparts" (short story), by James Joyce
* Counterparts, former name for the Reel Pride LGBT film festival
* ''Counterparts'' (film), a 2007 German drama
* ''Counterp ...
''. The hotel hosted the first task for the final leg of ''
The Amazing Race 33'', which aired in 2022.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
{{Commons category, Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites
The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles
1970s architecture in the United States
1976 establishments in California
Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles
Buildings and structures with revolving restaurants
Expressionist architecture
Hotel buildings completed in 1976
Hotels established in 1976
John C. Portman Jr. buildings
Postmodern architecture in California
Skyscraper hotels in Los Angeles
Bonaventure
Bonaventure ( ; it, Bonaventura ; la, Bonaventura de Balneoregio; 1221 – 15 July 1274), born Giovanni di Fidanza, was an Italian Catholic Franciscan, bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher.
The seventh Minister G ...