Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles

30 August 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  8 minutes

Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica © flickr.com - inazakira/cc-by-sa-2.0

Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica © flickr.com – inazakira/cc-by-sa-2.0

Wilshire Boulevard is a 15.83 miles (25.48 km) boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal east-west arterial roads of Los Angeles, it is also one of the major city streets through the city of Beverly Hills. Wilshire Boulevard runs roughly parallel with Santa Monica Boulevard from Santa Monica to the west boundary of Beverly Hills. From the east boundary it runs a block south of Sixth Street to its terminus. The boulevard was named after Henry Gaylord Wilshire (1861-1927), a landowner, publisher and socialist (only in America: A boulevard that stands for income inequality between the poor (homeless camps) and the super rich like no other in the world is named after a socialist. You can’t help but grin).   read more…

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles

19 July 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area, Hotels Reading Time:  8 minutes

© flickr.com - Chris Eason/cc-by-2-0

© flickr.com – Chris Eason/cc-by-2-0

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, originally the Los Angeles Biltmore of the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels group, is a luxury hotel located opposite Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Upon its grand opening in 1923, the Los Angeles Biltmore was the largest hotel west of Chicago in the United States. In 1969 the Biltmore Hotel was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument by the City of Los Angeles. In 1951, the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Company sold to Corrigan Properties for more than $12 million. Regal Hotels purchased the Biltmore in 1996, and then sold it in 1999 to Millennium & Copthorne Hotels. As of 2009, the Los Angeles Biltmore is operated as part of the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels chain as the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. The hotel has 70,000 square feet (6,500 m²) of meeting and banquet space. From its original 1500 guestrooms it now has 683, due to room reorganization. Since 2015, four restaurants and bars serve the hotel, including Smeraldi’s Restaurant (American continental cuisine), newly relaunched Bugis Street Brasserie, the Rendezvous Court, and the Gallery Bar.   read more…

Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles

1 December 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area, House of the Month Reading Time:  9 minutes

© salewskia/cc-by-sa-4.0

© salewskia/cc-by-sa-4.0

Wilshire Grand Center is a 1,100-foot (335.3 m) skyscraper in the Financial District of Downtown Los Angeles, California. It is the tallest building in Los Angeles, the tallest building in California, the tallest building west of the Mississippi River and outside of New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia, and the 10th tallest building in the United States. Its height surpasses the U.S. Bank Tower by 82ft (25m). The building is part of a mixed-use hotel, retail, observation decks, shopping mall, and office complex, expected to revitalize downtown Los Angeles and the area surrounding the building. The development of the complex is estimated to cost $1.2 billion. The plans include 67,000 square feet (6,225 m²) of retail, 677,000 square feet (62,895 m²) of Class A office space and 900 hotel rooms. InterContinental is the tower’s hotel component, comprising 900 rooms and suites.   read more…

Theme Week Los Angeles – Downtown Los Angeles

24 March 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  17 minutes

© flickr.com - BrianLiao/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – BrianLiao/cc-by-2.0

Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, as well as a diverse residential neighborhood of some 58,000 people. A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. A heritage of the city’s founding in 1781, Downtown Los Angeles today is composed of different areas ranging from a fashion district to a
skid row, and it is the hub of the city’s Metro rapid transit system. Banks, department stores and movie palaces at one time drew residents and visitors into the area, but the district declined economically and suffered a downturn for decades until its recent renaissance starting in the early 2000s: Old buildings are being modified for new uses, and skyscrapers have been built. Downtown Los Angeles is known for its government buildings, parks, theaters and other public places.   read more…

Return to TopReturn to Top