In the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, tucked among Art Deco façades and glassy skyscrapers, the Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) is home to a hospitality secret. Blending well more than a century of tradition and state-of-the-art fitness facilities with the amenities of a boutique hotel, LAAC features 72 guest rooms inside its historic 12-story building. The Los Angeles Athletic Club offers hotel guests more than just a place to sleep—it offers a peek into one of the city’s most storied private athletic and social institutions.
Founded in 1880, LAAC predates much of the city that now surrounds it. Initially established to promote health and social connection through sport, the Club quickly became one of the most influential establishments in Southern California. The current location on Seventh and Olive opened in 1912. Over the years, the LAAC has played a significant role in the city’s development, supporting the Olympic movement in the West, and hosting the annual Wooden Awards honoring the year’s most outstanding male and female college basketball players. (In fact, I just missed 2025 Wooden award winners Cooper Flagg and JuJu Watkins, who checked out the day I checked in.)
This is a place where Olympic swimmers have trained and cultural icons have gathered, and the evidence was all around me. The Club’s historic roster reads like a “Who’s Who” of the city; membership has included generations of civic leaders, entrepreneurs, and athletes, many of whom are memorialized throughout the property via photographs, paintings, and trophies. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, stars of the silver screen congregated at here, among them Mary Pickford, Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Harold Lloyd and Johnny Weissmuller (“Tarzan”). Over the years, guests have included such luminaries as Jack London, William Randolph Hearst, and WWI Ace Eddy Rickenbacker. Perhaps the best-known was Charlie Chaplin, who lived at LAAC during his formative years and cherished the privacy that the hotel, on the top three floors, afforded. In homage to the silent screen star, a line-up of black bowler caps adorns a club wall.
But the real secret to LAAC is that it’s also a boutique hotel, where guests are treated as Club members for the duration of their stay, receiving full access to all amenities. My overnight stay opened the door to the wide range of athletic, wellness, and social offerings across multiple floors. LAAC features a five-level fitness center, an Olympic-length indoor pool (the first ever upper level indoor pool in Southern California), racquetball and squash courts, basketball court, group fitness studios, and a fully equipped weight and cardio floor. There’s also a spa and wellness center, library, co-working spaces, and a variety of lounges and dining venues. Social programming, to which hotel guests are also welcomed, includes trivia and comedy nights, cocktail tastings, and other seasonal events.
The 72 hotel rooms and suites are a charming reflection of the building’s historic character. Each delivers modern-day comfort: think dark wood tones, leather and brass accents, and vintage athletic-themed artwork that nods to the club’s past. High-thread-count linens, fast Wi-Fi, and city views are de rigueur. Layouts and details differ slightly, yet the overall atmosphere is clubby and consistent: refined, quiet, and intentional, and a place where Ralph Lauren acolytes might feel right at home.
Guests also are provided access to the multiple dining venues including Famous Players, an all-day café offering specialty salads, burgers, sandwiches, and smoothies, etc; Invention, one of the city’s oldest and most iconic bars with an old-school atmosphere that’s perfect for enjoying crafted cocktails; and Cheers-like Duke’s Sports Bar, named in homage to LAAC legend Richard “Duke” Llewellyn. Its lively atmosphere is infused with athletic history and Los Angeles heritage and is the spot for members and hotel guests to dine and imbibe while watching televised sporting events. Tucked away, up a flight of memorabilia-lined stairs, is the Blue Room, a speakeasy style retreat, whimsically decorated with historic sports items and images. And while not a specific venue, the expansive rooftop, accessed via floor 12, is a pretty cool spot at which to take your cocktail at sunset to enjoy 360° views of the city.
LAAC’s combination of hospitality, wellness, and community is ideal for business travelers; it offers space to work, meet, and recharge. For athletes, it provides a serious training ground in a pampering setting. And for leisure guests and curious travelers like myself, LAAC provides an entertaining peek into one of L.A.’s most historic and exclusive institutions. At LAAC, I didn’t just check into a hotel—I checked into a multi-sensory experience.
Photos courtesy of Los Angeles Athletic Club