PARK Magazine

The pristine modernist
chic of the revamped
Sunset Marquis led by Eric
Rosen Architects
has transformed the hotel
into the 21st Century
Up on the roof with another of the hotel’s Hall of Fame regulars
—Anthony Kiedis of The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Stroll under the canopy of Mandarin orange trees and over the Koi pond into the oasis that
is the hotel’s social nexus - The Cavatina eatery.
IMAGES OF SUNSET MARQUIS - JUSTIN CORDOVA (PHOTOGRAPHER)
occasion he’s in town. But the days of Agnetha Fältskog
{the iconic lead singer of ABBA) lounging by
the pool topless when that famous group first came
to America on their very first tour are now just a part
of this hotel’s charm and lore and myth. The fact
that Green Day still holds the distinction as the only
band that’s been banned from staying at the hotel
on three separate occasions is a record likely never
to be broken. Not in this age when social media has
wrecked asunder any hope of flagrantly public bad
behavior by the rich and famous. These days there
is no reprieve from the Tweet, the TikTok for TMZ
or post to the Instagram wall. These days Dave Grohl
is the rock & roll ideal for the Sunset Marquis and
is obvious homage is there to see the minute you
check in to find his image on the plastic swathe of
a room key. And why not? He did after all meet his
wife Jordan in the hotel’s famous Whiskey Bar off
the lobby entrance.
The days when John Oates of the famous Hall &
Oates would whoop enthusiastically, ‘’The Sunset
Marquis was like adult Disneyland’’ can still be
applied but in a much different way. “The pendulum
had to swing,’’ says the property’s namesake, Mark
Rosenthal who, long ago, became a partner in the
property with his father-- this is now about cementing
the 21st Century narrative of the Sunset Marquis
and so kudos to the maestro. Because this property
has never been more beautiful.
Ziggy Marley could still check in to the Sunset
Marquis and pile at least a pound of weed on the
coffee table in his room like his father Bob Marley
did back in the day when he gave that epic live gig
up the hill at The Roxy -- and management wouldn’t
give a fig but today, especially as we exhale and realize
our blessings this post-pandemic era. I was washing
down the most slurp-worthy plate of West Coast
Oysters followed by the most amazing Bucatini