Palihotel - Melrose

What to do

• Shop. The spectrum of couture on display in the boutiques along Melrose Avenue ranges from vintage value to fashion as art, and Palihotel’s perch at Melrose and Hayworth is prime for hitting either extreme. East of the hotel, the blocks between Fairfax and LaBrea are where L.A. goes for funky fashion. Resurrection’s eclectic mix of collectible and historic clothing and jewelry is a stylist’s dream — Rachel Zoe is a regular. Pick up last season’s Carolina Herrera at Wasteland, where Los Angelinos recycle couture. It’s “survival of the hippest” at vintage emporium Slow, the place to look for lots of leather. The largest collection of body jewelry we’ve ever laid eyes on — Lapis stones belly belts to nose rings — can be found at Maya. Head west from the hotel and the scale slides up considerably. The ivy-covered Fred Segal emporium is still the original and still the definitive L.A. shopping experience; its Mauro Café is the place to recharge and be seen recharging with a nibble and a glass of wine. Maxfield L.A.’s’s mod edifice announces its intentions as a museum of the world’s highest fashions and you can’t miss the hot pink shoebox that stores Paul Smith’s latest collections. If you’d prefer this season’s Carolina Herrera, her boutique is set beside a verdant courtyard filled with olive trees. Alexander McQueen’s L.A. address is a futuristic showcase with a nine-foot, anatomically correct male, stainless steel angel rising through the roof and out of the store.
• Eat. The restaurants along Melrose offer enough variety to satisfy all shoppers, and many of the celeb chef-helmed spots are destinations unto themselves. Red O is Rick Bayless’ first outpost outside of Chi-town and it's worth making a reservation weeks—if not months—in advance for his mouth-watering Mexican cuisine; make time for a flight from the Tequila Lounge, accessed through a glass tunnel lined with choice bottles. You’ll also need to reserve a table well in advance in the lovely garden at Foundry on Melrose, serving chef Eric Greenspan’s Cali-Franco fare, or sidle up at the bar where the drinks are hand-muddled and live jazz plays most nights. While you’re making reservations, you better phone it in at Mario Batali’s Pizzeria Mozza if you want to dine late-night — we prefer his pies for a lunch-hour carbo load before an afternoon searching the racks for vintage duds.
• Drink. For a laid-back après shopping spree scene, enjoy craft ale and small-plate bites at Village Idiot. Oenophiles will gravitate towards Vinoteque, where a well-curated wine list is paired with organic fare from the area’s farmers markets. If you can get in at Villa be cool and keep the camera in the case if and when celebs like Drew Barrymore and Sienna Miller slide in for a custom cocktail.
• Laugh. Melrose’s comedy clubs are incubators for the country’s funniest stand up acts. The Groundling Theatre’s Crazy Uncle Joe Show is the city’s best 80 minutes of improve. You can catch newbies and big comedy brands like Dave Attell, Dane Cook and Drew Cary at The Improv Hollywood. Or head up to the Sunset Strip and the legendary Comedy Store, which throws down edgy acts like Ahmed Ahmed, Russell Brand, Whitney Cummings and Louis C.K.