The Line — Los Angeles, USA

New York-based Sydell Group has shown terrific skill in incorporating hotels in existing urban cultures, opening properties as diverse as New York’s NoMad, Miami’s Freehand and the Saguaro in Palm Springs. Their latest opening is the Line, a 388-room hotel in Koreatown, a Los Angeles neighbourhood that’s been experiencing quite a shake-up. A high-calibre team made up of chef (and K-Town native) Roy Choi, nightlife impresarios Jonnie and Mark Houston, and Ted Vadakan and Angie Myung of local design collective Poketo, have concocted food, entertainment and retail concepts that celebrate Korean-American culture. The iconic building, designed in 1964 by architects Daniel Mann Johnson + Mendenhall, has been completely gutted, leaving LA-based designer Sean Knibb with the task of infusing funky guest rooms with a hint of Korea.