“The coolest new hotel in Venice” Vogue.com

Venice V Hotel - Case Study  

Overview

Unlike many Californian beach destinations, Venice Beach isn't just another surfing spot although there is a strong surf presence, it is also known as part of 'DogTown', the legendary epicentre for skateboarding and the street/beach/art/fashion/music/film sub-culture that has grown up around it. The massive sunken skate park is on the beach.  Whether you watch or skate, you will be amazed at the talent of the skaters doing ollies and kickflips with the ocean and sunset backdrop.

The brief was to renovate and refurbish a historic landmark building that stands on the boardwalk at the centre of world famous Venice Beach and transform it from a sad, low-rent tumble-down property into a locally owned, independent boutique hotel that personifies the creative vibrancy of the local Venice spirit. Originally built in 1915 with bygone residents such as Charlie Chaplin, we decided to create a place that epitomizes both the maverick heritage and the modern-day renaissance that Venice is currently undergoing.

Method

Local Venice resident Dan Einzig, the brand strategy consultant and creative director worked closely with property owner Carl Lambert, to define the vision for the hotel. Dan stayed in many local hotels to get a clear understanding of what there was already on offer locally, and to help figure out what is missing from the location. This has been a passion project for Dan, a multi award-winning creative director, who moved to LA in 2014 from Camden Town in London, England. “The first time I came to Venice Beach, the maverick character and edgy, creative vibe immediately felt familiar to me, as that is exactly what Camden is like (except without the beach and endless blue skies!). Camden also has an extraordinary eclectic blend of local artists, street vendors, performers, swag shops and huge amounts of tourists from every quarter of the world. Being local, I’ve loved being able to ride my bike to the hundreds of meetings we’ve had over the course of the 5 year-long design and construction of the project."

The process of 'Strategic Brand Positioning' that we took the client through, defined the hotel concept in detail.  Dan defined the new name, 'Venice V Hotel': The V stands for Venice;  but also for the address, the roman numeral for number 5 Westminster Ave,; and also for ‘Vibrancy’ a word that summarizes the ‘Venice Vibe’.

Modern Venice is nothing new. It was started by artists, designers and architects like Eastman, Gehry and Eames who invented the 'Modern Box' in Venice... which is as indigenous to these parts as much as the cute idealistic walk street bungalows. The big thing about Venice was to let people be... to create, to build, to express themselves and to follow their dreams. Today, 'Modern Venice' means different things to different people, but to our people, the 'creative class', people who respect the heritage while aspiring to the creative maverick lifestyle that local brands such as General Admission, Lone Wolf and Aviator Nation personify, Modern Venice is an exciting and vibrant beach community with a cultural edge. It is that Modern Venetian character, that eclectic mix, that alternative spirit and individualist philosophy that is the foundation for The Venice V Hotel.

Dan designed the branding and identity design and the interior design concept. Having collaborated with Tima Bell, principle at Relativity Architects on several projects already, Dan had no hesitation in joining forces again for this portfolio project. Tima grew up a stone's throw from the property and still lives close by today on a house-boat in the Marina. 

Interior Design 

Dan Einzig also acted as Creative Director defining the design strategy following the brand positioning and creating visual reference mood boards for each of the room styles. Every room is unique. The process is a labor of love. Inspired by our mission to create an environment and experience that personifies the maverick personality of Venice Beach. Every room has a unique piece of art. Because of the age and kooky ‘bones’ of the building, every room is a slightly different shape and size. We created three distinct room styles for the main rooms and looked at the six penthouse bungalows as individuals.

Each piece of art in every room has been hand-picked from local artists and markets. The idea is to include a info-card in the room describing the artist and where else in Venice you might be able to find other examples of their work.

The idea was to create a sense for guests to feel like they are living in Venice, rather than tourists. We’d like them to feel like residents even if they’re only staying for one night.

Results

The hotel has launched in July 2022. Thanks to the brand positioning and the design strategy that flowed from it, the hotel developer/owner was able to recruit the Proper Hotel Group, one of the most highly regarded operators in the USA to manage the property. Proper are asked to manage venues by property owners all the time and have a reputation for only choosing the very best concepts, so it's testimony to the strategy that this small 36 room boutique hotel has been taken under their wing. Since opening, the room occupancy rate has been exemplary in the mid nineties percent.