The Farmer's Daughter - Los Angeles, CA - News Article Locations on Waymarking.com

A NYTimes article talks about the hotel across the street from CBS Television Studio. I can confirm that many of the amenities and prices mentioned in the article are very different in 2020. The price is double what it was 14 years ago, and a well-stocked mini bar is available in each room. One thing has remained the same: the customer service is fantastic!

Article text:


THE BASICS

For years, the Farmer's Daughter has been known as "The Price Is Right" motel. Because of its location across the street from the CBS studios, its shopworn rooms regularly filled with the game show's contestants. But new owners recently overhauled the place with a tongue-in-cheek barnyard sophisticate motif to draw a more cosmopolitan clientele, and it seems to be working. The revamped hotel is just quirky enough to be cool, while budget-minded enough to remain the (ahem) right price.

THE LOCATION

The 66-room hotel's best feature is its location, directly across the street from the popular Grove shopping mall and farmers' market and a short walk from the upscale boutiques of Third Street, the gustatory pleasures of Beverly Boulevard's restaurant row, and, yes, the CBS studios. Melrose Avenue and Museum Row are also close by.

THE SCENE

Although it's now luring stylish but budget-oriented young travelers, the Farmer's Daughter is still popular with "Price Is Right" contestants, making for an eclectic mishmash. The open-air lobby's colorful lounges are strewn with magazines like W and Black Book, right next to "The Price Is Right" promotional fliers and a shrine to Bob Barker with Polaroids of guests who were contestants. Somehow, the farmer moderne motif — with pitchforks and wagon wheels bolted to the walls as art, turquoise gingham paint and contemporary rocking chairs — pulls the two opposing cultures neatly together. That said, the whoops and laughter of game show contestants (especially as they return around dawn after waiting all night for tickets for that day's show) become annoying very quickly.
ImageThe Farmer's Daughter Hotel is kitschy, charming and cheap.
The Farmer's Daughter Hotel is kitschy, charming and cheap. Credit...Monica Almeida/The New York Times

THE ROOMS

In a previous life, this was a Best Western, and that ancestry is still evident: Rooms are dark, low-ceilinged and thin-walled. But they are spacious and have been given cheerful yellow paint jobs and newly "weathered" wood floors. Walls are hung with framed snapshots of Shetland ponies and bunnies, rag rugs lay before the Adirondack chairs and the ceiling is camouflaged by (faux) pressed tin. The offerings may be bare bones — the modest-size television sitting right atop the desk, the fridge empty of any minibar offerings — but the personal touches of the decorator are evident and appealing. As for the king-size bed, it's comfortably firm, and although the linens are certainly not Frette (in fact, the quilt is denim) they are serviceably soft.

BATHROOMS

Again, think updated Best Western: The bathroom tile is cracked, but the combo shower-tub has been improved with a top-notch rain head shower and the sink gussied up with a quirky pump faucet. Water is hot, pressure is strong and the toiletries (from Lather) are high quality.

AMENITIES

Although rooms have few frills, each is stocked with pocket maps, trendy city magazines and a DVD player (a library of a few dozen contemporary films is available at the reception desk); wireless Internet is available for $9.95 a day. Off the lobby is a compact pool. A request for fresh towels was delivered, within the minute, by the friendly receptionist himself.

MEALS

With no minibar and no room service, hungry guests have to venture to Tart, the just-opened restaurant that sits in the center of the hotel's courtyard and is already filling up with local scene setters. Although the décor here is still country, the fusion cuisine is definitely not: at $45, the filet of beef with Gorgonzola au gratin is almost half the cost of a room for the night, though breakfast, with omelets for $10 to $14 and grits for $4, is more reasonably priced.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Kitschy, charming, and (other than that the filet) cheap at $129 to $179 a night. The Farmer's Daughter, 115 South Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles; 800-334-1658; www.farmersdaughterhotel.com.
Editors’ Picks
When Bantering With the Crowd Is the Whole Point
Take the Quiz: Could You Manage as a Poor American?
In the Race for Cheap Airfare, It’s You vs. the Machine

Type of publication: Newspaper When was the article reported?: 06/11/2006 Publication: NY Times Article Url: [Web Link] Is Registration Required?: no How widespread was the article reported?: national News Category: Business/Finance

Visit Instructions:
Give the date of your visit at the news location along with a description of what you learned or experienced.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.