Westin Bonaventure Hotel
Corporate brand
UnclaimedAn iconic Los Angeles hotel known for its four cylindrical towers, internal atrium, color-coded elevators, and distinctive postmodern urban design.
Last updated August 22, 2026
Overview
The Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites is a large hotel complex in downtown Los Angeles, California, recognized for its unusual cylindrical architecture and prominent role in the visual identity of the city. Designed by architect John C. Portman Jr., the property consists of four glazed cylindrical towers organized around a substantial interior atrium. Its construction took place between 1974 and 1977, placing the building within a period of major redevelopment and architectural experimentation in central Los Angeles. The hotel is approximately 367 feet, or 112 meters, tall, and contains 33 physical stories. Its floor numbering is unconventional: the building does not use floor numbers 7 or 13, so the highest occupied level is identified as floor 35. A revolving restaurant and bar occupy the top floor, providing a notable attraction and a high-level view of the surrounding city. The interior circulation system is one of the property’s most recognizable features. Four elevator banks are identified by both color and geometric symbol: Red Circle, Yellow Diamond, Green Square, and Blue Triangle. The system was introduced or reinforced in response to visitor difficulty navigating the large and visually repetitive interior. The property was originally backed by investors that included a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation and John Portman & Associates. Its hotel operations have been associated with the Westin brand, while the reference material identifies Aimbridge Hospitality as the manager. The hotel’s current ownership structure is not established by the supplied sources, and no financial figures are included in this dossier. Beyond its accommodation business, the Bonaventure functions as a meeting, dining, entertainment, and filming venue. Its atrium, elevators, exterior towers, roofline, and surrounding public areas have appeared in numerous films, television programs, music videos, and video games. The building has also attracted extensive architectural and academic attention. Fredric Jameson used the hotel as a prominent example in his discussion of postmodernism, describing it as an almost self-contained world or miniature city. Urban theorist Edward Soja likewise analyzed the property as a concentrated expression of the fragmented and highly mediated spatial experience of the late-capitalist city. The hotel’s cultural importance therefore extends beyond conventional hospitality. Its design was intended to create a highly internalized environment, with shops, circulation routes, restaurants, elevators, and public areas gathered into a complex spatial system. That same quality has made the building both commercially memorable and difficult to navigate, contributing to its reputation as an emblematic but disorienting piece of Los Angeles architecture. It remains an active hotel property and a recurring location for screen productions, including the 2021 Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 and the final-leg task location used by The Amazing Race 33.
History
The Westin Bonaventure Hotel emerged from the redevelopment of downtown Los Angeles during the 1970s. Architect John C. Portman Jr. designed the property as a large, internally focused hotel complex organized around an expansive atrium. Construction began in 1974 and continued through 1977. The result was a 33-story, approximately 367-foot building composed of four cylindrical glazed towers. The forms were visually striking and differentiated the hotel from the rectilinear office towers that dominated much of the contemporary downtown skyline. The building’s design reflects Portman’s broader interest in interiorized public environments. Rather than treating the hotel simply as a vertical stack of bedrooms, the Bonaventure incorporated restaurants, circulation routes, elevators, public spaces, and commercial activity into a quasi-urban interior. Visitors could move through the atrium and around the towers while encountering a range of hospitality and retail functions. The top floor included a revolving restaurant and bar, adding a destination attraction above the guest rooms. The property also became known for the practical challenges created by its scale and repetitive geometry. Its four elevator banks were eventually identified by colors and geometric symbols: Red Circle, Yellow Diamond, Green Square, and Blue Triangle. The Red Circle bank is the only one serving floor 35, while the other three reach floor 32. The building’s numbering omits floors 7 and 13, producing the unusual top-floor designation of 35. These features became part of the hotel’s public identity as well as a navigational aid for guests. The Bonaventure attracted attention from architectural critics, urban theorists, and documentary makers. Fredric Jameson discussed the building in his writing on postmodernism, treating it as an example of a nearly self-contained total space or miniature city. Edward Soja later interpreted the hotel as a concentrated representation of the fragmented and difficult-to-map spatial experience of the modern Los Angeles metropolis. Their analyses helped establish the hotel as an important case study in late twentieth-century architectural and cultural criticism. Its unusual appearance also made the property valuable to the entertainment industry. The building appeared in a wide range of films and television series, sometimes as itself and sometimes as a fictional location. Notable productions associated with the hotel include In the Line of Fire, True Lies, Forget Paris, Interstellar, The Lincoln Lawyer, L.A. Law, It's a Living, and numerous other film and television projects. It has also appeared in music videos, video games, and special-event productions. The 2021 Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 was filmed entirely at the hotel, while The Amazing Race 33 used it for a task broadcast in 2022. The property was originally owned by an investor group that included a Mitsubishi Corporation subsidiary and John Portman & Associates. The supplied reference identifies Aimbridge Hospitality as the management company. The hotel has operated under the Westin name, but the available material does not establish a definitive current owner, founding date, or detailed chronology of management changes. It remains an active Los Angeles hotel and continues to serve as both a hospitality property and a recognizable architectural landmark.
- 2022
Hosted a task on The Amazing Race 33
[1]The hotel hosted the first task in the final leg of The Amazing Race 33.
- 2021
Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 filmed at the hotel
[1]The hotel served as the full filming location for Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3.
- 1991
Revisited in Jameson's book on postmodernism
[1]Jameson returned to the Bonaventure in his 1991 book Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism.
- 1989
Analyzed in Postmodern Geographies
[1]Edward Soja examined the hotel in Postmodern Geographies as a representation of the fragmented spatial organization of the late-capitalist city.
- 1984
Featured in Fredric Jameson's postmodernism analysis
[1]Fredric Jameson discussed the hotel in his essay on postmodernism, helping establish it as a significant example in architectural and cultural criticism.
- 1977
Construction period concluded
[1]The four-tower, 33-story hotel complex was completed after a construction period extending from 1974 to 1977.
- 1974
Construction began
[1]Construction of the hotel complex began in downtown Los Angeles under the design direction of architect John C. Portman Jr.
Products and positioning
An architecturally distinctive full-service urban hotel positioned as a landmark Los Angeles destination, combining conventional hospitality with a highly recognizable cinematic and cultural setting.
Hotel accommodation
Guest rooms and suites
The property’s core offering is full-service hotel accommodation within its four cylindrical towers. The available reference identifies the building as the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites, but does not provide a current room count, room categories, or detailed amenities.
Dining
Revolving restaurant and bar
A revolving restaurant and bar occupy the hotel’s top floor. The venue is a prominent architectural and experiential feature, combining dining with elevated views of Los Angeles.
Hospitality services
Meeting and event facilities
The large urban hotel complex provides public and hospitality spaces suitable for meetings, events, productions, and other organized activities. The supplied sources do not specify the size or current configuration of these facilities.
Media location
Location production services
The building’s atrium, elevators, exterior towers, roofline, and other spaces have been used for films, television programs, music videos, advertising-style productions, and video games. Its distinctive architecture makes it recognizable both as a real location and as a stand-in for fictional settings.
Marketing campaigns
- 2021Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3
United States
Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 was filmed entirely at the Westin Bonaventure, using the hotel’s unusual towers and interior spaces as the visual environment for the fashion and music production.
Outcome. The production reinforced the hotel’s identity as a major entertainment and location-production landmark.
Recent events
- 2022
The Amazing Race 33 used the hotel for a final-leg task[1]
Other
The hotel hosted the first task for the final leg of The Amazing Race 33, extending the property’s long history as a television location.
- 2021
Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 filmed at the Westin Bonaventure[1]
Campaign
Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 was filmed entirely at the hotel, using its distinctive interior and architectural spaces as the production setting.
Sources1 sources
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