The Alexandria Hotel, at 5th and Spring streets in downtown Los Angeles, was once the center of the high life in L.A. Built in 1906, it hosted three presidents and such dignitaries as Winston Churchill, and the Duke of Windsor. The earliest movie stars gathered there. After the larger Biltmore Hotel opened, the building fell into decline. At its lowest point, its owners scraped off the gold paint from parts of the building and sold it. In between, the building was "restored" to a Victorian past it never had. During World War II, the third story of the open lobby was converted into soldiers' barracks. The result was the close ceiling in what became the hotel's second floor (below).

At left is the lobby, and above is the Palm Court dining room.

The ballroom on the second floor looks out on Spring Street, what was once "The Wall Street of the West," which was abandoned in the '60s for the urban renewaled Bunker Hill. Below is the Los Angeles Theater Center, once a bank, as seen from the ballroom.

Steel beams help keep the wings of the hotel standing.

The hotel is being renovated. It will remain affordable housing, but will be upgraded to include ceiling fans, small fridges, and two-burner stoves. The apartment at right was vacated by a tenant who left it annotated. The text on the floor reads, "oops, trash can fire." In the bathroom, they write, "Please do not put a mirror here, I need pipe access."

Renovated units -- at right is the "model" unit on the 11th floor, corner. Furnished with furniture that's likely out of the price range of a typical resident, but certainly an impressive place, with a view of the Pacific Electric Building and Santa Fe Lofts.

See how the windows on the right of the hotel are dirty and the ones on the left are clean? It turns out that part of the right wing of the building was walled off during a family dispute. No one has been in it for 50 years, and it sounds like there are no plans to go in anytime soon.

The photo at right shows some icky bricks added to the exterior (the new owners promise it will come off) and an amusingly edited sign for (NOT Louisiana) Fried Chicken and (NOT Soul) Food. No Chili either.