When you arrive at the Farmer’s Daughter, a boutique hotel in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles, the first thing you notice is how seemingly out of place it is: a rustic themed former motel in the heart of Jewish-Russian Los Angeles, home of kosher bakeries, temples and Russian mini-marts. Except across the street is the famous Farmer’s Market so perhaps it’s not so weird to deck out an entire hotel in country style. After all, this is Los Angeles where a home is literally a man’s castle and whatever fantasy he may have in mind as an abode. In the neighborhood behind the Farmer’s Daughter you find miniature faux chateaux, white-washed bungalows in Spanish hacienda style, and little Tudor mansions. Everything is possible.
The Farmer’s Daughter lives up to the name. The open lobby looks like an L.A. decorator’s vision of how a modern farm home might be styled. Rooms are outfitted with gingham curtains and pillows, and when you eat out on the patio of the restaurant “Tart”, across the hotel, you stare at farm implements such as pitchforks mounted on a wall. The rooms are classic motel rooms, but they have been renovated so you don’t feel like you are staying in a cheap Hollywood motel. Nevertheless it still feels like a motel, which is a fascinating experience for non-Americans. There’s the tiny motel pool, a motel hallway and motel bathrooms — all done up in a modern, funky style.
Just across the motel on the same property is Tart Restaurant, a delightful little place that serves southern style comfort food like fried green tomatoes, crispy alligator and chicken sliders.
It is surprisingly good and the outdoor patio, with its large wooden tables and free Wi-Fi, is a great place to park yourself on a warm afternoon sipping wine and beer, munching on tiny burgers and fries. Not all of the food at Tart is fried. I had a veggie bouquet that featured avocado and mushroom carpaccio with jalapeno oil and lime juice, grilled eggplant, and red pepper roll ups with basil pesto and balsamic glaze. It was very delicious. The service at Tart and the Farmer’s Daughter are excellent.
The hotel is located in the Fairfax area close to Beverly Hills and Hollywood. Across the street lie the Farmers’ Market and The Grove, an upscale outdoor shopping mall that purportedly receives more visitors each year than Disneyland. The Grove has all the usual suspects: Nordstroms, the GAP, Barney’s Co-Op, and other large American retail chains.
Although the hotel is centrally located, the area is very busy with traffic. The hotel itself is quiet and you never hear the street noise. But it is far from the beach and after a short while, having cars whizzing around you all the time really gets to you. On the other hand if you have meetings at CBS or in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, it’s a good place to stay.
If you are looking for good places to eat near the hotel, a short drive down West 3rd Street brings you to AOC Wine Bar (8022 West 3rd Street) and Joan’s on Third (8350 West Third Street), a gourmet marketplace and cafe with excellent croissants, breads, salads, cheeses, charcuterie, olives and more. Joan’s is open for breakfast in case you don’t feel like Tart’s southern fare.
Prices at the Farmer’s Daughter start at $159 per night. They have several packages that include dining at Tart Restaurant, so book via the website.
Farmer’s Daughter
115 South Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
+1 800 334 1658
+1 323 937 3930
www.farmersdaughter.com
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