The Hotel Bristol, located in downtown LA at 423 W. 8th Street, 1953
USC Archive
This building still exists. And the area, being run-down, totally makes for a great film noir vibe, even when walking through the block in the middle of the day. Looking up the history of this building, from what I've gathered, it was built in 1906 and was originally the Hotel Woodward. Some time in the 1920s it became the Hotel Bristol. It later became an SRO-hotel housing transients. There were recent plans to turn the Hotel Bristol into a boutique hotel before the recession hit; I believe there are plans to turn it into low-income housing, but currently the building sits vacant. The bar next door to it, the Golden Gopher, has been there since the early 20th Century as well. I took some pics of the Hotel Bristol and the Golden Gopher/Lindy Hotel last month:
Photo by me
Photo by me
Photo by me
I have to be sure to go into the Golden Gopher the next time I'm in the area.
I altered this image to make it look a little "noir." If only there were a '38 Mercury parked at the curb or something.
Photo by me