In downtown Los Angeles’ self-guided Art Walk, one passes windows full of contemporary art galleries, thought-provoking sculptures, and, now, even living, breathing people. It’s like a zoo but with human beings.
Real model hotel guests live and interact in two glass-paneled storefronts that promote Stay, Lanting Hotel Group Inc.’s newly opened boutique hotel and youth hostel located inside the Cecil Hotel.
The hotel/hostel hybrid targets backpacking, traveling, spend-thrifty 18- to 30-year-olds, perfect for friends who are visiting, international students, or trips to the Rose Bowl. The guests will be on display until Nov. 15 in the windows, which are located at 630 and 632 S. Main St.
The window displays have been designed to look exactly like two hostel-hotel rooms, down to the flat screen TVs, bright orange walls, and modern IKEA-like furniture.
Amy Price, one of the designers, reproduced the rooms in only two days after a front desk staff member suggested the idea.
“This is a really chic, cool place that you can actually stay at on a budget,” Price said. “It has the vibe, but you’re not going to have to pay the price.”
Four model guests currently live in Stay’s storefront display. Alicia Baker, Casey Nelson, Toby Glass, and Zac Morris are actors and models, and currently real-life mannequins after responding to a Craigslist advertisement this past summer.
“The first day was like your first day in a foreign country. You land somewhere, and it’s a big culture shock,” Glass said.
As the only female, the strain is beginning to take its toll on Baker, who is forced to stay in her bubble for almost 24 hours every day. The other female participant checked out after personality conflicts arose with the others. She will be replaced sometime this week.
Their job ““ which includes alluring perks like a free iPod Touch each, designer jeans, and large quantities of Red Bull ““ only requires at least one person to be in each of the rooms at all times. Beyond that, they are free to come and go in order to attend auditions, work out, and shower, except on Friday and Saturday nights, which are the busiest.
Morris also reported some of the antics of people passing by. “It’s a lot like (MTV’s) Real World, without cameras,” Morris said. Some bold female onlookers have flashed the men, others have urinated on the glass, and someone tried to read their fortunes through the glass. One person even asked them through the window if they had change for a $100 bill.
Besides the excitement of the see-through wall on one side, they are treated exactly like regular hotel guests. The rooms are visited by cleaning services every day, and the guests come and go during the day and return to hang out and sleep in the evenings.
Stay is located next door to the storefront exhibit with an entrance and lobby completely separate from the rest of the hotel. The lobby boasts brand-new Apple computers and X-Box consoles, free for guest use. It even offers transportation to the nearby Rose Bowl.
William Lanting, president of Lanting Hotel Group Inc., emphasized the variety of Stay’s room choices guests can select from depending on their budget. Reserving a room is similar to ordering from a menu: There are private rooms with private baths and more hostel-style shared rooms with shared baths down the hall (from $35 to $95).
“In the past, you might show up at a youth hostel and it looks like a prison cell with a metal bunk bed and a bare room and that’s about it,” Lanting said. “We’ve also really freshened up the whole look and feel of the place so that it’s contemporary, it’s fun, it’s hip.”
For those who aren’t able to visit the windows, the weblog is the next best thing. Stayinabubble.com offers frequent written updates, a 24-hour video feed of both of the rooms, and entertaining videos that allow interested visitors from all over the world to vicariously experience what it is like to live in a bubble.
“I went on the other day, and the guys were just basically in their underwear, working out,” Price said. “They had moved all the furniture around. … I had to call them and say, “˜Now, you guys.'”
Visit the weblog for an exclusive look into the life of a hotel guest of Stay, or take a trip downtown to see the participants in their natural window habitat. Just don’t tap on the glass. The humans don’t like that.