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   It was not style without substance. En route to my suite, I had remarked that this was very much poolside living: externally, the second-storey walkway to my room gave the impression of a 1950s beachside resort. Once the Beverly Carlton, built in 1949 and known for Lucille Ball having filmed there, the impression was not inaccurate. With the seductively shaped pool beneath (the ‘Do not disturb’ door tags bore the same silhouette), it would have been foolish for its current owners to betray its origins.
   What developer Brad Korzen and his partner Kelly Wearstler, an interior designer and a veteran of the Milton Glaser company, did was to take the 1950s style but bring the individual suites (86 in total over three buildings) into the 2000s. As someone who favours apartment living to hotel staying, the Avalon was the

Simple steel rails came angled from the wall, a harmonious touch that showed how the Avalon’s suites are a haven for “design­spotting”

closest anyone in America had come to what I expect: a suite that was well appointed, its lounge homely enough to entertain friends in and a bathroom closer to the size I have at my own home.
   Korzen is known as a ‘details guy’: a well travelled man himself, he is, I later learned from the Avalon’s Director of Sales, Lara Weiss, ‘big on service. He likes things to be “just so”. He is very concerned about what [customers] are saying, [less so about] making money.’
   Wearstler had given me more than comfort. The modernist style of the Avalon, most apparent in that bathroom, was reflected in the simplicity of the towel rails. Simple steel rails came angled from the wall, the towels suspended beautifully. It was a harmonious touch that showed how the Avalon’s suites are a haven for “design­spotting”, if there were such a pastime. Similarly, the basin appeared perched on a table; the water could be operated—of course—with a single tap, or faucet.

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