Rumor Has It the Mondrian Is Done — Is a Hilton Next?

Say it isn’t so… Is the Mondrian About to Become a Hilton? Sunset Strip’s Iconic Hotel May Be Getting a New Name. 

Word travels fast on the Boulevard. Seth, from @SethontheScene, one of our fave tipsters who keeps a close eye on all things WeHo, broke this hot tip. He’s hearing from trusted sources that the Mondrian Hotel at 8440 Sunset Boulevard is on its way out — name and all — and that the property is set to become a Hilton. If the sources are right, it would be the first Hilton property on Sunset Boulevard.

The Mondrian has been a fixture on the Strip since 1996. Originally designed by Philippe Starck, the 236-room hotel has changed hands several times over the decades — from Ian Schrager’s Morgans Hotel Group to SBE Entertainment to Accor, which runs it today under its Ennismore lifestyle brand. It most recently completed a $19 million redesign.

This Place Has History. A Lot of It.

Before there was a Skybar, before there were 30-foot mahogany doors, before Rande Gerber built a velvet rope around a pool and changed the social life of the Strip, there was just an apartment building perched on a hill.

The 12-story building at 8440 Sunset went up in 1959. Post-war modern design, clean lines, views that had people taking a second look. For 26 years it was a prestigious address attracting some of Hollywood’s  A-list crowd. Rumor has it the building counted some notable names among its residents over those decades, though the walls have never said much. They never seem to on the Strip.  

In 1985 the L’Ermitage Hotel Group bought the building and flipped it into Le Mondrian. Israeli kinetic artist Yaacov Agam was commissioned to cover the entire exterior in a massive color-block painting — 490 gallons of paint, 54 colors. The music industry moved in immediately. Le Mondrian became a hub for rock royalty and the Strip’s elite for over a decade.

Then Ian Schrager showed up. The man behind Studio 54 bought the property in 1996 with Morgans Hotel Group, dropped the “Le,” and brought in Philippe Starck. The 30-foot mahogany doors went in. The lobby became a Wonderland — deliberately oversized and undersized furniture playing tricks on your sense of proportion, exactly the way Starck intended. Gerber designed Skybar around a single idea: in Los Angeles, people do not want to disappear into the night. They want to be seen. He put the pool at the center. The rest wrote itself.

The place has seen things. In 1991, Milli Vanilli’s Rob Pilatus overdosed on pills, slashed his wrists, and tried to jump from a ninth-floor window before police stopped him. Pimp C was found dead in his room on December 4, 2007. Keith Richards was a regular. So was Elvis Costello. Britney Spears filmed her documentary here in 2008. 50 Cent put the address in a song. The Skybar door was one of the toughest on the Strip — hotel guest or actual star, those were basically your two options.
In 2011 Pebblebrook Hotel Trust acquired the property for $137 million. Accor took over in 2020 through its Ennismore lifestyle brand, completed a $19 million redesign, and that is where things stand today. Or stood, until Seth started hearing things. Whether this becomes a Hilton or stays a Mondrian, nobody has officially said a word. 

As for the iconic Skybar, Seth is hearing that it would not survive the rebrand either — at least not under that name. The working name being floated around is White Rabbit. The vibe, from what Seth is hearing, would stay largely the same. New name, maybe some new furniture and a refreshed menu. But the views? Those are not going anywhere. The working name for the hotel itself is reportedly Valerian. Changes are allegedly set to begin rolling out April 1.

WEHOonline reached out to the hotel for comment and has not received a response. None of this has been officially confirmed. April 1 is also, it should be noted, April Fools’ Day. We will be watching.