Header: MJ Photography
Goldies – W Hollywood, known officially as Café Goldie, is an all-day lobby café and breakfast restaurant inside the W Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles. Completed in late 2024 and opened by spring 2025, it’s the result of a top-to-bottom renovation of the hotel in Hollywood’s “Vinyl District”. Goldie’s design has been recognised with the LIV Hospitality Design Award in the “Interior Design, Restaurant – Casual” category.
While Rockwell Group was responsible for the hotel design, Adean Studios, a boutique interior design firm from San Francisco, was commissioned to design the café, with Alexa Nafisi-Movaghar as lead designer. Following the client’s brief, the team quickly got to work: they made the space glamorous but approachable, in line with the hotel’s newer design direction, and made it feel like a natural extension of the hotel.
Feminine and cultural influences
The concept begins with a very LA combination: old Hollywood glamour mixed with the warmth of a picture-perfect golden hour. Gold is one of the main elements of the design, as it was used as a direct link to Hollywood itself, reminding guests of Oscar statuettes and marquee lights. The rest of the colour palette doesn’t deviate from this warmth, pushing honey-golden tones and warm amber glows. Mid-century Hollywood aesthetics can be found in the globe pendant lights, for example, which were designed to resemble vanity bulbs from mid-century film sets.
Another influence on the design is Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, and it is most noticeable in form. Where modernist lines can feel rigid, Goldie softens things through curves. Half-arch shapes show up everywhere, from architecture to decor, and they’re used to symbolise a sunset disappearing behind hills. The “Belt of Venus”, a pinkish glow that can appear during sunset, was referenced here, too.
“We were tasked with responding to the recently reimagined lobby space and concept design by Rockwell Group but wanted to bring our own feminine touch. They focused on the sunsets and golden hour, and we wanted to bring the curvaceous, curious, and sensual nature that is Venus.”
Alexa Nafisi-Movaghar
Warmth and gold
The café’s atmosphere was carefully created by blending colour and light. Throughout the interior, visitors are surrounded by warm gold, honey, and amber, as mentioned above, with natural light pouring in during the day and bouncing off these golden surfaces. At night, the lighting introduces a moodier, much more intimate mood. This is achieved through layering: backlighting behind translucent screens and sheer curtains, globe pendants overhead for stronger localised glows, and floor-level spotlights pointed towards arches and drapery.
Goldie leads out to a patio through floor-to-ceiling folding glass doors, which can be completely tucked away, making the space feel bigger than it is and more energetic. Plants were used to connect both spaces, with Nafisi-Movaghar putting it simply: “What’s indoors is outdoors, and what’s outdoors is indoors”.
Handpicked details
The materials used throughout the design were chosen for warmth, plushness, and character. Brass accents, which follow the same honey tones of the colour palette, appear here and there in fixtures, trim, and furniture. A strong element is the marble pastry counter, added as a centrepiece, which was made by cutting and assembling multiple marble slabs with high precision so that the curves and edges aren’t noticeable. The floor is made from speckled terrazzo-style tiles in warm tones, similar to the mid-century terrazzo you see around Los Angeles; raised motifs of leaves and birds cover part of the walls, with a custom honey-toned wall finish by Portola Paints covering the rest. The coffee station backsplash is handmade Zia Tile in a “Casablanca” square pattern.
All furniture was custom-designed or tailored specifically for Goldie. The mustard-yellow chairs, which some would consider the perfect mid-century items, are upholstered in P/Kaufmann performance velvet, having been selected in a style with fewer upholstered crevices so they’re easier to clean and maintain. Curved banquettes were added along the walls, creating little nooks that feel more intimate than typical “tables and chairs” layouts. Adean Studios also designed unique dining tables in collaboration with Areca and Falcon, with the same brass and marble seen elsewhere. Finally, alongside the globe pendants seen throughout the café, the designers added wicker and rattan fixtures to bring in the “beachy California” vibes the client wanted.
From its carefully layered lighting to its custom furniture and handcrafted finishes, Goldie reflects Los Angeles’ long-standing fascination with cinema, beauty, and laid-back luxury. The result is a café that celebrates Hollywood’s past while feeling comfortable and relevant today, inviting guests to slow down, settle in, and enjoy the atmosphere as much as the food and drink.
