The upside-down entrance sign announces that this location, produced by the hip Design Hotels group, is anything but standard.

The curvaceous white building on Sunset Strip burst onto the scene in the Sixties as the Thunderbird Motel (could anything be cooler than that?), but then went into snooze mode as the Golden Crest Retirement Home. Given a shot of Viagra by André Balazs in 1999, it's now youthfully chic, with funky white-blue-and-silver decor, shag pile carpets and chrome arc lamps. Very groovy-baby. (Down, Tiger!)

The 139 guest rooms all have Warhol poppy print curtains, iPod docks, and silver beanbags. And the location, right there between Beverly Hills and Hollywood, is shopping and nightlife Mecca.