{"id":113915,"date":"2025-12-30T18:31:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T18:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/113915\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T18:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T18:31:10","slug":"the-hotel-cafe-is-closing-in-2026-inside-its-relocation-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/113915\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hotel Cafe is closing in 2026. Inside its relocation plans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When musician Cary Brothers found out that the Hotel Cafe was shutting down, he felt like he\u2019d been told his parents were selling his childhood home. <\/p>\n

The beloved music venue, which kick-started the careers of then-little-known singer-songwriters Adele, Sara Bareilles and Damien Rice, is closing its doors in early 2026, its co-founders Marko Shafer and Max Mamikunian announced in November. For those like Brothers, who considered the Hotel Cafe a second home, the news of the closure was a heavy blow.<\/p>\n

Luckily for them, Shafer and Mamikunian plan to open a new location in the nearby Lumina Hollywood tower in early 2027. Brothers said it provides consolation, but not complete comfort. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, they\u2019re buying a great new house, but it\u2019s not our house,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Share via Close extra sharing options <\/p>\n

Elected the \u201cmayor of the Hotel Cafe,\u201d Brothers discovered the Hollywood haunt before it even had a liquor license. In those days, the cafe had a BYOB policy and sold buckets of ice for visitors to chill the alcohol they brought in with them, and jazz legends pouring out of local bars after last call capped off their nights with a 3 a.m. jam session in the Hotel Cafe\u2019s piano room (or smoking room, depending on whom you ask).<\/p>\n

Every penny they made went back into the venue, Shafer said.<\/p>\n

Brothers has always likened the Hotel Cafe in that era to \u201c\u2018Cheers\u2019 with guitars,\u201d where he could show up any night and a dozen of his closest friends would be there. Eagles songwriter Jack Tempchin used to say it was the closest thing to the front bar at the Troubadour in the \u201970s. <\/p>\n

\u201cNobody became the Eagles, sure, but the spirit was the same,\u201d Brothers said.<\/p>\n

\"Dave <\/p>\n

Dave Navarro, left, and Billy Corgan perform with Spirits in the Sky at the Hotel Cafe in 2009. The venue was a launching pad for many prominent singer-songwriters in the late 2000s and early 2010s. <\/p>\n

(Tiffany Rose \/ WireImage via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Beginnings on Cahuenga Boulevard<\/p>\n

The owners attribute much of Hotel Cafe\u2019s success to good timing.<\/p>\n

At the turn of the century, Mamikunian said, \u201cWord on the street in Los Angeles was, it\u2019s an industry town and music venues don\u2019t work here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mamikunian, on the other hand, believed the city was teeming with raw talent, but there was no place for it to develop. Judging by the laundry list of musicians who flocked to the Hotel Cafe in those early years, his hunch was spot-on.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hit it right when it needed to happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For independent artist Kevin Garrett, the Hotel Cafe was a \u201cgym\u201d where he could flex his creative muscles and experiment with his sound, judgment-free. For local folk singer Lucy Clearwater, it was her sign that moving to L.A. was the right decision for her career.<\/p>\n

And for Ingrid Michaelson, the spot was ahead of its time in championing female artists. When the Hotel Cafe asked Michaelson to headline its 2008 all-female tour, she thought, \u201cWhen does that ever happen, except for Lilith Fair?\u201d<\/p>\n

In Michaelson\u2019s native New York, there were a handful of venues that cradled early-career musicians: the Living Room, the Bitter End, Kenny\u2019s Castaways.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in L.A., there really was just the Hotel Cafe,\u201d Michaelson, behind such 2000s hits as \u201cThe Way I Am\u201d and \u201cYou and I,\u201d said. \u201cSo it was this distilling of all the singer-songwriters in L.A., kind of coming through this one port.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Patrons <\/p>\n

Patrons enter the Hotel Cafe through a back alleyway along Cahuenga Boulevard. <\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Through the musical generations<\/p>\n

In its 25 years of operation, the Hotel Cafe has seen several generations of musicians shuffle through the space, Shafer said. Production manager Gia Hughes calls them the \u201cgraduating classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Brothers\u2019 days, it was Joshua Radin, Bareilles, Meiko and other late 2000s singer-songwriters whose music regularly landed on shows like \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy\u201d \u2014 or in Brothers\u2019 case, the indie cult classic \u201cGarden State,\u201d directed by and starring fellow Northwestern alum Zach Braff.<\/p>\n

Next came residencies from breakouts Johnnyswim and JP Saxe, and later, folksters Clearwater and her close confidant Rett Madison. Clearwater said that during her tenure, she would often join her fellow performers onstage to sing backing vocals or play a violin solo.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery four years it\u2019s like a different kind of community that comes about,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s different, but it\u2019s also not.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why Shafer and Mamikunian aren\u2019t worried about losing the magic they created on Cahuenga. In their eyes, it was never confined to the space itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember when we first talked about expanding the Hotel Cafe and everybody said, \u2018Don\u2019t do it. You\u2019re going to ruin what you have,\u2019\u201d Shafer said, referencing the venue\u2019s 2004 acquisition of additional space next door. (They expanded again in 2016 with their Second Stage annex, about half the capacity of the main stage.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we did it, it changed the room so much for the better, and gave us access to bigger artists but still didn\u2019t lose the intimacy,\u201d he said about the expansion.<\/p>\n

Shafer and Mamikunian thought they\u2019d outgrown the Cahuenga space and had long been pondering a move. This year, the logistics lined up, Mamikunian said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t anything dramatic,\u201d he said. It was just time. <\/p>\n

Hughes called the move \u201can opportunity to pursue a space that can check a lot more boxes for us, for the long term\u201d: more parking, increased room capacity, greater accessibility.<\/p>\n

\"Maris, <\/p>\n

L.A. singer-songwriter Maris performs in the Second Stage performance room at the Hotel Cafe. <\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

A new beginning around the corner<\/p>\n

Zoning clearances are still pending for the new location in Lumina Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard, a high-rise apartment building set to be upgraded<\/a> by Morguard Corp. And although the new venue is slated for a 2027 opening, the timeline depends on an upcoming zoning hearing, expected in March or April, Mamikunian said. <\/p>\n

But Shafer and Mamikunian opted to announce the closure while details were still being worked out rather than wait and risk information leaking to the public. Plus, this way, both artists and patrons have time to say their goodbyes.<\/p>\n

After Clearwater heard the news, she rushed to a \u201cMonday Monday\u201d weekly showcase and immediately felt like she\u2019d been transported back to 2017, when she spent four-plus nights a week at the joint.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many of my old friends from that time \u2014 some of [whom] I had fallen out of touch with \u2014 I saw all of them there,\u201d the Bay Area-bred folk singer said. \u201cYou could feel everybody loving it so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

The singer said she couldn\u2019t help but wonder whether things would have panned out differently had people shown out like that before Shafer and Mamikunian made their choice. But sipping red wine in the green room that night, she felt lucky just to be there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the wood, it\u2019s the bar, the backstage chairs, the little lanterns,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m just going to miss what it looks and smells like, but the people, that\u2019s never gonna go away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

The Hotel Cafe hosted its annual holiday showcase on Dec. 19, with proceeds benefiting the Recording Academy\u2019s nonprofit arm, MusiCares. <\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Farewell for now<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Hotel Cafe hosted its last-ever holiday event at the Cahuenga location. Hughes, with the help of her interior designer sister, Nina Hughes, spent hours that day decking the halls with carnival lights and ribbons galore.<\/p>\n

Even before the night\u2019s performances began, attendees were clinking glasses and giving lingering hugs \u2014 the kind befitting the last day of summer camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a love fest,\u201d Hughes predicted.<\/p>\n

As heartfelt as that night\u2019s musicians were in their speeches, bartender Dan Shapiro said waxing sentimental onstage has been the norm for weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are always doing eulogies to the place,\u201d Shapiro said with a chuckle. As he surveyed the lineup posted at the bar, he said he\u2019d put his money on performer Lily Kershaw shedding a few tears. Fellow bartender Dave Greve concurred.<\/p>\n

Against the odds, Kershaw didn\u2019t cry as she led the crowd through a rendition of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young\u2019s \u201cOur House\u201d a few hours later. Subsequent performers stayed on theme with songs composed of resonant lyrics like \u201cSo long stranger \/ I like to think I know you best\u201d and \u201cHold on tight \/ don\u2019t let go.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Brothers crooned his own tribute, he closed his eyes, as though praying. <\/p>\n

\"Lucy <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never gonna be what it was, but it\u2019ll be something new and different, and I\u2019m really excited to see what that is,\u201d Lucy Clearwater said about the Hotel Cafe\u2019s relocation to Sunset Boulevard. <\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

James Babson, a longtime doorman at the Hotel Cafe, said its staff and attendees alike have always been reverent toward performers. For some, he said, the listening experience is \u201cspiritual.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe they\u2019re not churchgoers, so they have this sense of community and transcendence, where that song touches them on this level, which takes them somewhere else,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Peter Malek felt it the first time he stepped inside the Hotel Cafe 20 years ago. Hooked on that feeling, he started visiting the venue several times a week. Sometimes, he never even made it inside, content to chat with Babson for hours at the door; other evenings he spent in the staff offices, cramming for his medical school exams.<\/p>\n

According to Malek\u2019s last tally, he\u2019s been to the Hotel Cafe 1,333 times. Although he was saddened when he heard the news of the relocation \u2014 several months before almost everyone else found out \u2014 he said he isn\u2019t expecting Shafer and Mamikunian to replicate what they built at the Cahuenga site. <\/p>\n

Instead, Malek said, he\u2019s left \u201chappy that he witnessed it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Patrons <\/p>\n

The Hotel Cafe was packed with regulars and first-time attendees at its farewell holiday performance in December. <\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

All night at the Hotel Cafe\u2019s holiday party, attendees wondered whether penultimate performer Dan Wilson, of the pop-rock band Semisonic, would play \u201cthe song.\u201d No one had to name it.<\/p>\n

When Wilson finally sang the magic words, \u201cClosing time, open all the doors \/ And let you out into the world,\u201d the room erupted into cheers.<\/p>\n

It was the closest Brothers came to crying, but he held it in. There would be time for that later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When musician Cary Brothers found out that the Hotel Cafe was shutting down, he felt like he\u2019d been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113916,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[11418,217,56058,2882,61036,61037,48,52,51,47,50,49,61034,21720,1869,61035,61038,1744,315,19368,72],"class_list":{"0":"post-113915","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-brother","9":"tag-day","10":"tag-hotel-cafe","11":"tag-hour","12":"tag-hughes","13":"tag-ingrid-michaelson","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-la-headlines","16":"tag-la-news","17":"tag-los-angeles","18":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","19":"tag-los-angeles-news","20":"tag-mamikunian-plan","21":"tag-musician","22":"tag-night","23":"tag-shafer","24":"tag-singer-songwriter-adele","25":"tag-space","26":"tag-time","27":"tag-venue","28":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}