Swimsuits are sold poolside at Standard Hotels
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If you left your last swimsuit hanging on a shower hook at a Cabo resort, you’ll probably be intrigued by a new amenity at Standard Hotels this month: poolside vending machines offering Quiksilver board shorts and bikinis. Standard Boardshorts by Quiksilver (also available in the hotels’ boutiques and online) are based on the brand’s classic 1970s-era two-snap waist and scalloped-leg style, and feature colorful graphic prints from 1980s. The shorts’ contemporary touches are a mid-thigh inseam (the better to avoid overexposure) and Quiksilver’s high-tech diamond dobby fabric that stretches if you decide to hit the waves, dries quickly and won’t chafe.
The board shorts’ prints evoke the essence of each of the four hotels in the chain. The downtown Los Angeles Standard trunks are black with red and white polka dots, reminiscent of the hotel’s rooftop bar. The Standard Hollywood’s shorts feature gray stars on a blue background. The New York hotel’s suit is, of course, black on black. And the Standard Miami’s is white -- with ‘Miami Vice’-like retro-yellow trim.
In another homage to the hotel chain (owned by André Balazs, the proprietor of Chateau Marmont), the Quiksilver logo is printed upside down to match the hotel chain’s famous signs.
For now, there’s just one women’s suit: a classic black bikini -- though nothing says a woman couldn’t wear the board shorts as bottoms.
The board shorts are $75 (the bikini is more) and they’re available for purchase any time of day from the vending machines, where a touch-screen interface lets you select a size (men’s come in 32 to 36 waist) and quantity, then pay with a swipe of a credit card.
And, as both L.A. Standard hotels have a reputation for after-hours revelry, you might just have a reason to buy a swimsuit in the wee hours.
‘Our guests generally don’t go to bed at 10 p.m.,’ says Claire Darrow, creative director of André Balazs Properties. ‘I’ve had some of my most memorable swims at the Standard Miami at 4 a.m., and I’m never the only guest in the pool.’
The Standard, Hollywood, 8300 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, (323) 650-9090; The Standard, downtown L.A., 550 S. Flower, (213) 892-8080 shopthestandard.com
-- Max Padilla
A vending machine for saving soles
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