Photo Essay: The Restored Regent Theater, For Those About to Rock

Everybody loves a comeback.



The latest comeback story specific to LA is The Regent Theater...



...which originally opened 100 years ago as the National Theatre, the largest theater on Main Street showing films...



...and currently the last remaining historic movie theatre on Main Street (near the current Broadway Historic District).



Eventually renamed The Regent in 1917, its current, newly opened iteration is a music performance venue...



...with a pizza restaurant and artisanal cocktail bar on either side, marked by sidewalk terrazzo reading "Los Angeles Loan & Jewelry."



There are many ceiling medallions in the lobby...



...and plaster details on the walls...



...but the ceiling plaster details in the main auditorium couldn't be saved.



The proscenium arch, however, remains...



...and has been restored.



The arches have been repainted...



...and there are brand new bars both downstairs...



...and upstairs in the new balcony...



...from which you get a good view of the sidewall details...



...and, of course, the show below.



Upstairs where the projection booth used to be...



...you can wander back to a kitchen and storage area, some bathrooms...



...the entrance to the marquee...



...where they keep their rotating cast of red letters...



...and the office, which looks out directly behind the permanent letters of the marquee...



...which are gloriously unpainted, hidden from public view.

Welcome back, The Regent! Here's to the next 100 years...

Related Posts:
Photo Essay: The Ace Hotel & Its Rehabilitation of the Historic United Artists Theatre
Photo Essay: Inside United Artists Theatre at Ace Hotel 
Photo Essay: The Wiltern Theatre, Public Areas
Photo Essay: The Wiltern Theatre, Off Limits Areas

Photo Essay: The Memphis of Elvis, Beyond Graceland

The easy explanation for my recent Memphis trip was that I was celebrating my 50th birthday at Graceland. 

But the truth is, I went to Memphis for Elvis. All of Elvis. 

After all, most casual Elvis fans seem to segregate his career into two eras—young Elvis (à la Jailhouse Rock) and Vegas Elvis—and typically prefer the "earlier" one versus the "late" one. But my favorite Elvis era is a middle era: the '68 Comeback Special, when he was coming out of his Paramount movie career and getting back into performing live, right before he started his Las Vegas residency in 1969. 

And I have much affection for the cape-wearing, lei-laden, karate-chopping Elvis of Aloha from Hawaii, That's the Way It Is, and his final album (a live-and-studio combo) Moody Blue. 

I'd already chased all those Elvises around two states—like at the Honeymoon Hideaway and other sites around Palm Springs, and at the former International Hotel on the Vegas Strip. But now, it was time for me to finally experience what remains of The King in his longtime hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.

And that's more than just Graceland (pictured above, of which at least one photo essay is forthcoming.)

Photo Essay: The Aztec Hotel's Mayan Legacy [Updated for 2026—Still For Sale]

[Last updated 3/4/26 4:29 PM PT—The Aztec Hotel is still for sale for $15 million. I swung by to do a wellness check and take some photographs on a nice, sunny day—which are added at the top of this post.]

[Updated 8/13/25 5:33 PM PT—The 100-year-old Aztec Hotel is listed for sale at $15 million.]

circa 2026

The Aztec Hotel is one of those landmarks of Route 66 that is worth the drive just to see it. 

 

circa 2026

And somehow, it has managed to avoid demolition—a fate that has befallen many of the Mother Road's other attractions.

 

circa 2026

Built in 1925, it is an excellent example of Mayan Revival architecture...

circa 2026

...but, afraid that tourists wouldn't understand what "Mayan" meant, its architect (Robert Stacy-Judd) named it the Aztec Hotel, which of course is a totally different thing.

Today, the highly ornamented façade remains preserved (partially thanks to the building's placement on the National Register of Historic Places)—as is much of the rest of the hotel parts of the building. (Ed: Many different storefront businesses have come and gone over the last century.)



The Aztec is under new ownership and management [Ed: as of the original date of this post, in 2013], and so although you can't reserve a room there just yet...



...we were lucky enough to take a peek inside and gawk at the amazing, ornate decor...



...including Incan-inspired lighting fixtures...

...grand floor tiles...

...ceiling murals...

...and a bar, which was slated to receive a brand new granite top.



 The modern kitchen looks ready for cooking...



...and all the doorways and entryways look inviting.



 Mayan symbolism, glyphs, and iconography surround the lobby...



 ...leading upstairs...



 ...to the comparatively simple halls of rooms.

Geometric shapes recall the pyramids...



...and Mayan reliefs remain in rooms once occupied by a dentist...

...while stained glass windows still mark the coffee shop which was most recently occupied by sporting enthusiasts.



Plenty of modern facilities could be converted into a cafe...



...perhaps a gift shop...



...or an office...



...but as of today, the Aztec Hotel's fate is very much undecided.



It once thrived, as a stop along Route 66, and as a nearby accommodation to the Santa Anita Racetrack.



Here's to its imminent comeback! I hope we're here to see it. The Mayans themselves didn't think we would be.

Related Posts:

Mexican Wrestling In a Mayan Porno Palace

Photo Essay: Frank Lloyd Wright Ennis House, Exterior
Photo Essay: Frank Lloyd Wright Ennis House, Interior