More than 25 years after constructing Center West, a 23-story Westwood office tower of red granite and green glass, developer Kambiz Hekmat of Indivest Inc. has finished a project next door of a much smaller and quainter variety.

His six-story Plaza la Reina hotel, near the center of Westwood, opened last month, offering 44 suites in an airy complex designed in mission revival style.

“I have been carrying this concept in my head for decades,” Hekmat said.

Inspiration came from hotels with Old World charm that he frequented as a child traveling through Europe, he said. Westwood, where buildings share the mission revival aesthetic, was also a model.

“I have lived in Westwood, worked in Westwood, built in Westwood all my life,” said Hekmat, whose company is located there. “Unlike some other business centers, it is a neighborhood, a village, and a commercial center.”

The commerce part of that equation has struggled for years, however, with stores and eateries cycling through the neighborhood and leaving mass vacancies. Even so, Hekmat thinks the neighborhood is poised for growth.

Hekmat anticipates nearby UCLA will be a draw to Plaza la Reina, along with executives, leisure travelers from abroad, and family members of Westwood locals. The hotel’s suites are outfitted with small kitchens, cooking appliances, and laundry machines, all meant to encourage long-term stays.

Santa Monica’s Studio HBA did the interior design, Moule & Polyzoides of Pasadena handled the architectural design, and Gruen Associates near Miracle Mile was the executive architect. Prices range roughly from the high $200s to $900 a night.

Hekmat conceived of the idea in the early 2000s and began construction on the underground parking lot in 2008, but without financing in place.

Then the recession hit, freezing the construction lending market. Hekmat had to wait until 2013 before proceeding to bring the parking lot to ground level.

Westwood is already home to about nine hotels, including the Kimpton Hotel Palomar and W Hotel, where President Barack Obama stayed in February. But Hekmat thinks Plaza la Reina’s private setting and residential style will set it apart.

He also takes pride in staying small even as developers across the city are building hotels with hundreds of rooms – a model that typically offers a stronger profit margin to offset construction costs.

“I feel it is an opportunity,” Hekmat said. “Plaza la Reina creates a sense of community.”

– Daina Beth Solomon