El Paso's Rooftop Bar With an Old Hollywood Connection

There are plenty of places around El Paso where you can grab a drink with a view, but how many of them let you sip a cocktail in the former home of a Hollywood legend?

High above Downtown El Paso, there's a rooftop bar where the views stretch across the Borderland, the cocktails come with a little Old Hollywood inspiration and the walls have one heck of a story to tell.

Welcome to La Perla.

Elizabeth Taylor Once Called This El Paso Rooftop Home

Before La Perla became one of Downtown El Paso's most beautiful places to grab a drink, the 17th-floor space at The Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park was a penthouse. And one of its residents was none other than Elizabeth Taylor.

Taylor lived in the penthouse during her brief marriage to Conrad "Nicky" Hilton Jr., son of hotelier Conrad Hilton.

The hotel itself originally opened as the Hilton Hotel in 1930 and was one of Conrad Hilton's first high-rise hotels. Decades of changes, closures and an extensive restoration eventually transformed it into the Plaza Hotel Pioneer Park we know today.

But that little piece of Hollywood history on the 17th floor wasn't forgotten. When the former penthouse was transformed into a rooftop bar, Elizabeth Taylor remained a big part of its identity.

Even the name La Perla is a nod to the actress.

The bar was inspired by La Peregrina, the famous pearl with centuries of history that eventually became one of Taylor's most recognizable pieces of jewelry.

La Perla Gives You a View of the Entire Borderland

Elizabeth Taylor may get you interested in the place, but then you step outside.

Oh, that view!

From La Perla, you can look out over Downtown El Paso and the Franklin Mountains, with views stretching toward both New Mexico and Mexico. And because you're sitting 17 stories above Downtown, you get a perspective of El Paso that we don't normally get to see.

Go around sunset and you're watching the mountains and city change colors in front of you. Stick around a little longer and suddenly Downtown is lighting up beneath you.

It's one of those views that reminds you just how pretty El Paso can be.

Elizabeth Taylor's Legacy Is Still on the Cocktail Menu

I recently got the chance to spend an evening at La Perla myself, and now I understand the appeal.

It was a beautiful evening, I was in great company and I had plenty of time to take in those incredible views. Of course, if I'm sitting in Elizabeth Taylor's former penthouse, I'm going to have to drink accordingly.

La Perla's current cocktail menu includes nods to Elizabeth with the Dame Taylor and the Place in the Sun, a nod to Taylor's 1951 film A Place in the Sun with Montgomery Clift. Pricey, but worth it!

Between the cocktails, the views and knowing you're spending an evening in a place with a genuine connection to one of Hollywood's biggest stars, La Perla feels different from your typical night out in El Paso.

The history is cool. The views are gorgeous. And the vibes? Immaculate!