Five Hotels Hollywood Made Famous

Los Angeles has been home to the Academy Awards since the first ceremony was held on 16 May 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Eight Oscar trophies were handed out that night, including one to Wings for Outstanding Picture. In the following decades, numerous Best Picture winners have filmed in the metropolis, but it wasn't until the 77th Oscars in 2005 that a Los Angeles-based film - Clint Eastwood's 2004 boxing drama Million Dollar Baby - earned the top prize.

Despite La La Land's slow rise to Oscar recognition, the city's hotels have played a starring role in the film industry, including cameo appearances, press junkets and raucous after-parties. If only the walls could talk.

hotel

The Beverly Hills Hotel

Steeped in Hollywood history for over a century, The Beverly Hills Hotel has been a home to the stars and a backdrop for many films. In 1957, the pool and cabana club were the setting for Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall in Designing Woman; in 1973 the "Pink Palace" made its way into The Way We Were with Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford, and in 1975 was the location for Shampoo starring Warren Beatty, Julie Christie and Goldie Hawn. It was also at The Beverly Hills Hotel that Terry O'Neill photographed Faye Dunaway resting poolside post-Oscar win for Vanity Fair in 1977. Three decades later, the hotel flashed across the screens in Bewitched starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell and more recently was featured in Saving Mr Banks, where a portion of the movie was filmed at the front entrance of The Beverly Hills Hotel.

Address

9641 Sunset Boulevard Beverly Hills Los Angeles CA 90210

hotel

Hotel Bel Air

Hollywood legend Grace Kelly took up residence at Hotel Bel-Air before her wedding and after winning an Oscar for The Country Girl. More famously, in 1962 Marilyn Monroe posed for photographer Bert Stern at the hotel for a Vogue photo shoot which resulted in hundreds of images and a published book, The Last Sitting. Oprah Winfrey has also broadcast her show from the hotel.

Address

701 Stone Canyon Road 90077

hotel

The Hollywood Roosevelt

The landmark Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel was originally built in 1927 and was the location of the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. Marilyn Monroe, who lived in a room above the Roosevelt’s pool for two years, is one of the countless luminaries who have stayed at the property throughout its history. In Catch Me If You Can, the hotel masquerades as the Tropicana Motel, where Tom Hanks almost catches up with Leonardo DiCaprio. The hotel’s rear entrance – which leads to its poolside lounge (named the Tropicana Bar) – serves as the main entrance of the film’s motel.

Address

7000 Hollywood Boulevard Los Angeles CA 90028

hotel

The Beverly Wilshire Hotel

Pretty Woman has numerous LA hotels on its shot list, but perhaps the most notable is The Beverly Wilshire Hotel. It is in this hotel’s luxurious penthouse that businessman Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) first develops a relationship with streetwalker Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts). Interestingly, most of the interiors were filmed at the Ambassador Hotel in Koreatown, where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. The Beverly Wilshire also host an annual view party of the awards at THE Blvd restaurant.

Address

9500 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills CA 90212

hotel

The Chateau Marmont

The landmark Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel was originally built in 1927 and was the location of the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929. Marilyn Monroe, who lived in a room above the Roosevelt's pool for two years, is one of the countless luminaries who have stayed at the property throughout its history. In Catch Me If You Can, the hotel masquerades as the Tropicana Motel, where Tom Hanks almost catches up with Leonardo DiCaprio. The hotel's rear entrance - which leads to its poolside lounge (named the Tropicana Bar) - serves as the main entrance of the film's motel.

Address

8221 Sunset Boulevard 90046