Take a trip back to the golden era of Hollywood in a lavishly preserved and stylishly updated icon whose walls have witnessed countless celebrity triumphs and trysts. To step through the doors of the Hollywood Roosevelt is to dive headfirst into the opulence of Tinseltown’s past.
Host to the first Academy Awards in 1929 and Marilyn Monroe’s first professional modelling shoot, the iconic, Spanish Colonial Revival building has in recent years seen partial renovations by superstar design studios Yabu Pushelberg and Nickey Keyhoe that deftly finesse its glorious vintage glamour for right now.
A spectacular, double-height collonaded lobby with an ornately painted ceiling, ornamental fountain and small planet-sized chandelier is the first indication of the hotel’s unique pedigree, its intimate groupings of jewel-coloured sofas and armchairs evocative of trysts and revelries of yesteryear. Adjoining is the elegant, designer-rustic Barish restaurant, where Michelin-starred head chef Nancy Silverton oversees perfectly rendered Italian steakhouse classics around an open fire. Outdoors, the palm-shaded, mid-century modern-style Tropicana Pool’s candidacy for LA’s hippest poolside scene gets a big leg-up from the mural David Hockney painted on its bottom in 1987 and oozes California cool. Tippling and dining needs are amply served here by the cute, kitschy Rosy’s Café and Tropicana Bar, while the hotel’s Spare Room cocktail lounge and 25 Degrees burger restaurant continue the lobby’s Hollywood-heyday vibes.
Standard rooms are a teensy bit, well, standard, compared to the hotel’s dazzling public spaces, so we recommend splashing out on one of the suites, preferably the three-level penthouse where Clark Gable and Carole Lombard secretly shacked up in the 1930s, which comes with 360-degree city views. Or check in to room 229, the cute poolside cabana inhabited for two years by La Monroe herself.
| Perfect for | Fly into | Right on time |
| The Hedonist | LAX | GMT -8 |
| While you’re Out There |
| Gorge on yet more historic Hollywood glamour at the Dresden Restaurant & Lounge on North Vermont Avenue. An iconic, family-owned destination for cocktails and dining for 70 years, this movie-star magnet has its own stellar film and TV profile, its opulent 1950s interiors having appeared in numerous films and TV shows including Anchorman and Mad Men. So make like Don Draper and draw up a bar stool. |
Photography courtesy of The Hollywood Roosevelt
