PILLOW TALK

BY: Michael Arkin

When guests check in at one of Los Angeles’ 1,008 hotels, they often come armed with a list of must-see attractions – Universal Studios, Disneyland, and The Hollywood Walk of Fame, among others. Such tourist-driven venues have provided visitors to the City of Angels with enough photo-ops to fill multiple albums, but what most guests don’t realize is that some of LA’s most provocative sites may just be the very hotels they’re staying in.

 

Located on the Sunset Strip, The Chateau Marmont, has been making history for ninety years. Modeled after the Loire Valley’s Chateau D’Amboise, the Chateau was almost burned down by Bette Davis, who fell asleep with a lit cigarette. Its pillows have cradled the heads of Howard Hughes, Greta Garbo, Barbra Streisand, and Jean Harlow who, while on her honeymoon, hosted clandestine lovers in one of the penthouses. The hotel played roles in dozens of films including the disastrous Myra Breckinridge, Sophia Coppola’s Somewhere, last year’s remake of A Star is Born, La La Land, The Doors, and Laurel Canyon.

 

James Dean and Natalie Wood rehearsed Rebel Without a Cause behind its wooden doors, Led Zeppelin’s John Bonham rode his motorcycle through the lobby and The Doors’ Jim Morrison swung from one of its balconies. Jay Z and Beyoncé hosted tout le monde at their 2019 Oscar party there, Scotty Bowers, Hollywood’s legendary procurer of sexual partners, celebrated his 90th birthday at a bash in one of its penthouses, and Lindsay Lohan was banned from the premises after skipping out on a $46,350 bill.

But despite all that notoriety, the hotel may best be known as the place where John Belushi checked out, dying in Bungalow 3 in 1983 after injecting a speedball.

Just west of the Chateau is the site of the former Continental Hyatt. Now called the Andaz, the Hyatt was such a haven for rockers that it became known as The Riot House. Whenever Led Zeppelin was in town, they rented the entire top floor and it’s been reported that band members Jimmy Paige and Robert Plant hosted massive orgies replete with foam slip ‘n slide antics in the hotel hallways. Rolling Stone Keith Richards and The Who’s Keith Moon threw TVs out of the windows and Jim Morrison recreated his Chateau window dangling stunt when he reportedly hung from the 10th floor window causing quite a commotion on Sunset Blvd below. The debauchery that took place at The Riot House was so well known that two of the most iconic films about the rock ‘n roll world – This is Spinal Tap and Almost Famous were filmed there.

 

While the Hyatt became home to roadies and their groupies, the nearby Sunset Marquis was known as a shelter for the established performers who were playing at The Whiskey and The Troubadour. Among its regulars were Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Blondie, The Clash, and The Ramones. In the 1980s the Marquis became the unofficial home of metal bands including Metallica, Iron Maiden, Guns and Roses, Kiss, Aerosmith. Courtney Love carried on an affair with 9 Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor in one of the hotel’s bungalows and with her band, Hole, went on to record Sunset Marquis about her time there. But not everyone was a hard rocking metalhead, even Julio Iglesias came home to roost.

When Rande Gerber took over the bar in the 80s and renamed it The Whiskey Bar, the boîte instantly became Hollywood’s favorite hideaway, attracting the likes of Gerber’s supermodel wife, Cindy Crawford and her pals Kate Moss, Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell, who crammed into the 22 x 24 feet space alongside Paris Hilton, George Clooney, Jennifer Anniston and Billy Bob Thornton. Even today, decades after a young Neil Diamond performed at the pool to pay his tab, the bar, now named The 1200, is one of the top 10 celebrity-sighting spots in town.

One could say that whatever hotel gets to host the Vanity Fair Oscar party wins the prize for the most star power. From 2009 to 2013 that title belonged to The Sunset Tower, the art deco landmark in the middle of the Sunset Strip. Home of The Tower Bar, it is an ultra-exclusive Hollywood power spot whose well-orchestrated clientele is a mix of stars, agents, directors and studio heads. For years that audience was carefully curated by maître d’ Dimitri Dimitrov, whose perpetually clasped hands welcomed a well-attired who’s who of the entertainment business including Sean Penn, Julianne Moore, Elon Musk, and Sherry Lansing. Well-attired is a key requirement, just ask Jennifer Lopez who allegedly threw a hissy fit when she showed up in workout clothes and was banished to the Siberia of the restaurant’s patio.

 

Despite being out of favor due to the detestable anti-gay policies of its owner, the Sultan of Brunei, this story wouldn’t be complete without inclusion of the Pink Palace – The Beverly Hills Hotel. Home of the famed Polo Lounge, in the 60s Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton practically lived in the banana-leaf wallpapered Bungalow #5 where their standing order was two bottles of vodka with breakfast and another two with lunch.

It’s where Faye Dunaway posed poolside with her newly-won Oscar for Network and, ironically, where her co-star, Peter Finch, died in the lobby of a heart attack. Guns and Roses signed their first record deal there and John Travolta got snagged in a lawsuit after allegedly making a pass at a handsome masseur.

 

Down Wilshire Blvd. sits The Beverly Hilton. The first thing Merv Griffin did when he bought the hotel for $100 million was ban all the hookers who used to hang out in the bar. When profits dropped 50%, he invited them back. Hookers and the Hilton seem to go together because Heidi Fleiss, aka The Hollywood Madam, was busted following a sting operation at the hotel in 1993.

It’s where JFK snuck Marilyn Monroe in through employee corridors and it’s also where presidential hopeful, John Edwards was dragged out of a bathroom by hotel security after being busted visiting his mistress and their love child. It’s been the home of the Golden Globes for more than 40 years and the site of uncountable industry events including Clive Davis’ legendary Grammy weekend party. It was during that weekend in 2012 when Whitney Houston drowned in a bathtub in room 434.

 

Further afield there’s The Hollywood Roosevelt, which has been welcoming celebrities since 1927. The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in its Blossom Ballroom. Prince holed up in its Gable and Lombard penthouse after making the management install white shag carpeting. Game of Thrones held its season finale there and If you missed the David Hockney exhibit at LACMA, you can visit the pool to see one of his original works – the blue-squiggled pool bottom.

So, the next time you check-in to a Los Angeles hotel, don’t run out to Graumann’s Chinese Theatre before running out in the halls to discover the myriad of surprises that await you right there in your home away from home.