Image: beverlyhillshotel.com
The Beverly Hills Hotel is marking a special occasion – one hundred years since its opening in May 2012. The luxury hotel has catered to some of the world’s most famous individuals, including Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon, Charlie Chaplin and Madonna.
Located on Sunset Boulevard, the Beverly Hills Hotel opened two years before the city of Beverly Hills existed and eventually built around the hotel. To this day the property is one of the most iconic locations in Southern California, often the setting of Oscar and Grammy parties.
To mark the special occasion, Robert S. Anderson, the hotel’s official historian and great-grandson of the hotel’s founder, has written a new book called “The Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows – The First 100 Years”. The book describes the hotel’s story, from its beginnings to present day.
“Elmer Grey designed the hotel in such a way so that every room got sunlight in one point of the day or another,” said Anderson. “An acre of land was set aside for the guests to grow vegetables and flowers while staying here, so they would feel at home. That acre of land now is probably worth $25 million.”
John Lennon and Yoko Ono stayed in the hotel’s bungalows for one week. “She was well-behaved, and he wasn’t,” said Anderson jokingly. “Lennon would sing loud, Irish songs.”
Since its opening many things have remained the same, but not everything. The stables for guests’ horses have been removed, the school, movie theater, billiard room and bowling alley that were once downstairs are gone and the fox hunts that were staged in nearby hills are no longer occurring. In 1992 the hotel closed for a $100 million, three-year restoration.
The hotel currently has more than 200 rooms and suites, including 23 private bungalows.
On June 15-17 there will be a centennial celebration to benefit the Motion Picture Television Fund. The event will include a filmmaker panel, an evening party hosted by director Brett Ratner and a Polo Lounge brunch hosted by Warren Beatty and DreamWorks Animation CEP Jeffrey Katzenberg.
Source: Mercury News
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