Glamour, gossip and tragedy – the gilded life of a legendary movie-star hotel

Olivia Petter follows in the footsteps of Monroe, Dietrich and John and Yoko when she visits the “Pink Palace” – the Beverly Hills Hotel – before the awards season starts to swing

(The Beverly Hills Hotel)

As awards season approaches, one can hardly imagine that it will provide an image as iconic as one morning-after shot taken by the pool of the Beverly Hills Hotel in 1977. A woman in a gold dressing gown and silver heels reclines, deep in thought, in a white chair. The pool stretches out behind her in all its turquoise glory; she’s surrounded by newspapers; on a table are pots of tea, a lighter, and an Oscar for best actress.

The woman is Faye Dunaway, who’d won the Oscar the previous evening and reportedly hadn’t slept much before her then boyfriend Terry O’Neill snapped what would go on to become one of the most famous celebrity portraits of the 20th century. The newspaper headlines tell the story. Her Network co-star Peter Finch had won a posthumous Oscar to join Dunaway’s; he’d died of a heart attack in the hotel’s lobby two months earlier.

That was almost half a century ago but it’s just one of many moments of Hollywood lore that the Beverly Hills Hotel can claim as its own. Others include the LA hotspot being the inspiration behind The Eagles’ classic “Hotel California”, as well as the place where Elizabeth Taylor honeymooned six times – legend has it that she and Richard Burton had a standing room-service order that included two bottles of vodka with breakfast followed by another two at lunch.

The Beverly Hills Hotel is also where the reclusive tycoon Howard Hughes lived for 30 years in one of the infamous bungalows, obsessively watching movies while naked but for a pink hotel napkin; his was number three, bungalow number one was Marilyn Monroe’s and number nine was favoured by Charlie Chaplin. The fashion designer Halston was nearly kicked out for refusing to sign his full name on the register in 1976; John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent a week in bed there in the Seventies (in the 7ft by 8ft bed that had once been Marlene Dietrich’s); Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman, meanwhile, fell in love at the hotel, according to The Beatles’ tour manager – he described watching the thunderbolt strike as they gazed at one another in McCartney’s bungalow suite.

Of course, the hotel entrance is a red carpet (The Beverly Hills Hotel)

It’s also where Lindsay Lohan left behind a list of all the people she’d slept with, and where Steven Spielberg still goes to write. Then there’s the hotel’s famous restaurant, The Polo Lounge, where stars from Al Pacino and Frank Sinatra to Kim Kardashian and Rita Hayworth have had a favourite table. To this day, when a Hollywood great dies, staff rope off their favourite table for 24 hours – an honour that has been bestowed upon Carrie Fisher, Burt Reynolds, and James Caan.

Founded by businesswoman and socialite Margaret Anderson in 1912 as a place for people to reside while looking for properties to purchase in the local area, the Beverly Hills Hotel was built under Anderson’s motto that “guests are entitled to the best of everything regardless of cost”. It’s a promise few can afford to keep, though it seems to have been maintained for well over a century, as I discovered when I visited the hotel recently.

Arriving is an event in itself. The first hit of excitement comes when I clock the hotel’s signature pink and green exterior that has been in place since 1948 – it’s often called “The Pink Palace” – and the second comes when my taxi pulls into the driveway alongside a bevy of supercars possibly transporting A-list stars. Of course, the entrance itself is a red carpet, which sits neatly underneath a striped green and white ceiling that serves as every influencer’s dream backdrop.

You’d be hard pressed to find another hotel that matches The Beverly Hills Hotel when it comes to glamour, history, and its association with Hollywood’s Golden Age

Steven Boggs, director of guest relations at The Beverly Hills Hotel

Today, the hotel is managed and owned by The Dorchester Collection, which also owns Hotel Bel-Air, Hotel Eden in Rome, Le Meurice in Paris, and of course its namesake The Dorchester in London, among others. As such, luxury is as front and centre as history, with no detail spared. The gym, for example, is small and functional but also features chilled water bottles and towels at every cardio machine, while a mini fridge is stocked with fruit, energy drinks and vegan snacks, just in case you forgot you were in LA. Down by the pool area, which has been significantly modernised since the Terry O’Neill photo, guests are treated to free suncream and one of the most iconic views in America. Sadly, photos are not permitted, to maintain the privacy of the guests. Eavesdropping, however, is allowed; within five minutes of sitting at my sunbed I overhear two industry guests exchanging some salacious gossip about Zac Efron.

“You’d be hard pressed to find another hotel that matches The Beverly Hills Hotel when it comes to glamour, history, and its association with Hollywood’s Golden Age,” says Steven Boggs, who has been director of guest relations for more than 20 years. “There is no better place in all of LA, and possibly the world, for people watching. You never know who you may bump into, and this is all part of the hotel’s exciting vibe and heritage-driven allure and timeless appeal.”

Indeed, while I don’t spot any celebs, possibly a credit to the hotel’s discretion, there are whispers of sightings of J.Lo, Brooklyn Beckham, Justin Bieber, and Mark Wahlberg. And that’s just over the course of a one-night stay. Imagine what it’s like during awards season.

Olivia living her best Hollywood life in a bubble bath (Olivia Petter)

“It’s my favourite time of the year at the hotel,” says Boggs. “It is very busy, and admittedly at times a bit intense, but in the best way because it just has such a great, exciting vibe and buzz. We always have several nominees staying with us, and you can always feel their awe at the spectacle of it all, particularly if they are first-time nominees.” Winners regularly visit The Polo Lounge to celebrate.

After having dinner there myself during my visit, it’s easy to see the appeal as a celebratory spot. The restaurant itself is vast, with plenty of booths tucked away in private corners that mean guests can wine and dine in total privacy. The food itself is delicious – the filet mignon, served with black truffle red wine jus, is probably the best meat I’ve ever tasted; the chocolate soufflé is dreamlike – as are the cocktails.

As for my room, well, I squealed like Julia Roberts walking into Richard Gere’s suite in Pretty Woman (that was filmed at the Beverly Wilshire, by the way, but Gere did shoot scenes at The Beverly Hills Hotel for American Gigolo; he first meets Lauren Hutton’s character at The Polo Lounge). With a vast, two-storey terrace, a supersize king bed with a large desk area, and a visionary pink marble bathroom, my room was quite something. So much so that I cancelled all of my plans for the day and vowed instead to simply spend the afternoon enjoying the room, drinking champagne in a bubble bath, reading on the terrace, watching Sex and the City in bed, and artfully capturing it all for my soon-to-be insufferable social media profiles.

Marvelling at the private terrace in my suite (Olivia Petter)

Of course, establishments like this are rarely without their controversies. In 2019, George Clooney led a boycott of all Dorchester Collection hotels in light of the company’s owner, the Sultan of Brunei, imposing strict anti-gay laws in his country that attracted international condemnation. At the time, The Dorchester Collection told The Independent that “inclusion and diversity remain core beliefs as we do not tolerate any form of discrimination”.

Today, the hotel appears to be thriving, an industry hub for actors, filmmakers, and screenwriters alike, all of whom will descend on the premises in the coming days. My only criticism? Our room literally had everything you could want – from fresh fruit and electrolyte water to a coffee machine and a smart speaker – except for a kettle. I’ve since learned this is an issue across American hotels, which might not be a problem for J.Lo or Bieber. But for any Brits looking to make a cuppa, famous or otherwise, well, it’s a pressing problem I suggest is urgently resolved.