Five Best: Hotels in films

Aoife O'Riordain checks in to rooms with star quality from Tokyo to Venice

Hotel del Coronado, San Diego

Hotel del Coronado, San Diego

No stranger to stars of the silver screen, the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego is most recognisable as the backdrop to Billy Wilder's Some Like it Hot, starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe. Known affectionately as "The Del", the hotel is now a National Historic Landmark - the elegant Victorian building dates from 1888, has 688 rooms, and fabulous views of the Pacific. Many of the film's classic scenes were shot among the resort's palm trees, including Monroe's famous meeting with Curtis (disguised as an oil millionaire) as he sunbathed on the golden beach.

Hotel del Coronado, 1500 Orange Avenue, Coronado, California (001 619 435 6611; www.hoteldel.com). Doubles from $226 (£132), without breakfast

Hotel Des Bains, Venice

One of Venice's best-known haunts, the Hotel Des Bains has starred in two films. It was the opulent backdrop for Visconti's film of Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, and more recently it stood in for Shepheard's Hotel in Cairo in The English Patient. The belle époque building is situated on The Lido - Venice's answer to the seaside - and has a private beach.

Hotel Des Bains, Lungomare Marconi, 17, Venice, Italy (00 39 041 526 5921; www.starwood.com). Double rooms start from €454 (£324) with breakfast. Open from May to mid-September

The Dorchester, London

London's luxurious Dorchester hotel will soon have its film debut alongside stars Paul Bettany and Kirsten Dunst in Wimbledon, to be released on 24 September. The team behind Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill chose the hotel as one of the locations for its latest romantic comedy, which tells the story of Peter Colt, a tennis player down on his luck both professionally and romantically, who falls for American tennis champ Lizzie Bradbury. The first sparks of romance are ignited when Bettany unexpectedly walks in on Dunst in one of The Dorchester's opulent Art Deco marble bathrooms, having been given the wrong key for his room. Many of the hotel staff were used as extras in the film, although they wouldn't have been fazed by the paparazzi scenes, as The Dorchester is a regular haunt of visiting A-listers.

The Dorchester, Park Lane, London W1 (020-7629 8888; www.dorchesterhotel.com). Double rooms start from £375 per night

Park Hyatt, Tokyo

In many ways, Sophia Coppola's critically acclaimed Lost in Translation, starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, was the ultimate hotel movie. It tells the story of two Americans who become unlikely friends during a week-long stay in a Tokyo hotel. The hotel in question was the Park Hyatt and almost three-quarters of the film's action takes place in its corridors, rooms, bars and restaurants. Coppola was already a big fan, describing the 178-room hotel, which occupies the top 14 floors of the 52-storey Shinjuku Park Tower, as a "silent floating island". Not only did the Park Hyatt inspire the film, but some of it was also written there.

Park Hyatt Tokyo, 3-7-1-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan (00 81 353 221 234; www.hyatt.com). Double rooms start from £276 per night without breakfast

Hotel Formentor, Port de Pollenca

The imposing Hotel Formentor on a peninsula near the town of Pollenca in Mallorca was the setting for the 1981 version of Agatha Christie's murder mystery Evil Under the Sun starring Peter Ustinov, Maggie Smith and Diana Rigg. With its own private beach and spectacular gardens, the hotel is a classic Mediterranean hideaway. Don your Capri pants, Pucci scarf and big sunglasses.

Port de Pollenca, Mallorca, Spain (00 34 971 899 100; www.hotelformentor.net). Double rooms start from €238 (£160) with breakfast