Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Marlene Dietrich, Johnny Depp, Arnold Schwarzenegger or John Travolta were some of the stars who made the hotel not only a refuge but also a second (and even a first) home.
With the smile, relaxed and natural, a Marilyn Monroe away from the glamor made in hollywood and from her image of an explosive blonde, she makes it clear that she has decided to take a radical turn in her life and career. It is 1955, he has begun to attend the Actors Studio, the famous acting school where Marlon Brando, James Dean, Paul Newman or Al Pacino studied, and he has just founded his own production company, with which he would star in two films, ‘Bus Stop’ and ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’. The setting chosen to show the birth of the new Marilyn with New York at her feet is the terrace of the now-defunct Ambassador Hotel on Park Avenue. In addition to this total renovation, what the scenario shows us is that no matter how many residences an actor has, his house is finally in the place where he works.
And wherever the movies take you, the search for calm at the end of the day is in the hotel. A comfortable and close relationship that shows how intimate it can be when one of its suites is named after the star. Thanks to this nomadic lifestyle, mythomaniacs can evoke the memory of the protagonist of ‘Con faldas ya lo loco’ in the rooms of the Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles that bear her name and where she lived for long periods of time, or in the Lexington, in New York, where she enjoyed, in 1954, the happiest moments of her brief marriage to Joe DiMaggio. The Marlene Dietrich Presidential Suite at the Hotel Lancaster, in Paris, near the Champs-Élysées, where the German diva lived for three years in the 1930s; and the Sayonara Suite at the Elysée, in New York, named after the comedy ‘The Teahouse of the August Moon’, whose famous occupant was Marlon Brando.
Billy Wilder, crazy about Chateau Marmont
“When you find a hotel you like, it’s like when you find a great restaurant or an amazing beach; it becomes a place you don’t want to leave or want to return to, if you’re not there.” John Travolta knows what he is talking about because he and his wife, the actress Kelly Preston, are in love with hotels, and especially the Pink Beach Club, in Bermuda, where they retire for long periods of time. Discretion and comfort are compelling reasons for the stars to bet on prolonged room service. Johnny Depp does it when referring to Chateau Marmont, in Los Angeles, the most legendary of the movie mecca, and which Greta Garbo, Robert De Niro or Keanu Reeves have once called home. When you get to it, it seems to you that you are entering the cozy old house of a relative, says Depp.
Of the countless stories related to the Marmont, the funniest starred Billy Wilder recently arrived in California fleeing Nazi Germany. With the establishment full, they had to accommodate him for a couple of days in a room the size of a closet at the entrance to the ladies’ room. “The room was small, but it had six bathrooms, and I’d rather sleep in the Marmont toilets than in any other hotel,” the filmmaker joked. Tony Curtis’s passion for Los Angeles’ Bel Air led him to say, “If it were possible, I would marry him. He doesn’t ask me where I’ve been all night or care if I show up with a girl. It makes me the bed, feeds me, keeps my messages and puts my laundry in boxes with a bow.
Farewell to the world by Richard Harris
Richard Harris’ preferred check-in was the exclusive Savoy, in London, where he kept a suite that today bears his name for 15 years. “I love getting a sandwich at four in the morning just by ringing a doorbell, but if you’re paying a mortgage you can’t ask your bank manager to bring you a beer,” he acknowledged. Fate wanted it to be his last stop. In a last bit of British humour, as he was being stretchered out of the Savoy to hospital, passing those queuing to enter the hotel restaurant, he told them: “It was the food!” His compatriot Peter Sellers had his life so linked for decades to The Dochester, also London, that he fell in love with Britt Ekland, his second wife. Dennis Hopper, another lover of good accommodations, certified: “What I like the most is that everyone in them is friendly and protective, and they make you feel carefree.”
Security is another factor that the stars take into account, and what led Arnold Schwarzenegger to settle in the Hyatt Regency, in Sacramento, the capital of California, during the years that he served as governor of this state. Warren Beatty, who lived between the ages of 28 and 39 at the Beverly Whilshire, the hotel of ‘Pretty Woman’, adds: “It’s a way of life that frees you from daily worries and gives you time to tackle what matters most to you “. The champion in the matter was the producer, director and billionaire Howard Hughes, who not only lived in hotels for most of his life, but when he felt good in one of them he bought it, as he did with the now-defunct Dessert Inn, in Las Vegas.
Petit Palace Hotelity, the jewel of Seville
However, it is not necessary to leave Spain to find authentic jewels to stay. If not, ask Toni Acosta or Carla Simón, luxury guests at the Petit Palace Santa Bárbara in Madrid for the latest edition of the Fotogramas de Plata. A refuge as modern, comfortable and unique as the Petit Palace Hotel in Seville, five boutique hotels in the heart of the city that have free bicycles to pedal through its streets. The best price on its website, petitpalace.com. And discounts and exclusive advantages by registering in the loyalty club: Tripster Club.
Source: Fotogramas
Jason Root is a writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth coverage of famous people in entertainment, sports, and politics. He has a passion for uncovering the stories behind the headlines and bringing readers an inside look at the lives of the famous. He has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Journalism from UC Berkeley.
