Historic, Vintage, Cool: Chateau Marmont (California)
By Karen Beishuizen
I have this thing for anything historic, vintage or cool. Especially when it comes to hotels, restaurants, diners, cafes and music venues. The old-worldly atmosphere, the home away from home feel, a place that you don’t want to leave, photos of movie stars and rock stars on the wall, those 1950s booths, a menu with burgers and milkshakes, places with a history that leave you in awe.
I want to show you landmarks from around the world which are just that.
Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood
The guy who built it, saw the exact same vision when he was on holiday in France. When he came back to America, he started his pet project and in 1929 Chateau Marmont opened her doors: 63 (rooms, suites, cottages, and bungalows), 1 restaurant and 1 bar.
During the 1930s, the hotel was managed by former silent film actress Ann Little and during World War II, it served as an air-raid shelter for residents in the area.
From 1942 to 1963 the chateau was owned by German banker Erwin Brettauer who broke the long-standing color line for allowing Black guests into the hotel and with that Chateau Marmont became the first to do so in Hollywood and Beverly Hills.
The hotel became famous for its celebs like Anthony Bourdain, Johnny Depp, Tim Burton, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, Dorothy Parker, Nicholas Ray, Terry Richardson, Hunter S. Thompson, and Bruce Weber, and many more. Duran Duran guitarist Andy Taylor married the band’s hairdresser Tracey Wilson at the hotel in 1982.
Director Sofia Coppola shot her movie ”Somewhere” at the hotel in 2010. Other movies the hotel appeared in are ”La La Land”, “A Star Is Born”, “The Night Walker”, “The Strip”, “Myra Breckinridge”, “Blume in Love”, “The Doors”, “Dangerous Game”, “Laurel Canyon” and ”Maps to the Stars”.
Charles Bukowski mentioned the hotel in his novel “Hollywood” and so did Michael Connelly in his thriller “The Drop”.
Chateau Marmont became also infamous when John Belushi died of a drug overdose in Bungalow 3 on March 5, 1982 and photographer Helmut Newton died on January 23, 2004, after suffering a heart attack and crashing his car when pulling out of the driveway.
And despite all of the above, the hotel never lost its authenticity, its vintage and retro style and became a Los Angeles Historic and Cultural Monument in 1976
For more info, check out Chateau Marmont’s website: HERE
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