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It is no secret that erroneous (and/or imprecise) filming location information published online and in books is one of my biggest pet peeves – especially when it leads to me stalking an incorrect place, which is exactly what happened while I was in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. (Why there is some sort of halo on my shirt in the above pic is beyond me.)
Several websites state that The Best Little Chapel from The Hangover was a fake set piece that was constructed for the shoot in a vacant parking lot near 1236 Las Vegas Boulevard South. The building at that address currently houses a youth hostel named Hostel Cat. When the Grim Cheaper and I arrived there, though, I found that there were two parking lots that fit that description – one to the north of Hostel Cat and one to the south – and only one of them was large enough to accommodate the construction of any sort of structure, not to mention the car accident scene that took place on the premises. I snapped some photos of the large lot and was shocked when I compared my pictures to images from the movie later that night in our hotel room. As it turns out, The Best Little Chapel set piece had not been constructed in the large parking lot.
The Best Little Chapel was actually not a set piece constructed in a vacant parking lot at all, but a fake front attached to the northern side of the Hostel Cat building.
As you can see below, the western portion of the hostel’s main building was even incorporated into the design of the chapel.
A white picket fence as well as quite a bit of foliage were added to the western portion of Hostel Cat during the shoot to make the place look less hotel-ish.
A fake bus stop – which was later destroyed – was also brought in for the filming. And Hostel Cat’s real life sign was covered over with signage reading “The Best Little Chapel” for the scene, as well.
Hostel Cat is actually made up of one main building and nine free-standing bungalows.
The back of one of the bungalows was painted over for the shoot. You can check out a great image of Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis sitting in front of that structure here.
The interior of The Best Little Chapel was a set built on a soundstage and not the actual interior of Hostel Cat.
I was thrilled to see that Hostel Cat embraces its filming history. Not only does the lodging make mention of its Hangover appearance on the homepage of its official website, but an image of Galifianakis as “Alan” is also painted on the wall of the main building.
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Until next time, Happy Stalking!
Stalk It: The Best Little Chapel from The Hangover is located “at the corner of get a map and f*ck off.” Just kidding. The chapel was a fake façade that was built around the north side of Hostel Cat, which is located at 1236 Las Vegas Boulevard South in Las Vegas. The areas that appeared in the scene are denoted in the aerial view below.
