Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel from “The Ugly Truth”

It has been said that Los Angeles has no regard for its history.  Today’s post is a testament to that assertion.  On March 1st of this year, the doors of the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel were closed in order for a massive remodel and renovation process to take place.  Though the building is set to re-open in 2018 as a condo/hotel hybrid, it will sadly have a completely different look and feel than its predecessor.  The property had long been on my To-Stalk List and was a place I had always wanted to book a stay at, but unfortunately that was never to be.  I did get to finally see it in person, though, a couple of days before its closure, and the site was just as grand as I had imagined, which makes the redesign all the more tragic.

The Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel first opened its doors to the public on June 1st, 1966.  At the time, it was known as The Century Plaza Hotel.  The curved, 19-story property was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, who also designed the World Trade Center in New York.  (Fellow stalker Michael, of of The Golden Spoon Café and Downtown Christmas Shopping District from The Brady Bunch fame, recently stayed at the hotel and was nice enough to share many of the photos he took for use in this post, including the two below.  Thank you, Michael!  )

The 726-room luxury hotel was situated on top of what was once the 20th Century Fox Studios backlot, which was sold off in 1961 after the film company found itself in dire financial straits due to a series of flops.  At the time of its inception, the property was run by Western International Hotels (in 1980, Western International became Westin Hotels & Resorts).

The property was a celebrity magnet from the get-go with such stars as Bob Hope, Walt Disney, Tom Hanks, Muhammad Ali, Jimmy Stewart, Jon Voight, James Garner, Clark Gable, Whoopi Goldberg, Lucille Ball, Robert Duvall, John Ritter, and Loretta Young all spending time there.  In a great show of foresight, during the hotel’s construction, Western International representatives spoke with Secret Service personnel in order to ensure that the building would be assembled with the utmost security.  As such, The Century Plaza played host to every single United States president from Lyndon Johnson on.  Nancy and Ronald Reagan were such frequent guests that the press was apt to call the place the “Western White House.”

In 1984, a second building, this one a 297-room tower named The Tower at Century Plaza, was added to the property.  Sadly, it no longer stands.  In 1999, The Century Plaza and The Tower at Century Plaza were sold and the new owners chose to operate them as separate hotels, changing The Tower’s name to the St. Regis Los Angeles.  Though The Century Plaza continued to run strong, the St. Regis was shuttered in January 2005 and sold once again.  Although it was originally set to be renovated into a residential tower, it was ultimately demolished and The Century, Candy Spelling’s new digs, now stands in its place – which is rather ironic (and maddening) being that the St. Regis appeared in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210.  Thanks to fellow stalker “Alexis Colby,” who commented on my post about Season 1’s epic “Spring Dance” episode, I learned that the St. Regis was the building featured in the establishing shot of the hotel where the West Beverly gang’s formal was held.  All actual filming took place at Sheraton Universal City, though.

Ronald Reagan was The Tower at Century Plaza’s first guest in 1984.  In honor of his long history with the hotel, the building’s 8,000-square-foot penthouse, which encompassed the entire 32nd floor, was renamed “The Ronald Reagan Suite” in 1999.   An exhibit of photographs of the former president was displayed in a portion of the suite.  When the building was demolished, the exhibit was moved to The Century Plaza, where it was recreated in a second floor anteroom.  One of the employees was nice enough to show it to us while we were stalking the place.

In August 2005, shortly after the St. Regis was sold, The Century Plaza was purchased by Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc., a renovation was begun, and the structure was renamed Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.  It was then sold once again three years later to the Next Century Associates development company and plans were quickly set in motion to demolish the historic structure and build two 50-story condominium buildings in its place.  Thanks to uproar from the community and efforts by preservationists and politicians (L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz even went so far as to say the building would be demolished “over my dead body and even then I hoped my heirs would fight it”), those plans were thwarted and the hotel was instead set to be renovated, with two new 46-story towers constructed behind it.  The property closed its doors on March 1st to begin the process.

We were there two days prior to that, on February 28th, and there was a definite feeling of nostalgia in the air.  Many of the hotel employees had worked on the premises for decades.  We spoke to quite a few during our brief visit.  Some wiped their eyes as they talked to us.  All were proud of The Century Plaza, wanting to show it off.  I found myself on the verge of tears several times while speaking with them.  You can read two great articles about a few of the long-time employees here and here.

The renovation is said to be a “sensitive rehabilitation” of the historic property.  While I believe the exterior will be left untouched, the interior will largely be gutted.  (Thank you to Michael for the second picture that appears below.)

The revamped structure will house 394 hotel rooms and 63 condominium units and is set to open in 2018.

Sadly, the hotel’s legendary Los Angeles Ballroom will be a casualty of the renovation.

The 25,000-square-foot room, which was remodeled to the tune of $1.3 million in 2012, was not only the site of both of Ronald Reagan’s presidential election victory parties, but is also where President Nixon hosted a celebratory welcome home dinner for the Apollo 11 astronauts on August 13th, 1969.

Not only is the ballroom one of the most massive I’ve ever seen (not to mention sparkly) . . .

. . . but the hall leading into it is pretty darn extraordinary in and of itself.

I mean, that ceiling!

The Century Plaza Hotel has been featured in so many productions over the years that it would be virtually impossible for me to chronicle them all here.  So for brevity’s sake (or is it too late for that at this point? ), I will only list a few of my favorites.

The Century Plaza, playing itself, was where Mike (Gerard Butler) and Abby (Katherine Heigl) stayed while visiting L.A. in one of my all-time faves, the 2009 romcom The Ugly Truth.

While I originally thought that one of the property’s curved hallways was utilized in the filming of the movie, upon closer inspection, now I am not so sure.  Though similar, there appear to be marked differences in the actual hallways from what appeared onscreen, most notably the ceiling, light fixtures, and recession of the doors.  I am now thinking that the hallway may have been a set re-creation, though that seems like a considerable amount of trouble to go through for the filming of such a short scene.  (Thank you to Michael for the photo below.)

I am also unsure if an actual (but heavily dressed) suite at The Century Plaza was used in the filming or if a set based upon one was built for the shoot.

Some recent photos of one of the hotel’s rooms are pictured below, once again courtesy of Michael.

The Hyatt Regency Century Plaza was also where Phil (Ty Burrell) and Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen) – or should I say “Clive Bixby” and “Juliana”? – celebrated Valentine’s Day in the Season 1 episode of Modern Family titled “My Funky Valentine.”  The couple started out their evening in the hotel’s X Bar.

That bar had already been shuttered by the time we stalked The Century Plaza, but I was able to get a few photos of it through the glass entrance doors.

After dinner, Claire (who is going “commando,” shall we say, underneath her trench coat) and Phil start to make their way up to their room, but trouble ensues when Claire’s coat get caught in the escalator.

While stuck, she proceeds to run into pretty much everyone she knows, including her father and step-mother, Jay (Ed O’Neill) and Gloria Delgado-Pritchett (Sofia Vergara), who all ask the same question – why not just take the jacket off?  (Thank you to Michael for the escalator photographs that appear above and below.)

The Los Angeles Ballroom was also featured in the episode as the spot where Jay and Gloria caught a comedian’s act.

Despite the escalator issues from the year prior, Claire and Phil returned to The Century Plaza to celebrate the following Valentine’s Day in Season 2’s “Bixby’s Back.”  Once again, they started out their evening in X Bar.

They then proceeded to head up, separately, to their room.  One of the hotel’s actual hallways was featured in the scene.

Phil, though, accidentally grabbed the key card of the woman sitting next to him at X Bar, instead of the key card Claire left behind, and enters the wrong room, resulting in him almost being arrested.  Another Valentine’s Day down the tubes!  One of the hotel’s actual rooms was used in that scene.

The Hyatt Century Plaza popped up yet again on Modern Family, as the hotel where Alex Dunphy’s (Ariel Winter) academic decathlon was held in the Season 4 episode titled “Mistery Date.”

In the 1980 comedy 9 to 5, The Century Plaza was the hotel that Franklin M. Hart Jr. (Dabney Coleman) sent his wife Missy (Marian Mercer) to.

Alex Munday (Lucy Liu) rides a horse and lassos a bad guy in front of The Century Plaza at the beginning of Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.

And in the Season 6 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Nancy’s Choice,” Susan Keats (Emma Caulfield) wins a journalism award at The Century Plaza.

For more stalking fun, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Los Angeles magazine and Discover Los Angeles.

Big THANK YOU to Michael for letting me use so many of his fabulous photos in this post!   

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel, from The Ugly Truth, is located at 2025 Avenue of the Stars in Century City.  The property is currently closed to the public and undergoing renovations.

‘