Tag: famous hotels

The Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel

While in Catalina this past week, as much as I wanted to stay at the Pavilion Lodge, my family instead opted to book a room at a little place called the Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel. And even though it’s never been a filming location, because the hotel was once the private residence of world-renowned author Zane Grey, I deemed the site to be blog-worthy. 🙂 For those who have never heard of him (like myself prior to my recent stay at his former home), Zane Grey is the best selling author of 89 Western style novels, including Riders of the Purple Sage, The Lone Star Ranger, and Call of the Canyon. Zane, who was born on January 31, 1872, actually started out his professional career following in the footsteps of his father as a dentist. Zane’s true passion was always writing fiction and playing baseball, but his father vehemently discouraged both pursuits. In fact, when Zane was a young boy, his father discovered a story he had written and not only tore it up, but severely beat him because of it. After marrying his wife, Dolly, in 1905, Zane began to finally pursue writing as a career. It wasn’t long before he became a household name and one of the first authors in history to earn a million dollars. At one point in time, Zane was also America’s highest selling author.

In his lifetime, Zane Grey published over one hundred novels which in turn sold over forty million copies. While most of his works were Western adventure stories, Zane also wrote books about his other passions, including sport fishing, hunting, and baseball.   Zane’s novels became so popular that after his death in 1939, his publishing company, Harper & Brothers, continued to release one of his unpublished manuscripts each year for the next twenty-four years. All were wildly successful. Fifty of Zane’s novels were turned into one hundred different Western movies and he has over 120 writer, director, producer and actor credits on IMDB. What I wouldn’t give for that resume! Zane even formed his own production company at one time to handle the high demand for movies based on his books. One of Zane’s novels, The Vanishing American, was even filmed on Catalina Island. Legend has it that Zane brought in a herd of fourteen bison for the filming and left them there after the production wrapped. The bison took to Catalina quite naturally and spawned into a herd of over 150 buffalo that now call the island home.

In 1926, after falling in love with Catalina Island while vacationing there, Zane bought a parcel of land high on a hill in Avalon from William Wrigley and built a pueblo.   Zane called his home “a place for rest, dream, peace, sleep”. Sometime after his death, Zane’s heirs turned the Pueblo into a small hotel. What a FABULOUS idea! I wish all celebrity heirs would follow suit!

The tiny hotel features only sixteen rooms, each named after one of Zane’s popular books. And while all of the rooms boast a view of some sort, none have a television, a phone, or a clock – an idea my fiance wasn’t too keen on. The whole point of staying at Zane Grey is to really get away from it all. The place touts itself as a quiet, peaceful retreat where you can spend a few days in total relaxation. And I have to say it was pretty darn amazing!

The hotel’s setting is simply breathtaking, with sweeping ocean . . .

. . . and mountain views,

large adobe verandas;

a living room featuring Zane Grey’s original furnishings and a grand piano,

and wild animals roaming the property.   My fiance woke me up extremely early one morning to show me a buck he had noticed wandering the grounds (pictured above). The hotel is also blissfully quiet – whispering in common areas and out by the pool is encouraged. Because I am not big on noise, I LOVE quiet, peaceful hotels. In fact, the more quiet and peaceful, the better. And it doesn’t get much quieter or more peaceful than at the Zane Grey. Ironically enough, the only people not adhering to the “quiet” rule, were the people who worked on the property. The receptionist and housekeeper were SO darn loud, it was almost comical.  So, other than wanting to strangle the two of them during most of the trip, my stay was highly relaxing. And I would recommend the Zane Grey to anyone. Even though the accommodations are a bit run-down and the service is highly sub-standard, we really enjoyed our stay there.

A bit of celebrity trivia for you – directly across the street from the Zane Grey hotel is a huge, modern style home that, according to several people I talked to on the island, Sharon Stone was interested in purchasing at one time.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel is located at 199 Chimes Tower Road in Avalon on Catalina Island. You can visit their website here. The accomodations are very basic and sparse, so if you are looking for a fancy hotel this is DEFINITELY not the place for you. For higher end accomodations, I’d instead recommend the Inn on Mt. Ada. The house Sharon Stone thought about buying, but didn’t, is located directly across the street from the Zane Grey Pueblo at 124 Chimes Tower Road.

September 2, 2009
Catalina’s Hamilton Cove

While vacationing in Catalina this past week, I, of course, spent much of my time asking the local merchants which celebrities had been spotted on the island. And I just about died when one store owner told me that Michael Buble, who has recently replaced Josh Duhamel as the celebrity love of my life, had vacationed there! Sigh!  But MB is hardly the first celeb to visit Catalina.   I was actually quite shocked to learn of the sheer number of famous visitors that the island has seen over the years. In the Golden Age of Hollywood, stars such as Charlie Chaplin, John Wayne, authors Zane Grey and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, John Barrymore, Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Jean Harlow, Mickey Rooney, Clark Gable, Orson Wells, Judy Garland, Robert Mitchum, Henry Fonda, and presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover all spent time on the island. In more recent years, Nicolas Cage, Lisa Marie Presley, Barbra Streisand (my least favorite celebrity of all time!), James Brolin, Sharon Stone, Gwen Stefani, Gavin Rossdale, Edward Norton, Rob Lowe, Paul Newman, Robert Downey Jr., Bob Saget, Diane Keaton, and members of the Spencer Davis Group rock bank have all been spotted on Catalina.

For those who have yet to visit, Catalina is a very small, quaint little island measuring 22 miles long and 8 miles wide with a population of only 3,696 residents. Only a small number of cars have been allowed on the island, which has resulted in local homeowners and tourists relying on gas-powered golf carts for transportation.  The use of golf carts instead of cars coupled with the fact that there are no chain stores or restaurants of any kind on the island – not even a Starbucks! – has allowed Catalina to retain its quaint, charming feel. In fact, when William Wrigley Jr. – the chewing gum entrepreneur – purchased the island in 1919, he went to great lengths to keep it from turning into a bustling tropical city a la Miami or Honolulu. But because Catalina has been kept small, there are no resort-style hotels whatsover on the island. Most of the hotels are actually very small, bed-and-breakfast type establishments. So, I couldn’t figure out exactly where a visiting celebrity would stay that would afford them some modicom of privacy. Until I learned about a gated, guarded resort-style community named Hamilton Cove (pictured above).

Hamilton Cove is located just a mile and a half outside of Downtown Avalon. The upscale, extremely private, gated condominium community offers a private sandy beach, a sparkling pool and jacuzzi, complimentary golf cart use, a croquet court, an 18 hole putting course, sand volleyball court, BBQs, private dock, three story clubhouse, tennis courts, a gym, and amazing views. And, a majority of the Cove’s “villas” are available as vacation rentals. According to pretty much every local I spoke with, Hamilton Cove is THE place to be on Catalina Island. So, if you want to spot a celeb while visiting Catalina, book a room at Hamilton Cove! Unfortunately, being that the community is closed to the public, I wasn’t able to visit it.  🙁 But I did manage to snap a few photos of the Cove while traveling along Catalina’s coast on a boat we rented one day.  Even from far away the place looked beautiful. The 1, 2, and 3 bedroom villas rent for anywhere between $175 to $1000 per night. I am really pushing for my family to book a room at Hamilton Cove for our next Catalina trip, more for the celebrity sightings than anything else, of course. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Hamilton Cove is located at 23 Camino de Flores Street in Avalon on Catalina Island, but it is a private, gated, guarded community that does not allow visitors of any sort. So, NO TRESPASSING! The only way to gain admission to the complex is to book a stay there, which you can do via this website and this website.

September 1, 2009
Catalina’s Pavilion Lodge

This morning my family and I traveled to Catalina Island for a little summer vacay. We’ve been planning this trip for quite some time now and, let me tell you, I could not have been more excited to finally arrive!  Ever since my grandmother gave me Robert Wagner’s autobiography, Pieces of My Heart: A Life, for Christmas last year, I have been dying to do some Catalina stalking! : )  For those of you not in the know, actor Robert Wagner and his movie star wife Natalie Wood were vacationing on Catalina Island the night of her mysterious drowning. So, the first item on my stalking agenda? Pavilion Lodge, the hotel where Natalie Wood spent her last night alive.

There has always been a shroud of mystery surrounding Natalie Wood’s death, but according to Robert’s book, the story is as follows. Natalie and Robert were frequent visitors to Catalina Island. The two owned a yacht, named “Splendour” in honor of Natalie’s 1961 movie Splendor in the Grass, and would often sail from Los Angeles to Avalon to spend a few nights on their boat.   On the weekend of November 27th, 1981, Natalie invited Christopher Walken, with whom she was filming the movie Brainstorm, to spend the weekend with her and Robert off the coast of Catalina on their yacht.   Robert was a little uncomfortable with Natalie and Walken’s blooming friendship and was fearful that an affair between the two co-stars might be brewing. Things got a bit heated between the three during their first night together, and, rather than spend the night on the boat with her husband, Natalie had the ship’s captain take her ashore where she booked a room at the Pavilion Lodge.

The following day, Natalie returned to the ship and made up with her husband. And here’s where the mystery comes into play. On the night of November 28, 1981, after a full day and night of drinking (and arguing) with Wagner and Walken, Natalie disappeared from the Splendour. No one knows when or why the actress left the yacht, but early the following morning she was found dead, floating in a cove, drowned at the tender age of 43.   Numerous theories abound as to what happened to Natalie that night. Some think she was pushed overboard by her jealous husband, others guess she accidentally fell off the ship while trying to travel ashore to spend yet another night alone in a Catalina motel room.  The world will perhaps never know the full story, as Robert says that not even he is sure of what happened that night.   And, until Pieces of My Heart was published late last year, neither Walken nor Wagner had ever spoken publicly about Natalie’s death, nor has Wagner ever returned to the island where his wife met her untimely end. Such a sad story!

So, one of my first stops after arriving on Catalina Island this morning was, of course, the Pavilion Lodge, where Natalie spent her final night, the night of November 27, 1981. I was actually shocked to find that the place was still in existence! And it’s a LOT bigger than I had anticipated. While most hotels on the island are fairly small, the Pavilion Lodge property seems to just keep going and going and going. It’s HUGE! It is, however, by no means fancy and I was very surprised that Natalie, one of the biggest movie stars of her day, would have chosen to stay there. But because it is located directly across the street – and within walking distance – from Catalina’s pier, I am guessing it was the first place she happened upon after arriving on the island that night.

And while I would have much preferred to stay at the Pavilion Lodge as it would have made for a much more interesting blog post, sadly, my family opted to book a room elsewhere. LOL  But from what I saw today, the Lodge looks like a very nice place to spend a few nights.  It is located directly across the street from the beach on a large piece of property, with a nice cental lawn area, and a perfect view of the ocean.

And I absolutely fell in love with their retro-fabulous sign. 🙂

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For those who haven’t yet read Pieces of My Heart, I HIGHLY recommend it! Robert really dishes up some good Hollywood dirt in it! So LOVED it!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Pavilion Lodge is located at 513 Crescent Avenue in Avalon on Catalina Island.

August 27, 2009
The Fairmont Miramar Santa Monica

I don’t know about you all, but for the past few Sunday nights I have been absolutely glued to my television set watching Season 2 of the Ryan Seacrest produced Denise Richards: It’s Complicated.   And while I admit that the girl is an absolute train wreck and that her laugh is like fingernails on a chalkboard, for some incredibly odd reason I just can’t stop watching! LOL   So, since I was in the area recently, I just had to stalk the hotel Denise moved into at the beginning of this season.

Wanting a “fresh start” after the past “difficult year”, Denise decided to sell her Hidden Hills home and move closer to her daughters’ school and her “work” – whatever that means. I didn’t realize Denise had a full time job. LOL Anyway, until her former home sells, the Richards Family, including Denise, her father Irv (no, that’s not a typo, that’s actually his name!), and daughters Lola and Sam, are calling the Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica home.    The hotel shows up quite often on this season of Denise’s reality show, especially the bungalow area where her family lives . . .

. . . and the hotel’s onsite fitness center, where she works out daily with her trainer/sometimes date Ray.

The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows was originally the private home of John P. Jones, a former Nevada senator and one of the founders of the City of Santa Monica. John built a mansion on the site in 1889 and dubbed his property “Miramar” which means “view of the sea” in Spanish. In 1912, the Jones Family sold their home to King C. Gillette, founder of the razor company of the same name and the King Gillette Ranch where TV’s The Biggest Loser is filmed. Nine years later, in 1921, Gillette sold the property to hotel entreprenuer Gilbert Stevenson, who turned it into an upscale seaside resort. In 1924, to make room for more guests, Stevenson added a large brick building to the property and also, sadly, had the original Jones’ mansion torn down just a few years later. In 1959, the hotel added yet another tower. Forty years later, the current owner, investment group Maritz, Wolffe & Co. purchased the hotel, started a $16 million renovation process, and brought in the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts company to manage the property. All these years later it is still a truly beautiful place and I highly recommend stalking it! 🙂

Denise Richards is not the first celeb to check into the Miramar. Over the years numermous stars have stayed there, including Cary Grant, Greta Garbo (who lived at the hotel for close to three years), Doris Day, JFK and Jackie O., Eleanor Roosevelt, Charles Lindbergh, my girl Marilyn Monroe, Rosa Parks, Denzel Washington, Quincy Jones, Hugh Hefner, Anthony Hopkins, Arnold Schwarznegger, Steven Spielburg, Shaquille O’Neal, and Hilary Swank, just to name a few.

The hotel has been featured in countless movie and television productions over the years. In the Season 5 episode of Entourage entitled “First Class Jerk”, the Miramar stood in for a Hawaiian resort where Vinnie and the boys hung out.

The large Moreton Bay Fig Tree which stands at the entrance to the Miramar and quite closely resembles a banyan tree gives the hotel somewhat of a tropical feel, so it’s no surprise that Entourage producers chose to film there instead of shooting on location in Hawaii. The fig tree was planted way back in 1879 – yes, 1879 – by Senator Jones, the original owner of the propety.  It measures a whopping 80 feet high and 120 feet wide!

The hotel also showed up as the location where Anthony Hopkins’ wife carried out her affair in 2007’s Fracture.

It was also the hotel where Helen Mirren and her friends stayed during their L.A. visit in the Disney movie Calendar Girls. Please excuse the horrific YouTube screen captures pictured above!    LOL In the 1962 Cary Grant and Doris Day comedy That Touch of Mink, the Miramar was used as a West Indies resort. The hotel has also been featured in Along Came Polly and the television series Simon & Simon.

And last, but definitely not least, the night before her surprise wedding to KFed, Britney Spears threw herself a Bachelorette party in one of the Miramar’s bungalows. KFed partied with his boys, aka “The Pimps” right across the street at Houston’s Restaurant (pictured above).  Both, I’m sure, were classy affairs! 😉 At the time, Kevin was living with Britney in her nearby oceanside pad in the 1221 Ocean Avenue condomium complex.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows is located at 101 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. You can visit their website here. Houston’s Restaurant, where KFed held his bachelor party, is located across the street at 202 Wilshire Boulevard.

July 9, 2009
Brad and Jen’s Honeymoon Hotel

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, this weekend was a big one for me. The biggest perhaps!   My boyfriend (of over eight and a half years!!) finally popped the question!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂   And I, of course, said yes! This changes things quite a bit for me, as from now on I will no longer be dragging my boyfriend to filming locations all across L.A. I will now be dragging my fiance!! 🙂 LOL My boyfriend realized long ago that if he was going to propose to me it had better be at some sort of filming location.  And, let me tell you, he came through big time!!!!! Although, I was the one who actually discovered the location for him. 🙂 A few weeks ago, while searching for the mansion where Brad and Jen got married, I stumbled upon this article about a little boutique hotel in Palm Springs named the Ingleside Inn. And when I read the words “Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt came to the Inn after their media frenzy Malibu wedding” I literally almost hyperventilated right there at my computer! I immediately called my boyfriend and said “WE HAVE TO GO HERE!” LOL

My boyfriend actually already had plans to attend a work event in Palm Springs this past weekend, so he booked us a room at the hotel. And I was FLOORED, ABSOLUTELY FLOORED! Well, that “work event” turned out to be a surprise engagement party for me with all of our closest friends [including Mike, from MovieShotsLA :)] in attendance. My boyfriend proposed about 45 minutes before the surprise party right there in Villa 4 of the Ingleside Inn. It was a pretty magical experience. 🙂

The Ingleside Inn was first built as a private residence in 1922 by heirs to the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company fortune. In 1939, the residence was purchased by Palm Springs’ first councilwoman, Ruth Hardy, who turned the 2.5 acre property into an exclusive inn and private club.  Rumor has it that she would interview guests before their stay to make sure they were worthy of vacationing at her Inn. 🙂   In 1975, after Ruth passed away, the Inn was purchased by New York native Mel Haber, who still owns and runs the property to this day. In fact, on Friday night while eating dinner at the Inn’s onsite restaurant, Melvyn’s, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Haber who confirmed for me that Brad and Jen did in fact spend three nights at the Inn immediately following their wedding. 🙂 🙂 🙂

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The tiny inn is like no other place I have ever visited. It boasts only thirty rooms – each one different – and, even though it is within walking distance of Downtown Palm Springs, is completely secluded. It is quiet, peaceful, and intimate.   When we checked in, a bellman escorted us to our room and gave us a real key – not one of those plastic key-cards that most hotels use. The air conditioning had been turned on prior to our arrival, so that our “villa” would be nice and cool for us upon entering. Our bed had been turned down, there was a mint on each of the pillows, and a fruit basket was placed on the dresser. Each morning a newspaper was delivered to our door and the fridge was re-stocked daily with complimentary fruit juice, soda, and bottled water. All of the hotel employees knew us by name, knew our room number by heart, and would walk by repeatedly while we were lounging poolside to make sure our every need was being attended to. It was service at its finest!!

The rooms, which are very reasonably priced (almost unbelievably so!), are slightly old-fashioned, but in a good way. While staying there, I really felt as though I had stepped back in time. I must say, though, that if you are at all a fan of hotels like The Standard in West Hollywood (which I’m not), then this is definitely not the place for you.  The Inn is not a spot to party or live it up.  It is the kind of place you go to truly get away from it all. Which is my kind of place! Oh, and did I mention that there is a Starbucks within walking distance? What more could a girl ask for?

My favorite part of the hotel had to be the pool, though, which is open 24 hours. Even though the Inn is only a short block away from Palm Canyon Drive and Downtown Palm Springs, while laying by the pool I felt like I was worlds away from civilization. I remember thinking to myself ‘No wonder Brad and Jen came here!’ 🙂 Ingleside Inn is the kind of place where cell phones in common areas are frowned upon, so the pool is like a little secluded haven. It was heaven!

Also heaven was the poolside lunch I ordered from Melvyn’s, the Inn’s fine dining restaurant. Melvyn’s has won countless awards, including “First Place in Fine Dining”, “Most Romantic Restaurant”, and, my personal favorite, “Best Place to Spot Celebrities”. 🙂   Both the restaurant and the Inn have also been featured repeatedly as “One of the Ten Best” on television’s Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. Melvyn’s also features a Rat Pack style crooner who sings the Standards nightly.

Since the beginning, both Ingleside Inn and Melvyn’s have been celebrity havens. In fact, an entire section of a past issue of People Magazine was devoted to the many celebrity weddings that have taken place at the Inn, which include that of Frank Sinatra and Barbara Marx, Angel’s David Boreanaz and Playboy Playmate Jaime Bergman, and David Ashrow and actress June Allyson who stated “Everyone should be married at Ingleside Inn at least once in their livetime!” LOL    The Inn’s celeb guests include Lance Bass, Bob Hope, Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson, Greta Garbo, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, Salvador Dali, Sylvester Stallone, opera singer Lily Pons (who lived at the Inn for over 13 years!!!), John Travolta, Liza Minelli, Cher, Clark Gable, Barry Manilow, Elizabeth Taylor, President Gerald Ford, and John Wayne, just to name a few.

I honestly cannot recommend stalking the Ingleside Inn enough!  It is truly a magical place! All weekend (even before he proposed) my boyfriend kept saying “I’ve found my new favorite Palm Springs hotel!” 🙂 And, thanks to my boyfriend – ahem, my fiance – the Inn is no longer just the place where Brad and Jen spent their honeymoon, but the place where I got engaged. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Ingleside Inn is located at 200 West Ramon Drive in Palm Springs. Brad and Jen stayed in Room 148 of the hotel (pictured above). My boyfriend proposed to me in Villa 4. 🙂 You can visit the hotel’s website here. Rooms run from $120 to $600 per night.

May 12, 2009
Hollywood Center Motel

A few weeks ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, called me up to ask me if I knew that my latest Hollywood crush, Simon Baker, had one of his earliest acting roles in the 1997 movie L.A. Confidential. And I almost fell out of my chair! Even though I’ve seen that movie about a hundred times, I never realized that SB had acted in it. The then-unknown Mentalist star had the small, but pivotal role of homosexual actor/prostitute Matt Reynolds in the film. That’s him in the above screen capture. I can’t believe how young he looks!!!!

Mike also told me the address of the location where SB’s character meets his untimely demise towards the middle of the movie – Room 203 of the Hollywood Center Motel. So, of course, since I was in the area yesterday, I just had to stalk it. 🙂

In the scene filmed at the Hollywood Center Motel, Hush-Hush magazine editor Sid Hudgeons (Danny DeVito) and Detective Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) set up a sting operation to catch the Los Angeles District Attorney in an illicit rendevous with homosexual prostitute SB.

But, at the last minute, Jack has a change of heart and shows up at the motel early to warn SB of the set-up.

Unfortunately, he is too late, and when he enters the seedy motel room he finds SB’s character dead on the floor. 🙁 Poor Simon!

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Hollywood Center Motel is an odd little place, with what appears to be a large central guesthouse surrounded by small motel rooms. I am guessing that most of the motels’ guests live there full time. Aside from a change in paint color, the Hollywood Center Motel looks pretty much exactly the same today as it did twelve years ago when it appeared onscreen in L.A. Confidential. Unfortunately, other than the fact that it was built in the 20’s, I couldn’t find out much information about the small motel online. And I can’t say that I’d really recommend stalking the place, as it is pretty seedy and run-down. But being that it definitely has that Old Hollywood vibe to it, it’s easy to see why producers chose to use it in their film about a 50’s era Los Angeles.

While I was stalking the motel, the manager happened to be outside sweeping the parking lot, so, of course, I had to ask him what other productions had been filmed on the premises. He looked at me like I was absolutely out of my mind, laughed, and then walked away without saying a word. LOL LOL LOL I am fairly certain, though, that, due to its historic and unique look, the motel has to have been used in other productions besides L.A. Confidential. I am going to have to keep my eyes open for it from now on. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Hollywood Center Motel is located at 6720 West Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

May 8, 2009
sidebar at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel

Since I am now 100% on Team Speidi, this weekend I just had to drag my boyfriend out to sidebar, the Beverly Hills lounge where the reality TV duo hosted one of their two wedding receptions.  Sidebar, which is spelled with a lowercase “s”, is located inside of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel – aka the Pretty Woman hotel – where many of the wedding festivities took place. Truth be told, I actually wanted to book a room at the Beverly Wilshire the weekend of the Speidi nuptials, but my boyfriend (aka the Grim Cheaper) was having none of that.   LOL

Sidebar lounge is located directly adjacent to the Wolfgang Puck restaurant CUT, which has long been a favorite of the newlyweds and was where they held their rehearsal dinner on Friday, April 24th. In fact, the duo are such huge fans of the restaurant, that back in September of 2008 they were honored by Wolfgang himself, who placed two large photographs of the couple taken by renowned celebrity photographer Martin Scholler at the entrance to his restaurant. CUT actually has several celebrity photographs by Martin lining its walls, including those of Britney Spears, Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, and Jack Nicholson. But the photographs of Speidi are by far the largest, and most prominently placed, in the entire restaurant. Love it! When the photographs were first unveiled, Spencer said, “It feels better than winning an Academy Award.” LOL LOL LOL I have to say that if my favorite restaurant, POP Champagne Bar, placed a 5′ by 3′ photograph of me on their wall, I’d be pretty floored, too. 🙂 Spencer and Heidi are by no means the restaurant’s only celebrity fans, though. Mark Wahlberg, Courteney Cox, Isla Fisher, Chris O’Donnell, and Avril Lavigne have also all been spotted at the eatery.

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I have to say that I absolutely LOVED sidebar!!!! The staff was SUPER friendly, the champagne was A-MA-ZING, and the food was unbelievable!!!!!  I just about died over their Kobe beef sliders and I don’t even like red meat! LOL Sidebar is very reasonably priced, too, especially for Beverly Hills, which made my boyfriend extremely happy. ; ) With your cocktail order comes a serving of some amazing marinated olives, homemade BBQ potato chips, wasabi peas, and cinnamon/nutmeg almonds – all for free!   I can’t recommend stalking sidebar enough! I am fairly certain it will be a regular stalking spot for me now. 🙂

If you visit sidebar, be sure to check out the Pretty Woman display in the Beverly Wilshire’s lobby.   I make it a point to stop by there everytime I visit the hotel. No matter how many times I see that display window, it never seems to get old. 🙂 On display are several stills from the movie and an early draft of the script, which was originally entitled “Three Thousand” – a reference to the amount Richard Gere pays to have Julia Roberts spend the week with him. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Both CUT and sidebar are located inside of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, which can be found at 9500 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.   Although sidebar is reasonably priced for cocktails, CUT is a higher end restaurant, so, be prepared to pay. 🙂 The Pretty Woman display is located near the women’s restroom, just off the hotel lobby.

May 5, 2009
The Beverly Hills, 90210 Spring Dance!

A few weeks ago, I happened to pop in my Beverly Hills, 90210 Season 1 DVDs to watch the “Spring Dance” episode – one of my very favorite 90210episodes of all time! As I scrolled through the DVD menu, I realized that, unbelievably, I had yet to watch that episode accompanied by the commentary by series’ creator Darren Star. So, I settled in with a nice Starbucks Iced Latte to listen to what Darren had to say. And I am SO glad I did, because besides dishing juicy little tidbits of information (such as Shannen Doherty and Luke Perry were not getting along at all that day), Darren also stated that the West Beverly High Spring Dance sequence had been filmed at the Universal Sheraton Hotel in Universal City. So, I of course, grabbed my boyfriend and my camera and immediately headed over there! 🙂

Unfortunately, last year the Sheraton Universal Hotel underwent a $25 million renovation project and now looks completely different than it did back in 1991 when 90210 was filmed there. 🙁 Even the hotel’s main entrance has changed significantly and the circular awning which was shown as the gang drove up to the prom venue has been replaced. : (   According to the hotel’s General Manager, Peter Walterspiel, the forty year old Sheraton “needed a facelift pretty badly”.

First opened in 1969, the twenty story, 451 room hotel is now ready to face the 21st Century. Although I never saw the Sheraton pre-remodel (except on 90210, that is!) , I absolutely love the way it now looks! The lobby is shiny and modern and full of bright, open spaces. And there are many black and white photographs of old time movie stars, like Audrey Hepburn and my girl Marilyn Monroe, lining the lobby walls! Gotta love it! 🙂

I really wanted to grab a cocktail in the hotel’s Club Lounge (where the lights change colors based on the cycle of the sun!), but alas it was only 4 in the afternoon when I was there. 🙁 Oh well, next time!

The Beverly Hills, 90210 Spring Dance scenes were filmed in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom, which, thankfully, looks much the same today as it did eighteen years ago when it appeared on 90210. 🙂 Although some parts of the room have changed since that time, you can see in the above photos that the dark wood doors, wainscoting, and even the wallpaper are still the same.

You can see in the above photos that the wierd lights located above the ballroom doors also haven’t changed since the filming. The screen capture I made of the lights didn’t come out very well, but if you watch the episode you can see the lights more clearly.

Many other productions besides Beverly Hills, 90210 have also been filmed at the Sheraton Universal Hotel. The reality series Cougar used the hotel for both location filming and as the place where all of the contestants were put up during the filming. According to the concierge the escalators leading down to the hotel’s conference rooms were used repeatedly on the show (pictured above). Contestants from the reality series America’s Got Talent were also put up at the Sheraton Universal. And on an episode of Hogan Knows Best, Brooke Hogan and her father, Hulk, checked into the Sheraton while visiting Los Angeles.  A recent episode of the television series Chuck was filmed in the Club Lounge and the hotel was also featured in both Desperate Housewives and CSI: Las Vegas.

The Universal Sheraton, which is nicknamed the “Hotel of the Stars”, often plays host to celebrities, as well, including George Clooney, B.B. King, Michael Jackson, Ava Gardner, Tom Hanks, Sophia Loren, Gladys Knight, John Travolta, Dolly Parton, Matthew McConaughy, and my girl Jen Aniston. Telly Savalas, Jen’s godfather, actually LIVED in the hotel for over 17 years!!!! Apparently, Telly began staying at the Universal Sheraton while starring in the television series Kojak, which was filmed just down the road at Universal Studios.   He was so keen on the hotel that he ended up moving his wife and kids in and making it his permanent residence. Supposedly, he used to hang out quite often in the lobby bar and was always willing to take pictures and sign autographs for hotel guests. 🙂 Sadly, on January 22, 1994, Telly passed away in his Universal Sheraton Hotel suite. He was only 70 years old. 🙁

I HIGHLY recommend stalking – or even staying at – the Universal Sheraton. In fact, I am trying to think of a good excuse to drag my boyfriend there for a weekend. 🙂 The staff was incredibly nice to me and answered all of my silly questions about the filming that had taken place there over the years – although no one remembered the 90210 Spring Dance being filmed there back in 1991. LOL For all of you tourists who are planning a trip to Universal Studios, the Sheraton Universal would be the place to stay as it is literally a hop, skip, and a jump away from the theme park. You wouldn’t even have to rent a car. 🙂 Oh, and my favorite part of the hotel? The mini Hollywood sign located at the Sheraton’s main entrance (pictured above). LOVE IT! 🙂 I’ve gotta get me one of those for my backyard! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Sheraton Universal Hotel is located at 333 Universal Hollywood Drive in Universal City. You can visit their website here. The Beverly Hills, 90210 Spring Dance took place in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom, located just downstairs and to the right of the main lobby.

April 28, 2009
The W Hotel

This weekend while out doing some stalking of L.A.’s Westside, I dragged my boyfriend to the W Hotel, which was featured in both fave movie Win A Date With Tad Hamilton and the new 90210. I have wanted to stalk the W ever since I first watched Win A Date over four years ago, but somehow never got around to it until this past Sunday. I actually can’t believe that I waited so long to stalk the modern style hotel, but, as I’ve said before, in L.A. there’s just so much to stalk and so little time! 🙂

The W Hotel is actually featured quite a few times in Win A Date. The poolside restaurant, named “The Backyard”, shows up in the very beginning of the movie as the location where Tad and his agents (who are both named Richard Levy) do lunch. It is during this luncheon that Tad is told he must clean up his public image and thus the “Win A Date With Tad Hamilton” contest is born.

The W also shows up a bit later on in the movie as the hotel where contest winner Rosalee Futch (aka Kate Bosworth) stays while she is in L.A. The front entrance of the hotel is shown when she first checks in, as well as when she is picked up and dropped off for her dream date with Tad.

The lobby area of the hotel and the stairway leading up to the pool are also both featured in the movie.

On the new 90210, Naomi Clark, following in the footsteps of Dylan McKay from the original series, forgoes living with her parents to permanently check in to the ultra-trendy W. In the episode entitled “By Accident”, Naomi moves out of her cheating father’s house and into Room 723 of the hotel. The W has been featured on the series several times since then, most prominently in the Valentine’s Day episode entitled “Of Heartbreaks and Hotels”.

Many areas of the hotel were shown in that episode including the front entrance;

the lobby;

the hotel’s NineThirty Restaurant where Silver and Dixon share a Valentine’s Day dinner;

the hotel’s coffee bar where Naomi first meets cutie bartender Liam (in real life the coffee bar is set up daily between 6 and10am just outside of the NineThirty Restaurant, but sadly it had already been removed by the time we got there, so I didn’t get to snap a photo of it);

the hotel’s Whiskey Blue Bar where Silver and Naomi grab some tea;

and, just like in Win A Date, the hotel’s Backyard restaurant where Naomi gets stood up by Liam.

I HIGHLY recommend stalking the W! The hotel somehow manages to be ultra-trendy and ultra-modern, yet extremely welcoming at the same time. The staff truly could not have been nicer to me and answered all of my silly questions about the filming of 90210 and Win A Date. 🙂 Since we were stalking the place in the middle of the day, though, we weren’t able to grab a drink in the hotel’s Whiskey Blue Bar. But you can bet that is something I am going to do in the very near future. I also must book a room and drag my boyfriend there for the weekend sometime! Even though ultra modern hotels are usually not my thing, I really fell in love with this one. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The W Hotel is located at 930 Hilgard Avenue in the Westwood area of Los Angeles. You can visit their website here.

April 9, 2009
Hilton Checkers Hotel

A few months ago, Mike, from MovieShotsLA,  scored the two of us invites to a party and silent auction being held by the Location Managers Guild of America. We had a fab time at the party and got to meet many location scouts, none of whom had any idea that there were people like us out there obsessed with movie and television locations. LOL Anyway, the highlight of that evening was when I placed the winning bid on a one night stay in the Penthouse Suite of the Hilton Checkers Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles for the bargain price of $160! I’m not kidding! So this past weekend my boyfriend and I cashed in on our big win and spent a night in luxury at the historic boutique hotel.

On its website the Hilton Checkers Hotel touts itself as being Downtown Los Angeles’ only four diamond boutique hotel – and, let me tell you, it didn’t disappoint!  Checkers was originally built in the 1920s and was called “The Mayflower”.   The boutique hotel, which stands at twelve stories high, was built at a time when the City of Los Angeles did not allow any buildings in the Downtown area to have more than twelve floors. In 1984, the hotel was completely renovated and remodeled and given it’s current moniker. For a time it was owned privately and then was sold to Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. When it was purchased by the Hilton Hotel chain in 2002, it took on the name Hilton Checkers.

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Checkers Hotel has two Penthouse Suites – one each on its 11th and 12th floors – and I can’t tell you how excited I was to be staying in one of them! Besides soon-to-be-famous actress Lindsay Blake :), numerous other celebs have stayed in the hotel’s Penthouse Suites over the years, including Jim Carrey (who lived in one while he was filming the movie Man on the Moon), Carol Burnett (who also resided in one for a few months during her stint at the Ahmanson Theatre performing in Putting It Together), Ray Charles, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith (who were recent guests), and Cher (who books a Penthouse each year when she’s in town for the Grammys).

Both of the Checkers’ Penthouse Suites are identical in size and decor. Each boasts two bathrooms, a separate bedroom with a desk and reading chair,

a separate dining room with a marble table that seats eight,

and a large living room complete with a fireplace and big screen plasma TV.

Besides celebs, dignitaries have also been known to visit the hotel. According to the book Hollywood & the Best of Los Angeles Alive!, in 1992 President Richard Nixon and Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev had a meeting in the Checkers’ Library (pictured above).

And, of course, Checkers is also a popular filming location! The hotel was featured twice in a Season One episode of fave television show Shark. In the episode, entitled “Fashion Police”, Sebastian Stark dines at the hotel’s award winning restaurant, named Checkers Downtown, with the mayor.

Later on in the episode, Stark arrests fashion designer Z Pruitt (played by Diedrich Bader) at a lingerie party being held at Checker’s rooftop pool.

Other productions filmed at the hotel include Heroes, which used Checker’s front entrance, and the now-canceled What About Brian, which  filmed in the lobby area. In 2003’s A View From The Top, Checkers stood in for the Paris hotel where Gwyneth Paltrow stays on a layover.  Paula Abdul and a few of this season’s Idols just recently filmed a segment by the hotel’s pool. And Dancing With The Stars has also shot numerous segments at the hotel.    Just last week Carson Daily filmed a television interview about the birth of his son in the Checkers Lounge (pictured above). And Stefanie Powers, of Hart to Hart fame, has filmed numerous PBS specials onsite.

I HIGHLY recommend stalking Checkers! It’s a really beautiful hotel and I wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again. And if you can swing it, I’d definitely recommend booking a Penthouse room! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Hilton Checkers Hotel is located at 535 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. You can visit their website here.

March 27, 2009