famous hotels – Page 9 – IAMNOTASTALKER

April 21, 2010April 20, 2010

The Magic Castle Hotel from “The Hills”

If I had a nickel for every time one of my fellow stalkers asked me for a reasonably-priced Hollywood area hotel recommendation . . . well, let’s just say that I’d have a lot more Louis Vuitton in my life than I do right now. 😉 And I never really had a solid answer to the query until I met fellow stalker Lavonna, who hails from Cincinnati, Ohio, this past November. Lavonna makes a stalking pilgrimage to the L.A. area at least once a year and, without fail, she always books a room at the very same place – the Magic Castle Hotel on Franklin Avenue right in the heart of Hollywood. Lavonna has been singing the Magic Castle’s praises so loudly ever since I’ve known her that I couldn’t help but sit up and take notice. So, when she came to town this past week, along with her daughter, Melissa, and her good friend, Debbie, and invited me to stop by her temporary digs, I jumped at the chance to see the place for myself. Especially after Lavonna told me that the hotel had appeared in a Season 3 episode of The Hills! A fabulous hotel that’s also a filming location? What more could a visiting stalker ask for? 😉 So, even though I’ve never stayed there myself, now that I’ve seen the place in person, I can honestly say that for reasonably-priced accommodations in Hollywood, look no further than the Magic Castle Hotel.

The 40-room Magic Castle Hotel is located right in the heart of Hollywood and within walking distance of all of the major Boulevard attractions. From the outside, the place almost looks like an old-school apartment complex, which I believe it actually was back in the early days of Hollywood. As I mentioned above, the boutique-style hotel, which was completely remodeled in 2004, is very reasonably priced (rates average $100 to $215 per night, depending on the time of year and size of the room), especially by Southern California standards, and the staff’s main focus is service, service, service. The Magic Castle website states, “A lot of hotels talk about their customer service. Here at the Magic Castle Hotel, we live it. We’re not about stuffy ambience and rigid policy – rather, we strive to offer the friendliest, most personalized and accommodating service to every one of our customers.” And I am very happy to report that they have succeeded in achieving that goal – with flying colors! In fact, I’ve never seen anything quite like the Magic Castle Hotel when it comes to their level of personalized customer service. First of all, their mini-bar, which includes over forty snack items – everything from Peanut M&M’s to microwave popcorn – is absolutely FREE. I’m not joking! I mean, have you ever even heard of such a thing? Oh, and if you want something that’s not listed on the menu, don’t worry, they’ll go out and get it for you! During Lavonna’s first stay at the Magic Castle Hotel, she called down to the front desk to inquire if they had Mountain Dew, her favorite soft-drink. They didn’t, but they actually went out later that day and purchased some for her! Then when she checked into the hotel during her next visit, not only had Mountain Dew been added to the mini-bar menu, but there was a twelve pack of it waiting for her in her room! How incredibly cool is that?

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Other freebies include wireless internet access, which is available in every room, daily continental breakfast, over one hundred DVD titles available from the front desk (each room comes equipped with a DVD player), and popsicles and “ice-cold towels infused with lavender and mint” which attendants serve every hour on the hour to those guests laying by the pool. But the Magic Castle’s special level of service goes far beyond freebies. When Lavonna and friends checked into their room this past week, there was a bottle of champagne and a huge bunch of balloons waiting for them in honor of Debbie’s 50th birthday, which they were in town to celebrate. There was also a handmade card with a picture of Ellen DeGeneres on the front (Lavonna is a huge Ellen fan) which read “Ellen and the Magic Castle Hotel welcome you back to Hollywood!” Then, when they returned to the hotel after dinner that evening, they were a dozen Sprinkles cupcakes awaiting them. A woman on the staff had remembered that Lavonna was a big fan of the cupcake chain and had driven out to Beverly Hills to pick some up for her earlier that morning. I’m really not kidding! I mean, have you ever heard of this kind of personalized service at a hotel? It’s beyond incredible! I had the pleasure of meeting the Magic Castle’s Chief Operating Officer, Darren Ross, while I was stalking the hotel and he honestly could NOT have been nicer. As a matter of fact, the entire staff was insanely nice. When we left to go out stalking for the day, the manager even went so far as to pack up a HUGE bag filled with snacks and drinks for us to take on the road. Amazing! Oh, and, during their stay, all hotel guests are also given access to the ultra-exclusive, members-only Magic Castle club and restaurant, a place that I have been DYING to get into ever since I moved to L.A.

I realize this post must sound like one big Magic Castle Hotel advertisement, but I was just so impressed with the place that I had to blog about it. And while the hotel is by no means fancy or luxurious – if you’re looking for those kinds of accommodations, I’d suggest the Roosevelt Hotel or the new W, but believe me, you’ll pay up the wazoo for each of them – it’s an extremely nice place, especially for the price and I’d stay there in a heartbeat!

And, as I mentioned above, the hotel is also a filming location! The Magic Castle appeared in the Season 3 episode of The Hills entitled “For Better or Worse”, in the scene in which Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port meet up with the band Red Jumpsuit Apparatus (that’s honestly their name!) to do a wardrobe fitting prior to a Teen Vogue photo shoot.

Quite a few areas of the hotel appeared in the episode, including the front parking lot;

the main entrance;

and Room 215, where the band was staying.

The interior of Room 215 was also shown in the episode, but unfortunately I didn’t get to stalk it while I was there. I so would have loved to have seen it, though!

Big THANK YOU to Lavonna for telling me about this location and for allowing me stalk her room. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Magic Castle Hotel is located at 7025 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood. You can visit their website here. The “For Better of Worse” episode of The Hills was filmed in Room 215.

April 1, 2010June 6, 2010

The Michael Buble Suite at the Best Western Alderwood Hotel

As I’ve mentioned numerous times on this blog, my celebrity crush as of late is Canadian crooner Michael Buble. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the guy and his music! So, when my good friend and fellow stalker Kerry went on a business trip to the Seattle area a few months back and noticed that her hotel, the Best Western Alderwood, had a “Buble Suite” she immediately called me up to let me know. And, as you can probably imagine, I practically had a heart attack right there on the spot. It was at that point that I vowed to someday travel to the City of Lynnwood in the southwestern portion of Washington State to not only stalk the Best Western Alderwood, but to also spend a night in the actual “Buble Suite”. Especially since Michael filmed his “Haven’t Met You Yet” video at the Killarney Market in Vancouver, Canada which is just a short two hour drive from the hotel. (See the kind of stuff my fiancé has to deal with? It’s amazing I was ever proposed to! When I first told him of my intended Seattle travel plans, I believe his exact words were, “You want me to drive you two hours to see a grocery store?” Needless to say, I doubt we’ll be making the trip to Lynnwood anytime soon.) Anyway, Kerry didn’t take any photographs of the hotel for me on that particular trip, so I begged her to stop by there on her next visit to the Seattle area, which she did last month. Thank you, Kerry! And while I don’t typically blog about locations that I haven’t personally visited myself, this one was just too good to pass up. 🙂

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The Best Western Alderwood is not your typical five-star, celebrity-laden lodging, but from from what Kerry was able to gather from the super nice people she spoke with, Michael Buble, who hails from nearby Vancouver, is apparently a longtime family friend of the hotel’s General Manager. Sometime in the past couple of years, the singer stayed on the property – in Room Number 107, to be exact – and afterwards the General Manager named the suite in his honor. Which is something I really think all hotels should do! I mean, how GREAT would it be to know the exact room numbers where certain celebrities have stayed at different hotels all across the world? You can bet I’d be booking the Jennifer Aniston Suite at every hotel I stayed at if that was the case! 😉 I actually think it was pretty common practice back in the day to name hotel rooms after the famous guests who had stayed there and I, for one, think that practice needs to be brought back! Stat! So, kudos to you Best Western Alderwood! May all hotels follow suit! Kerry also found out that some of Michael’s family members frequently stay at the BW Alderwood, as well, so if you happen to check in there and spot an MB lookalike, chances are it might be his relation! 🙂

But not only did the hotel name a room after the cutie crooner, they also adorned the wall behind the front desk with his photographs, autographs, and other MB memorabilia. SO LOVE IT! You don’t even understand how BADLY I want to see all of this with my own two eyes! I was practically salivating while looking at Kerry’s photographs! Hopefully I’ll get there someday!

On a Michael Buble side note – For those who missed his “Hamm and Buble” skit on Saturday Night Live back in January, you so need to check it out – and can do so by clicking above! It’s absolutely HILARIOUS! I swear I’ve seen it about twenty times now and literally never get tired of it. Love it!

Big THANK YOU to Kerry for finding this location and stalking it for me, twice! 😉

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Best Western Alderwood is located at 19332 36th Avenue W in Lynnwood, Washington. The Buble Suite is Room Number 107. You can visit the hotel’s official website here. His “Haven’t Met You Yet” video was filmed at the Killarney Market which is located at 2611 East 49th Avenue in Vancouver, Canada.

February 5, 2010February 5, 2010

The Westlake Village Inn

This past weekend, my fiancé and I decided to take a little “staycation” at a hotel named the Westlake Village Inn located about thirty miles away from where we live. I had read about the hotel while doing some cyberstalking a few weeks beforehand and because it was touted as a frequent filming location was absolutely dying to stay there. The Inn also looked like the perfect spot for a romantic weekend getaway and, thankfully, in person, it did not disappoint. The 17-acre hotel, which was originally named the “Westlake Motor Lodge”, was first opened in 1968 by Swiss born developer John L. Notter and consisted of 75 simple rooms. Today, the property, which was remodeled last year, is made up of seven different buildings which are comprised of 141 European-style hotel rooms, no two of which are exactly alike, and beautiful manicured grounds. Besides being a frequent filming locale, the Inn has also long enjoyed a rich celebrity following. Just a few of its famous past guests include Arnold Palmer, Hulk Hogan, Sean Connery, Tiger Woods, Julio Iglesias, and politicians Condoleezza Rice, Dick Cheney, Nancy Reagan, and Ronald Reagan, who was a regular. The hotel even created a Ronald Reagan Suite at the behest of the nearby Reagan Library. The suite, which is decorated with the late president’s photographs and memorabilia, is available to all guests, but was created especially for visiting political dignitaries and even features a special adjoining room for secret service agents to stay in.

One of the most exceptional aspects of the Westlake Village Inn is its extremely reasonable room rates – according to Notter the hotel is underpriced by about twenty percent. Because Notter has owned the Inn for over 42 years, his debt is fairly small and he can therefore keep the rates substantially lower than his competitors. And thanks to those low rates, I was able to book one of the hotel’s 400 square foot “Business Suites” at a cost of only $150.00. Even the Grim Cheaper was amenable to staying in a suite at that low price. 🙂

Our room, which I absolutely LOVED, featured a sitting area,

a king size bed,

a fireplace,

a HUGE bathroom (with a TV!), and a private patio.

My fiancé and I spent quite a bit of time walking the manicured grounds of the hotel, which are truly beautiful with trellis-covered walkways;

landscaped courtyards;

rock waterfalls;

and large ponds.

The pool area, with its covered cabanas, is also extremely inviting, but unfortunately it was far too cold in Westlake last weekend – about 50 degrees Fahrenheit – to take a dip. 🙁 I was so tempted, though!

Upon checking into the hotel, the lobby of which is pictured above, I was asked to sign an agreement stipulating that I would not be throwing a party in my room that night. Being that I’ve never had to sign such an agreement, I found it a bit of an odd request, but didn’t think much of it . . . until about 2 o’clock the following morning, when the people above us returned to their room and screamed out “THE PARTY’S HERE!” I called the office to complain, but, unfortunately, it didn’t seem to do a whole lot of good as the noise continued until about 5am. It wasn’t just the people above us, either. Outside our patio, another group seemed to having a party, as did even another group still that was located a bit farther away. Come 2am, it seems, the place turns into one big party. The hotel is actually a very popular wedding facility and no less than three ceremonies were being held on the grounds during our stay. Weddings at the Inn have to conclude by 10pm due to noise restrictions, but there is also a bar/nightclub on the property named Bogies, which doesn’t close until 2. So, I am fairly certain that come 10 pm, wedding parties simply move from the reception areas over to Bogies to get their groove on. Then once Bogie’s shuts down for the night, groups move back to their hotel rooms to continue the party there. Being that I had to sign the “no parties” contract, I am guessing that what I experienced is a fairly common problem at the Westlake Village Inn. And, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if they’ve figured out quite how to deal with it. So, while we had a nice time there and absolutely loved our room, I wouldn’t exactly recommend the place as a good spot for a quiet weekend getaway. 🙁

The Westlake Village Inn staff truly could NOT have been nicer to us, though, especially one of the front desk employees who answered all of my silly questions about the filming that has taken place there over the years. And, let me tell you, there’s been quite a bit of it. The Inn popped up in the Season Three episode of Desperate Housewives entitled “A Weekend In The Country” as the hotel where Gaby runs into her former lover John. The area used in that scene is the covered pathway located directly across from the hotel’s main entrance. The hotel room and elevator area where Gaby hides in a suitcase in that episode were filmed elsewhere, though.

Both the hotel’s pool . . .

. . . and its two story, 1,500 square foot “Villa Suite” were also used in that same episode during the scene in which Orson is daydreaming about his upcoming honeymoon with Bree. According to the hotel employee I talked to, another episode of Desperate Housewives was also filmed on location at the Inn. The episode consisted of one of the ladies kicking her husband out of their house, whereupon he checks into the Westlake Village Inn. Unfortunately I can’t figure out which episode that was, though. Does anyone out there remember it?

In the movie XXX, the hotel stood in for the Capital Country Club where Vin Diesel steals a member’s Corvette and then proceeds to drive it through a tiny covered walkway. XXX was filmed before the hotel’s recent remodel, though, so, as you can see in the above screen captures and photograph, the valet area looks a bit different today.

And according to the employee I talked to, a real life Corvette was actually driven down the walkway pictured above during the filming of that scene. Amazing!

The employee also said that producers brought in a new valet desk for that scene – even though said desk was only visible for a split second – and the hotel ended up keeping it and is still using it today. 🙂 So cool!

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The hotel was also used for a large car crash scene in an episode of the television series Eli Stone.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Westlake Village Inn is located at 31943 Agoura Road in Westlake Village. You can visit their website here.

February 4, 2010February 4, 2010

Brenda and Dylan’s Palm Springs Hotel from “Beverly Hills, 90210”

Another Beverly Hills, 90210 location that I stalked recently was the Hyatt Westlake Plaza which stood in for both Brenda’s hotel – the Desert Palm Mirage – and Dylan’s hotel – the Desert Mirage – in the Season One episode entitled “A Fling in Palm Springs” (aka “Palm Springs Weekend”). Why that particular episode has two different names I’m not entirely sure, but I digress. I found this location thanks to Geoff over at 90210 Locations who posted the address a few weeks back. The “Palm Springs Weekend” episode has always been one of my favorites (mostly due to the charades game played at the end during which Dylan points to Brenda to convey the movie Pretty Woman to the rest of the gang – SO CUTE!), so when I saw that Geoff had tracked down the hotel featured in it, I just about started screaming. I had literally wanted to stalk that location for as long as I can remember. So, I immediately dragged my fiancé right out to the Valley to do some long overdue “Palm Springs” stalking, Beverly Hills, 90210-style.

And while the exterior of the Hyatt Westlake Plaza looks EXACTLY the same today as it did when 90210 was filmed there over 18 years ago,

sadly the interior has been extensively remodeled in recent years and looks quite a bit different today.

In the “Palm Springs Weekend” episode, Kelly and Donna mistakenly drop Brenda off at the Desert Palm Mirage hotel to meet Dylan for a romantic rendezvous, but as fate would have it Dylan is actually staying at the similarly named Desert Mirage hotel. And because Brenda has misplaced her wallet and can’t get ahold of Kelly or Dylan (how did people ever survive without cell phones???), she is forced to spend the night on a cot in the hotel’s broom closet. God, I miss 90210! The areas used in the episode include the main entrance;

the front desk,

and the pay phone station, which is now an Enterprise Rent-A-Car office. As you can see in the above screen captures and photographs, the interior of the hotel is virtually unrecognizable from the episode. 🙁

But I did manage to dig up a few old pictures of the hotel from the Here Comes the Guide website (YAY!) and as you can see in the above screen captures and photograph, the former front desk matches the one that appeared on 90210 exactly.

Another thing I noticed while looking at old photographs of the hotel was that up until the recent remodel, a piece of furniture seen in the background of the “Palm Springs Weekend” episode was still on display in the Hyatt’s lobby. So cool! If only I had stalked this place two years ago! UGH! 🙁 You can take a virtual tour of the former lobby area here.

Later on in the episode, Brenda shows up at Dylan’s hotel only to find him hanging out with a random girl named Janie. The Hyatt Westlake Plaza also stood in for Dylan’s hotel in the episode.

After catching him with Janie, Brenda has a minor meltdown (during which she actually screams “Bogus!” LOL) in front of the Hyatt’s elevators, which I am happy to report look EXACTLY the same today as they did on 90210. 🙂 So darn cool!

And while I didn’t recognize much of the Hyatt Westlake Plaza from the “Palm Springs Weekend” episode of 90210, what I did recognize it from – pretty much immediately upon entering – was another television series – ABC’s The Bachelor! As it turns out, the Hyatt Westlake Plaza is the very hotel where the contestants are put up for a few days pre-show before they move into the mansion. And, in this particular season’s opener, quite a bit of filming was done on location at the Hyatt. The areas used in that episode include the inside of several of the girls’ hotel rooms;

the lobby;

and the main entrance. And according to the February 1st issue of US Magazine, part of the alleged affair between booted contestant Rozlyn Papa and former Bachelor producer Ryan Callahan took place at the hotel where the girls were staying pre-show – which we now know is the Hyatt Westlake Plaza. 🙂 The Bachelor is FABULOUS this season, by the way, and as always I am ABSOLUTELY addicted to Reality Steve’s coverage of it. 🙂 If you’re not watching, you really should be!

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Big THANK YOU to Geoff over at 90210 locations for finding this location.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Hyatt Westlake Plaza is located at 880 South Westlake Boulevard in Westlake Village. You can visit their website here.

December 31, 2009December 30, 2009

The Blair House Inn from “Murder, She Wrote”

Way back in August, I received an email from a fellow stalker named Jenny who wanted to know if I had ever stalked Mendocino’s Blair House Inn – a quaint little Victorian bed and breakfast better known as Jessica Fletcher’s (aka Angela Lansbury’s) residence on the long-running television series Murder, She Wrote. And, amazingly enough, I actually had! As I’ve mentioned a few times before, I grew up in Northern California – San Francisco to be exact – and when I was about 18 years old, my mom, my dad, and I started spending our Easters in Mendocino, a small coastal town located just about two hours north of the Bay Area. Well, as you can imagine, I was absolutely floored during that first Easter when I discovered – thanks to the now out-of-print book Mendocino & The Movies – that countless productions had been filmed in the area. So, I, of course, immediately dragged my parents right out to do some stalking! And the first location I stalked just happened to be the Murder, She Wrote house. I had yet to blog about the residence, though, because that particular stalking adventure took place long before the digital age of film and I had absolutely no idea whatsoever where I had stored my Blair House photographs. It wasn’t until just a couple of weeks ago that I was finally able to sift through the numerous picture boxes I keep in my parents’ garage and, thankfully, I found my Mendocino stalking photos pretty much immediately. So, without further ado . . . I give you my post on the Murder, She Wrote house, aka the Blair House Inn. 🙂

The Blair House Inn was originally built in 1888 as a private residence for a successful banker named Elisha Blair, who had migrated to the area from Maine with his family in 1857. It’s quite ironic to me that the original owner of the Blair House hailed from Maine, being that on Murder, She Wrote, Jessica Fletcher’s residence was also supposedly located in the Pine Tree State. I guess you can say that the property came full circle! 🙂 The Blair House was built by Mendocino architect Oliver Johnson and was constructed entirely out of Douglas Fir and Redwood trees and, amazingly enough, still looks almost exactly the same today as it did back in 1888!

The Blair House Inn is extremely proud of its cinematic history and even had a replica of Jessica Fletcher’s beloved bike built to put on display in the property’s front yard, which I think is just about the coolest thing ever! They also named their largest room “Angela’s Suite”, in honor of Murder, She Wrote’s lead actress Angela Lansbury. You can see photograph’s of Angela’s Suite here. And while my family never actually stayed at the Blair House Inn, it looks like a fabulous place to spend a weekend.

Being that Mendocino doubled for the fictitious town of Cabot Cove on Murder, She Wrote, the Blair House Inn was hardly the only area locale to be featured on the series. In fact, once a year, the entire cast and crew of the highly popular mystery show would venture out to Mendocino and spend at least one week on location shooting exterior scenes and establishing shots to be used throughout each season. Out of the 264 Murder, She Wrote episodes that aired during the series’ twelve year run, only nine were actually filmed on location in Mendocino, but establishing shots of the town were featured almost weekly. Some Mendocino citizens were even cast in the various episodes shot on location. Oh, if only I had lived there while the show was being filmed!!! 😉

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Blair House Inn from Murder, She Wrote is located at 45110 Little Lake Street in Mendocino. You can visit their website here. The Heritage House, which was the hotel used in the movie Same Time, Next Year, is located just a few miles south at 5200 North Highway 1 in Little River.

November 30, 2009December 9, 2020

The Hyatt Regency Valencia from “Twilight”

The other Los Angeles area filming location from Twilight that I mentioned in last Wednesday’s post is the Hyatt Regency Valencia Hotel. In Twilight, the Hyatt stood in for the Phoenix area hostelry where Bella (aka Kristen Stewart), Alice (aka Ashley Greene), and Jasper (aka Jackson Rathbone) hid out while on the run from the evil vampire James (Cam Gigandet) towards the end of the movie. In reality, the hotel is, of course, not located anywhere near Arizona, but instead can be found just about four miles away from the home that was used as Bella’s mom’s house in the flick. So, of course, since I was already in the area last week, I just had to stalk the place. 🙂 I found this location thanks again to the link that fellow stalker Kerry sent me last April while the first Twilight movie was still in production. Thank you, Kerry! 🙂

The Hyatt is, sadly, featured only briefly in Twilight, but I am happy to report that it looks very much the same in person as it did onscreen. In the scene featuring the Hyatt, Bella, Jasper, and Alice are first shown hanging out in a hotel room discussing their current predicament. And while the exterior set up shots for that scene were indeed filmed at the Hyatt Regency Valencia, after looking at photographs of the hotel’s rooms online, I am fairly certain that the interior filming took place elsewhere. My best guess is that the hotel room scene was either filmed on a soundstage or at a real hotel located somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, where the rest of the movie was filmed.

We next see Jasper and Alice in the hotel’s lobby area waiting to check out. And, as you can see in the above photographs and screen capture, that particular scene was actually shot on location at the Hyatt Regency Valencia and the lobby area still looks pretty much the same in person as it did in Twilight. Even the red flower paintings hanging behind the reception desk are there in real life. 🙂 Love it!

In a subsequent scene, Bella is shown rushing out of the Hyatt Regency Valencia’s main entrance and into a waiting taxi cab. And that pretty much covers the entire Twilight segment that took place at the Hyatt! LOL All told, the scenes probably last a little under 45 seconds. As I said in the previous Wednesday’s post, though, it’s better than nothing! 🙂

While stalking the hotel, I happened to strike up a conversation with one of the bellhops who truly could NOT have been nicer to me. He even took the photograph of me featured at the top of this post. 🙂 According to the bellhop, the Hyatt is actually an oft-used filming location and has been featured in such series as CSI: Las Vegas, NCIS, and the reality show Make It Or Break It. The bellhop said that a scene from Twilight was also filmed in the hotel’s parking garage, but he wasn’t sure which scene. He also informed me that Robert Pattinson actually stayed at the Hyatt Regency Valencia for a few days during the filming of Twilight. LOVE IT! The Hyatt Regency Valencia is a really beautiful hotel, with a large swimming pool, picturesque gardens, and a beautiful wedding courtyard (pictured above). I highly recommend stalking the place or even staying there while visiting the L.A. area. Who knows – you may even wind up in RP’s former room! 🙂

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On a very random side note: Earlier today, while reading the fabulous book Twilight: Director’s Notebook, I learned that the scene pictured above, in which Bella and Edward kiss for the first time, was actually filmed in Pasadena! Apparently, the scene was originally filmed on location in Oregon, but director Catherine Hardwicke never ended up getting the exact shot she wanted. So, a few months later, when the cast and crew was back in California, some reshoots were done, one of which was the Bella/Edward kiss scene. For the re-shoot, a replica of Bella’s bedroom was built at the Elk’s Lodge in Pasadena. 🙂 So, as it turns out, there are actually three L.A. area locations that were featured in Twilight. 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Hyatt Regency Valencia, where Bella, Jasper, and Alice hid out in Twilight, is located at 24500 Town Center Drive in Valencia. You can visit their website here. The Elks Lodge in Pasadena, where Bella and Edward first kissed, is located at 400 West Colorado Boulevard. You can visit their website here.

November 5, 2009November 4, 2009

The Hotel St. James

The one location that Mike, from MovieShotsLA, told me I could absolutely NOT come home from New York without stalking was the seedy hotel where Josh Baskin (aka Tom Hanks) stayed after first becoming “big” in the 1988 movie of the same name. Mike had found the location of the Hotel St. James thanks to fave website The 80s Movies Rewind shortly before I left on my Big Apple vacation. So, since Owen, my fiancé, and I had already stalked several other Big filming locations during our NYC stalking day, we decided to keep the theme going by also making a stop at the Hotel St. James. The twelve story St. James, which first opened up in 1972 and is no longer the mangy place it was when Big was filmed, is considered to be one of the city’s most affordable hotels. Located just a block away from Times Square, a room at the St. James will run you anywhere from $159 to $269 per night depending on the time of year. Let me tell you, rates that low in Manhattan are almost unheard of! And thankfully, in real life, the hotel looks NOTHING like it did in the movie – otherwise I might never have ventured inside! LOL

The Hotel St. James first shows up in the very beginning of Big, as the seedy little place that Josh and Billy stumble upon while wandering the streets of Manhattan looking for an affordable hotel. Thanks to the shady characters hanging around out front, Josh refuses to even walk inside the place, prompting Billy to say “St. James, Josh! It’s religious!” LOL LOL LOL Josh and Billy end up booking a room at the hotel, which costs them $17.50 a night, plus a ten dollar deposit for the sheets. LOL LOL LOL Apparently, at the time Big was filmed during the late 80s, the St. James really was a decrepit little spot in a very shady part of town. But thanks to Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to clean up Times Square, Disney’s restoration of the New Amsterdam Theatre, and a renovation of the actual St. James itself, the hotel is really quite beautiful – and quite safe – now. 🙂

Several areas of the St. James were featured in Big, including the exterior (On a side note, the sign in the entrance door pictured in the screen capture above reads, “Firearms Kept On Premises”. LOL LOL LOL Really shows what a classy joint the hotel used to be!) ;

the lobby entrance;

and the check-in desk, which as you can see in the above photographs and screen captures is still positioned in the exact same place as it was in Big. The plastic partition and the toothless concierge are long since gone, though. 🙂

According to the EXTREMELY friendly concierge that I talked to, while the filming of Big did take place in the lobby area of the St. James, the hallway and hotel room scenes were actually all filmed on a studio soundstage. However, I’m not entirely convinced that information is correct. After recently re-watching the movie, it seems to me that a real St. James’ hotel room and the real St. James hallways were used in the filming. Thankfully, though, as you can see in these photographs, both the rooms and the hallways have undergone significant remodeling since that time! LOL

It is in Josh’s St. James hotel room that the very famous Big silly string scene took place. 🙂

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I highly recommend stalking the Hotel St. James! Even though it has undergone some drastic changes in the years since the filming of Big took place, the hotel is still set up very similarly to how it was portrayed in the movie and is therefore still very recognizable. 🙂 The Hotel St. James also looks like a very nice, very affordable place to spend a few nights when visiting the Big Apple! And while the newly renovated St. James is not luxurious or upscale by any means, it prides itself on having roomy, comfortable, clean accommodations. If the lobby is any indication of what the rooms look like, they must be be pretty darn nice!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Hotel St. James is located at 109 West 45th Street in Midtown Manhattan. You can visit their website here.

October 13, 2009December 6, 2013

The Carlyle Hotel

Yet another of my favorite New York haunts is the ultra-exclusive Carlyle Hotel, located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. I blogged about the Carlyle’s famous Bemelman’s Bar, which was featured in Sex and the City: The Movie, after last year’s trip to the Big Apple, but didn’t include much information on the actual hotel itself. So, here goes. The Carlyle Hotel, which was named after author Thomas Carlyle, was built by Moses Ginsberg and designed in the Art Deco style by architects Sylvan Bien & Harry M. Prince. The thirty-five story building first opened its doors in November of 1930 and was actually a residential hotel at the time, with apartments leasing for approximately $20,000 a year. To show you how times have changed, today there is a room at the Carlyle which rents for approximately $15,000 a night! LOL Due to the Great Depression, the hotel did not fare well during the early years. In 1932, it was sold to new owners who managed to keep it afloat and occupied, but failed to really put the hotel on the map. In 1948, businessman Robert Whittle Downing purchased the building with the intent of transforming it into an exclusive, upscale hotel property. And transform it, he did! Shortly after the change of ownership, then-president Harry S. Truman stayed at the Carlyle, and the rest, as they say is, history. Every president since that time has stayed at the Carlyle at least once during their presidency. In fact, JFK owned an apartment at the hotel from 1953 until the time of his death and was such a frequent visitor that during his tenure the Carlyle earned the nickname “the New York White House”. (By the way, I have absolutely no idea what I was looking at when my dad snapped the above picture, but it’s the only one I have of the front of the hotel. LOL)

JFK’s wife Jackie was also a frequent guest at the Carlyle during her lifetime. The hotel honored her patronage by placing the above framed photograph just inside the main entrance. Ironically enough, rumor has it that Marilyn Monroe was also a frequent visitor to the Carlyle – but only when JFK was in town and only when Jackie wasn’t able to accompany him. According to legend, there is a secret tunnel system located below the hotel which allows the rich and famous to enter and leave the property without being spotted by the masses. Thanks to the discretion and privacy that the Carlyle affords, it has long been a celebrity magnet. In fact, the New York Times just recently dubbed it “a Palace of Secrets”. Just a few of the celebs who have been spotted at the hotel through the years include Elizabeth Taylor, Steve Martin, Debbie Reynolds, Princess Diana, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Christian Slater, France’s First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Scarlett Johansson, Jack Nicholson, Gwen Stefani, Nicole Kidman, Jay Z, Beyonce, Ryan Reynolds, Britney Spears, Swiss tennis star Roger Federer, Kate Bosworth, Victoria Beckham, Kate Hudson, Katie Holmes, and Tom Cruise. And, of course, Sarah Jessica Parker. In fact, SJP and Matthew Broderick are such fans of the Carlyle that they not only honeymooned at the hotel, but hosted an after-after party for the Sex and the City: The Movie premiere there.

The Carlyle is an absolutely beautiful place, with sparkling marble floors, dark wood paneling, crystal chandeliers, and antique elevators complete with real gloved operators. And I highly recommend stalking the place! If you can’t afford to stay there (the average cost of a room is about $525!), you can grab a drink in the hotel’s Bemelman’s Bar or dine in their restaurant, Cafe Carlyle. On our last trip to the Big Apple, we stopped in to the hotel and I asked my dad to snap some photos of of it for me while I went to ask the concierge about the filming that had taken place there over the years. The two pictures shown above were the result of that request. LOL Why he took only two photographs, both of me and not of the hotel, I’ll never know! LOL My apologies! Anyway, to get a better idea of what the Carlyle looks like inside, take a peek at the photo gallery on the hotel’s website. 🙂

The Carlyle is also, of course, a filming location. Woody Allen met ex-wife Tea Leoni at the Carlyle’s Bemelman’s Bar for a drink in the 2002 movie Hollywood Ending. Woody also shot a date scene with Dianne Wiest in the hotel’s restaurant, Cafe Carlyle, for the 1986 movie Hannah and her Sisters.

According to the book New York: A Movie Lover’s Guide, the penthouse where Anthony Hopkins lived in Meet Joe Black was actually one of the Carlyle Hotel’s deluxe suites. The exteriors of his building, however, were filmed elsewhere.

Also according to New York: A Movie Lover’s Guide, the Carlyle stood in for the European hotel where Glenn Close first met Jeremy Irons in the 1990 movie Reversal of Fortune, but I’m not entirely sure that information is correct. As you can see in the above screen captures, the decor just doesn’t seem to match that of the Carlyle.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Carlyle Hotel is located at 25 East 76th Street on New York’s Upper East Side.

October 12, 2009December 6, 2013

The St. Regis Hotel

Last year while visiting Manhattan, I dragged my boyfriend out to the posh St. Regis New York hotel on 55th Street. I had wanted to see the St. Regis not so much because it is an oft-used filming location, but because my girl Marilyn Monroe stayed there back in 1954 while on location in New York filming favorite movie The Seven Year Itch. I found this spot thanks to favorite Manhattan stalking book New York: The Movie Lover’s Guide, which claimed that the hotel was the site of a monumental fight between Marilyn and her then-husband Joe DiMaggio. According to the book, and just about everything else ever written about The Seven Year Itch, Joe and Marilyn’s relationship was not in a good place at the time of the filming. Things came to a head on September 15, 1954 – the night Marilyn filmed the famous subway grate scene. Joe was on hand for the shoot that night and became absolutely irate at the fact that 5,000 spectators had showed up to catch a glimpse of his wife’s unmentionables. Legend has it that the fight between Marilyn and Joe started out on the 52nd street set and continued all the way back to their suite at the St. Regis Hotel, where their screaming awakened the entire floor! Now, I’m not sure if the story about the St. Regis brawl is true or not, but I just had to stalk the hotel regardless. 🙂

The St. Regis New York was built in 1904 by millionaire businessman John Jacob Astor IV and at the time was considered to be the finest hotel in all of Manhattan. Today it is considered to be one of the finest hotels in all of the world. Astor’s goal was to build a hotel where guests would not only experience the utmost in luxurious accommodations, but at the same feel as if they were staying in a private home. To give his hotel that “home away from home” feel, each of the St. Regis’ 229 rooms (164 regular rooms and 65 suites) featured a doorbell. 🙂 At the time of its opening each room also boasted such state-of-the-art amenities as personal thermostats, fire alarms, central air conditioning, telephones, Steinway pianos (yes, each room had its own Steinway piano!!!!), and – my personal favorite – a centralized vacuum system. Rather than lugging around vacuum cleaners all day long to each and every room, the housekeeping staff had only to attach a small hose to sockets that were located in the hotel walls and the dirt would simply be sucked away. My former boss had a centralized vacuum system in his house and, let me tell you, it’s just about the COOLEST THING EVER! The fact that the St. Regis had one back in 1904 is mind-boggling to me! In today’s world, the St. Regis name has become synonymous with luxury, splendor, and the utmost in hospitality. The amenities of 2009 include a spa, a fitness center, a business center, and twenty-four hour butler service!! The St. Regis New York has won countless awards over the years, including most recently “Top 75 Hotels in the United States” by Conde Nast Traveler, “World’s Best” by Travel & Leisure Magazine, the “Five-Star Award” by the Mobil Travel Guide, and – for the past fourteen years in a row – the “Five Diamond Award” by AAA! The above photographs were taken during last year’s New York vacation in a sitting room located just off of the St. Regis lobby. As you can see, the hotel is absolutely BEAUTIFUL inside and I just love visiting it. I would also LOVE to stay there sometime, but being that rates start at around $600 per night, there is no way in heck the Grim Cheaper would ever go for that!

The exclusive St. Regis has long been a celebrity haven. Besides Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, past guests of the hotel include Humphrey Bogart, Salvador Dali, Russian Prince Colonel Serge Obelensky, Marlene Dietrich, Rex Harrison, Alfred Hitchcock, Ernest Hemingway, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, John Huston, Joseph Pulitzer, William Paley, and Gertrude Lawrence, just to name a few. In more recent years Demi Moore, Nathan Lane, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Penn, Victor Garber, Scarlett Johansson, Tara Reid, Thora Birch, Courteney Cox, and Martin Short have all been spotted at the hotel.

And, of course, the St. Regis is also a filming location! 🙂 The hotel’s King Cole Bar showed up in fave movie The First Wives Club, as the location where Goldie Hawn lamented over being asked to play the character of “Monique’s mother” – instead of “Monique” – in her next movie. The King Cole is famous in and of itself thanks to the massive Maxfield Parrish mural of Old King Cole and his knights flanking the bar. In 1906, John Jacob Astor IV paid $5,000 for the commission of the eight foot by thirty foot mural and first hung it in another of his hotel properties, the Knickerbocker. When the Knickerbocker closed its doors in 1932, the mural was brought over to the St. Regis and hung above the bar, where legends about it abound – two in particular. The first story states that the face of King Cole in the painting is actually that of the hotel’s owner, John Jacob Astor IV. Legend also has it that the reason behind the King’s mischievous expression in the mural is that he has just passed gas. I’m not kidding! LOL And yet another legend asserts that the King Cole Bar is where the first ever Bloody Mary was served on U.S. soil. 🙂

The King Cole Bar was also featured very briefly in the movie The Devil Wears Prada as the location where my love Simon Baker gave Anne Hathaway the unpublished manuscript for the 7th “Harry Potter” book. I so LOVED The Devil Wears Prada, by the way. The movie is worth seeing just for Anne Hathaway’s wardrobe alone! 🙂

The St. Regis also popped up in the 1976 movie Taxi Driver as the location where Cybil Shepherd caught a ride with cabbie Robert De Niro.

In 2000’s Miss Congeniality, Michael Caine and Sandra Bullock dined at the St. Regis’ now-defunct Lespinasse Restaurant.

Joe Jackson’s (not MJ’s father) music video for his 1982 song ‘Steppin’ Out’ was also filmed at the hotel. And Woody Allen has shot no less than THREE movies on location at the St. Regis – Anything Else, Hannah and Her Sisters (the hotel was the site of Michael Caine and Barbara Hershey’s illicit affair), and Radio Days (Mia Farrow was a cigarette girl in the King Cole Bar).

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I honestly can’t recommend stalking the St. Regis New York enough. It is a truly beautiful, truly unique hotel. And I’d also recommend stalking the King Cole Bar – if you can get a seat, that is. My fiancé and I have tried to grab a cocktail there countless times on each of our numerous trips to New York, but have never been able to get a seat in the popular bar. 🙁

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The St. Regis New York hotel is located at 2 East 55th Street, at Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan. You can visit their website here.

September 9, 2009September 8, 2009

Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn & Suites from Bring It On

The second item on my Bring It On stalking agenda from last weekend was a little hotel named Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn & Suites, which is also located on San Diego’s Shelter Island, just down the street from the Marlin Club which I blogged about yesterday. This is one location that I actually hadn’t planned on stalking when I first headed down to San Diego last Friday. But – thanks to fellow stalker Owen – I had the address written down in my trusty stalking notebook, so when my dad mentioned that he wanted to look at a boat store that was in the same area as Humphrey’s, I asked if he would be so kind as to also take me by the hotel. Well, as you can probably imagine, that request did NOT go over well AT ALL! My dad promptly reminded me that I had originally promised I would only be dragging him to two stalking locations that weekend. He was more than just slightly peeved that I was all of a sudden adding previously unmentioned locales to the list. In his defense, though, he hadn’t really been feeling well all weekend and, being that he just barely tolerates my stalking habit on a good day, perhaps this is one request I shouldn’t have made. But since we were going to be in the area, I just HAD to ask. Well, my dad did end up – very relunctantly – taking me by the hotel and, as fate would have it, as soon as we got there he absolutely fell in love with the place! He took about a million pictures, walked the entire hotel grounds, and even suggested to my mom that they stay there during their next San Diego trip. LOL LOL LOL See, as I’ve always said, good things come to those who stalk!! 🙂 You simply just never know what cool spot is waiting right around the corner for you to discover!

I’m actually not at all surprised that my dad was so taken with Humphrey’s, as it is a really beautiful hotel which boasts a private marina, picturesque ocean views, a fitness center, a heated pool and jacuzzi complete with a poolside bar, a putting green, a spa, large lawns, meandering ponds, and a waterfront restaurant which was recently named “San Diego’s Finest Restaurant with Live Music Venue” by the California Restaurant Association.

Humphrey’s also has quite a large celebrity connection. Besides being a favorite of television star John Stamos, whose E! True Hollywood Story was filmed in part at the hotel, each summer Humphrey’s is also the site of a very successful outdoor concert series named Humphrey’s Concerts by the Bay. I literally almost fell over when I read a list of the many famous names who had recently graced Humphrey’s stage. Those names include The Soup’s Joel McHale (so LOVE him!), Joe Cocker, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, LeAnn Rimes, Joan Baez, the Indigo Girls, Tori Amos, Jewel, Chicago, Tears for Fears, the Moody Blues, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Lyle Lovett, Tracy Chapman, Tower of Power, Dave Koz, Sinbad, Air Supply, Christopher Cross, Wanda Sykes, the Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Loggins & Messina, and Chris Botti. Whew! What a lineup!

Ironically enough, while my parents and I were perusing the hotel grounds (before we had learned about Humphrey’s A-List concert series), we happened upon a rock group setting up in a backstage area. As we were walking by, one of the band members put his arm out to block my path and said “Hey, are you with the band?” I was a bit taken aback at the man’s rude tone and said “No, I’m sorry, I’m actually not with the band. Am I not supposed to be walking through here?” The guy laughed and said “Aw, I’m just joking with you. Unless, of course, you want to volunteer to help these guys set up the stage.” To which I said, “If you make me the star of your next music video, I might stick around to help.” LOL Well, the guy just laughed at me and that was that. Until a few minutes later when I noticed a large crate with the words “RatDog” and “Grateful Dead” stenciled across the front. I immediately grabbed my mom and said “Oh my God, I think we were just talking to members of the Grateful Dead!” She looked at me like I was absolutely crazy and said “No, Lindsay, trust me, the Grateful Dead would not be playing here.” Well, come to find out, former Dead guitarist Bob Weir and his band, RatDog, were, in fact, playing at Humphrey’s that night and not only had we walked right past some of the band members, but I had actually unknowingly spoken with one and asked him to put me in his next music video! LOL LOL LOL When we went back later to ask the band if they’d take a picture with me, they were, unfortunately, nowhere to be found. 🙁

In Bring It On, Humphrey’s stood in for the Daytona Beach Tiki Adventure Suites hotel where Kirsten Dunst and the rest of the Toros stayed during the Universal Cheer Association Nationals Competition towards the end of the movie. I’m actually quite surprised that producers chose to use Humphrey’s to represent a Florida area hotel, as the place looks more like it belongs in Waikiki than Daytona Beach. Although its close proximity to the Marlin Club must have made it the easy choice for filming.

Several areas of the hotel were featured in Bring It On, including the front entrance;

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the exterior of some of the rooms,

the pool area,

and the interior of one of the rooms.

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Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn & Suites is a really beautiful place and I highly recommend stalking it! I am very much looking forward to my parent’s next trip down to San Diego, as it looks like they will most likely be staying at Humphrey’s, so you can bet I’ll be tagging along with them once again!!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Bring It On hotel, aka Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn & Suites, is located at 2303 Shelter Island Drive on Shelter Island, just outside of Point Loma, in San Diego. You can visit their website here. Humphrey’s is located just down the street from another Bring It On location – the Marlin Club – which can be found at 2445 Shelter Island Drive.