The Beverly Hills Hotel
The Pink Palace.
Originally built in 1912, the Beverly Hills Hotel has been turning heads for more than a century.
Earlier this week, I found myself on the wide red carpet that leads into this posh establishment. The famed banana-leaf wallpaper is still there, as is the distinctive green and pink color scheme.
The hotel oozes vintage celebrity glamour. Dotting the walls of the lobby are charcoal drawings and black and white photographs of some of this landmark's most well-known patrons; Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, Frank Sinatra, Howard Hughes, and of course, Elizabeth Taylor, who is said to have spent six of her eight honeymoons on the property.
That said, to go to the Beverly Hills Hotel is not an experience of grandeur. The sprawling grounds are carefully landscaped to offer the eye a smaller scale. The twisting paths that usher patrons to the bungalows are lush but petite. The pool, where Faye Dunaway once posed with her Academy Award, is tastefully constrained. Despite being lined with velvet, the elevators hail from the early 20th-century. Somehow the hotel's shimmering luxury remains demure, understated even.
If you're looking for vistas and marble and chandeliers, this venue is not the one. But if private nooks, polished bar tops, and a penchant for the 1940's, 50's, and 60's are what you seek, welcome to the Beverly Hills Hotel. It does not disappoint....
"I took my daily swim at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool despite the presence of onlookers." - Esther Williams, actress known for her "aquamusicals"
