The bungalows where celebrities stay are probably really nice, but the small standard rooms (300 square feet) are less so. Bob Hope Airport in Burbank is about 14 miles away, which can translate to a 45 minute drive in traffic, but it's still a better option than Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), which can take one and a half hours.Valet parking only, pricey per day (if eating at one of the hotel's restaurants, the first three hours of parking will be validated).At least a 30-minute drive to Santa Monica and L.A.'s beaches.
Sunset Plaza, a walkable half-mile stretch of noted restaurants like BLT Steak and upscale boutiques like Roberto Cavalli and Catherine Malandrino, is a short drive, or 15-minute walk from the hotel.Steps from the famed music clubs on the Sunset Strip.The heart of the Hollywood Walk of Fame is two miles away, the Hollywood Bowl is a 15-minute drive, and Universal Studios is about 20 minutes by car.No porte cochere, no gold-plated gate, no big, burly guards. One of the most prestigious addresses in Hollywood, but its entrance is easy to miss - it's just a short, narrow driveway marked by a small sign.The Sunset Strip, which has long been known for music clubs like the House of Blues, the Roxy, Viper Room, and Whisky A Go-Go, has become significantly more upscale since its strip club and head shop days in the '70s and '80s (a head shop remains, however, across from the hotel). Located in the heart of West Hollywood on the Sunset Strip, the Chateau Marmont planted its flag at 8221 Sunset Boulevard decades before nearby celebrity haunts like the Mondrian and the Standard Hollywood showed up a half-mile down the road. Oyster's advice? Book a room at the London West Hollywood and head to Bar Marmont to satisfy your urge to sight a celebrity. One of the best, most spacious rooms in all of L.A. But you'll find a better standard room almost anywhere else in West Hollywood. You can't put a price tag on celebrity sightings.
Tourists are paying for the cachet of staying at one of the most storied hotels in the world. With the exception of minor renovations, rooms haven't been redone since 1990. But the standard rooms are small (300 square feet) and shabby (stained carpets, grime around the baseboards), with an outdated bathroom - and overall a letdown. So the quality of the 62 other rooms, suites, cottages, or bungalows can't be vouched for. Oyster wasn't allowed in to photograph any room other than our own, nor did the hotel allow us to take photographs inside the hotel (other than the few that were snuck with a small camera). As Philip Truelove, a former manager at the Chateau (and current manger of Robert DeNiro's Greenwich Hotel in New York City) told Entertainment Weekly in 1992, "This is not a hotel for tourists." And 20 years later, that still holds true - this is a hotel for celebrities, celebrity voyeurs, and connoisseurs of celebrity life. But the Chateau can prove to be one of the most overrated hotels in L.A. They're drawn to its history, its distressed décor, and the air of exclusivity that pervades every nook and cranny. Those who love the Chateau tend to be part of the Hollywood tribe. While there's no debating that the Chateau is an icon, it's not a hotel for ordinary people. Scott Fitzgerald had a heart attack here, and members of Led Zeppelin rode motorcycles through the lobby. Former residents include Greta Garbo, Robert DeNiro, and Lindsay Lohan.
Loosely modeled after a chateau in France's Loire Valley, this temple of romance and hedonism has a history as thick as the stains on its carpets. As Harry Cohn, founder of Columbia Pictures, famously told screen legends William Holden and Glenn Ford, "If you're going to get in trouble, do it at the Chateau Marmont." With its faded oriental rugs, velvet couches, beveled mirrors, and brass candelabras, the atmosphere is brooding and nostalgic, as discreet as it is decadent. Perched on a hill overlooking Sunset Boulevard, the Chateau Marmont has been a bastion of old Hollywood - and a way of life for many a celebrity - since it opened in 1929.