Opened in 1923, the Millennium Biltmore is a landmark hotel and designated historic-cultural monument located across from Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles, California.
The Millennium Biltmore Hotel has been the setting for a long list of notable moments in pop culture history. Guests over the decades are too numerous to list, but in short they span movie stars, politicians, musicians, and A-listers from Charlie Chaplin to Taylor Swift.
The Biltmore Hotel hosted eight Academy Awards ceremonies throughout the 1930s, it's here that JFK became the presidential nominee during the 1960 Democratic National Convention, and it's where the Beatles came to stay on their first U.S. tour in 1964.
If some of these locations look familiar that's not surprising either, the Biltmore has been a filming location for movies including Beverly Hills Cop, Ghostbusters, and Independence Day - TV shows like 24 and Mad Men - and music videos for Britney Spears and Ed Sheeran.
Since it was first announced in 2012, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California has been a landmark that I've been excited to see completed. The opening date has been pushed back several times since 2017, but it was announced during this year's Oscars that the museum will (hopefully) open its doors in December 2020.
Located next door to LACMA, which is undergoing its own massive changes, it's been interesting to see this site develop on Wilshire's Museum Row over the last few years. On a recent visit in February I captured a few new images of the progress showing The Sphere / David Geffen Theater and the restored exterior of the May Company Building. I'm hopeful I'll finally be able to explore the collections of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in 2021.
A standout along Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is chock-full of history, charm, and an upscale dose of vintage Tinseltown glamour. Opened in 1927, the Hollywood Roosevelt has hosted guests, parties, and movie shoots including everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Marilyn Monroe to Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Roosevelt Hotel is prime real estate if you're looking to make the most of your time in Hollywood. With so many watered down attractions screaming for your attention, the historic authenticity of the hotel provides some unique opportunities to explore.
For instance, the Oscars currently call the Dolby Theatre across the street home, but the very first Academy Awards actually took place right here in the Blossom Room at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. On May 16, 1929 it only took 15 minutes to hand out the awards.
Marilyn Monroe did a photo shoot for her first ever advertisement by the pool here. Supposedly during prohibition, actor Errol Flynn brewed up some bathtub gin in the backroom of the hotel's barbershop. Child star Shirley Temple took tap dancing lessons on one of the hotel's tiled stairways. And, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard had a "scandalous" affair in the penthouse. Not surprisingly, the Gable Lombard Penthouse now goes for thousands of dollars a night.
History like this makes you feel like you're rubbing elbows with the ghosts of legends. The Hollywood Roosevelt is trendy, modern, and as I found, a pretty photogenic hangout.
