If walls could talk, they would have a lot to say at the "Chateau Marmont" in West Hollywood. Every room, every corridor, the old bar and the lobby, indeed every corner of the notoriously legendary hotel is filled with memories of cinema icons and wild musicians, creative people, authors and many other celebrities. Numerous anecdotes included.

Every guest who reserves a room is welcome here. But Hollywood loved the "Chateau Marmont" from the very beginning and has always made it the backdrop for great cinema about love and art, scandals and debauchery behind the high walls. The cast included stars such as James Dean, Marilyn Monroe and Scarlett Johansson as well as Paul Newman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp and star photographer Helmut Newton. The list is endless.

Dennis Hopper once wanted to bathe in champagne here with Natalie Wood, but the actress ended up in the emergency room. And while Howard Hughes is said to have enjoyed watching the starlets by the pool with binoculars from his penthouse, the great director Billy Wilder once spent a few days in a room next to the lobby toilet because there was nothing else free. "The room was small, but it had six toilets," was his dry comment at the time. Jean Harlow also continued her affair with Clark Gable here, even though she had just remarried. And Britney Spears? She smeared food on her face when she collapsed, after which she was expelled from the restaurant. Some of these stories also ended tragically. The "Blues Brother" John Belushi, for example, died of a drug overdose in one of the bungalows in 1982.

French role model

The "Chateau Marmont" has existed since 1929, when cinema experienced the sound film revolution. At this time, the lawyer Fred Horowitz found the ideal place for his building fantasy on Sunset Boulevard, which at that time was more of a gravel road; a luxurious apartment building that was to be modelled on a castle. The inspiration for this was the "Château d'Amboise" in the Loire Valley, which he had discovered on a trip to Europe. His plan with the apartments did not work out during the global economic crisis. After the building was sold, the large wooden doors opened for hotel guests after just a few months.

At that time, the luxury hotel "Garden of Allah" was being built across the street, which came to an end in the 1950s. The striking "Chateau Marmont", which was already from a distance over the Sunset Strip still stands despite the difficult times; built to withstand earthquakes, at the corner where Marmont Lane winds its way up a hill.

The main building comprises seven floors in Gothic style - including columns, arches and vaulted ceilings, all a bit like something out of a fairy tale. 63 rooms of varying sizes lead off the dimly lit, yellow-gold corridors. The hotel was later extended to include cottages and bungalows in the Mid-century Modernist style.

Discretion comes first

Like every castle, the Chateau Marmont is a world unto itself. You can hear the muffled sound of traffic by the pool and the billboards that tower behind the palm trees bring reality into the hotel cosmos for the duration of a fleeting glance. However, guests are looking for privacy here, because the "Chateau Marmont" is a refuge and, paradoxically, although it is located in Hollywood, it functions as a hiding place. Discretion is the top priority in this "no-tell hotel". It is not only the winding garden with its tropical opulence and lush greenery that offers corners and niches where you can retreat. Those who want to show themselves and present themselves to the public go to other places in Los Angeles.

Relaxing by the pool on the orange loungers under the white and light blue umbrellas gives you a bit of a movie star feeling - as if you had strayed into Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere", for which the hotel served as a backdrop in 2010. The pool was even immortalised on the cinema poster back then. In the course of all these stories of its illustrious guests, the hotel itself became a star in films, novels and music. Just a few years ago, British musician Jarvis Cocker, frontman of the band "Pulp", together with pianist Chilly Gonzales, dedicated an entire concept album to the famous "Room 29". Even Marilyn Monroe spent the night in the room where guests can find a piano to play.

Some things are not as perfect, glamorous and luxurious as some might expect in a luxury hotel. But this is precisely where the charm lies: the "Chateau Marmont" has this aura of something special and a strong personality, has fallen out of time and is full of secrets. When hotelier André Balasz took over the hotel in the early 1990s and carried out the necessary modernisations, they were carried out so carefully that the seams between yesterday and today are barely visible. The charm of old Hollywood, which rests within these walls, has remained intact and has been saved for the present day. Even above the elevator door there is still the old pointer that indicates the floor.

Many of the furnishings in the rooms and suites have also survived the decades and date back to the first decades; even the delightful tiles in the bathrooms are sometimes original. To this day, guests reside in tasteful rooms with patina and understated elegance. "Dial 0 for anything" is written on a welcome card. There are few places like this in a relentlessly fast-paced city.

Don't pull out your cell phone!

On the restaurant terrace, surrounded by greenery, you can dine in casual elegance under white umbrellas. The clearly laid out menu includes dishes such as grilled king prawns, linguini with mussels, char-grilled burgers and the classic spaghetti Bolognese. If you're lucky enough to spot a celebrity or two while eating, you don't even have to pull out your cell phone; photography is expressly not permitted!

By the way: this exclusive Hollywood hotel story was almost over recently. After the start of the coronavirus pandemic, there was briefly an idea to turn the hotel into an exclusive members' club. But after the plans were announced, there were so many outraged calls that the plan was scrapped. So the legend lives on - outside of time.

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