The Beverly Hills Hotel

Review of The Beverly Hills Hotel

BusinessClass.com review by Varun Sharma

For over a century, The Beverly Hills Hotel’s iconic, pink sign has been a beacon of glamour, heralding a safe and luxurious haven for the well-heeled and the well-known. Often referred to as “The Pink Palace”, the hotel is set in nearly five hectares of beautifully landscaped grounds, gardens which feature more than 180 plants including palms, trees, shrubs, roses, herbs, ferns and many many more.

There are 210 guest rooms and suites including 23 one-of-a-kind bungalows. There are four restaurants and bars including the epicentre of Hollywood dining – The Polo Lounge, the site of many a negotiation or deal. The legendary pool dates back to 1938 and includes 11 private poolside cabanas, each named after a popular area of Los Angeles including Brentwood and Hollywood. The Beverly Hills Spa is located on the Promenade level of the hotel and offers 178 square metres of space including four treatments rooms including one couple’s suite and a relaxation room; a Nail Suite; separate steam rooms and saunas for men and women; The Salon by Joseph and a 24/7 fitness centre with TechnoGym equipment and free weights.

There is also a boutique, full of tempting branded merchandise for bringing a touch of Hollywood magic home.

The Beverly Hills Hotel is a member of the Dorchester Collection.

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Location

10/10

The Beverly Hills Hotel opened on 12th May, 1912 before the city even opened and was a welcome bolt-hole for wealthy individuals looking to buy property in the area. Today, the hotel’s twelve-acre site is prime residential real estate in one of the country’s most coveted zip codes – 90210.

With an ideal location on Sunset Boulevard, steps away from Rodeo Drive, the hotel is a place to see and be seen, catching glimpses of famous faces whilst being cossetted in a private garden enclave. It is also close to Melrose Avenue and West Hollywood and within easy proximity to the business and entertainment centres of Los Angeles and Century City.

The hotel offers complimentary transportation within a 5-kilometre radius of the hotel, perfect for nearby meetings, lunches or shopping excursions.

Los Angeles International Airport is just 40 minutes away with the coast a little further.

Accommodation

9/10

The Beverly Hills Hotel has 210 guestrooms and suites including 23 unique bungalows located around the beautiful gardens. Enjoying a residential feel intermingled with a modern Californian style, new guest rooms feature luxurious materials such as soft leathers and rich mohair in shades of cream and taupe, accented with the hotel’s signature pink and green colours. (The hotel was first painted its distinctive pink back in 1948 to complement the sunset and popular country style of the time).

All the rooms have a distinct contemporary Deco reference and feature bespoke embroidered bed linen, Bang & Olufsen televisions, a gourmet minibar, spacious and airy en-suite marble bathrooms with deep soaking tubs and separate showers, complimentary mineral water and a comfortable working area with a well-appointed desk. There are oversized walk-in closets with a third of the rooms featuring balconies, fireplaces, terraces or patios.  Walnut, ebonized oak and parchment lacquered furniture add depth to each room while custom antique bronze lighting fixtures illuminate the space. Views are of the city or the garden.

From the junior suites upwards, the colour palette continues bringing the idea of the gardens inside and the décor is contemporary but skillfully references earlier design decades to lend a timeless elegance. In honour of the designer who lent the property its inimitable style, Paul R Williams, there is a suite named for him and designed by him, typically decorated in a cool 1950s ambiance with a bespoke curved bar and a large patio. The Presidential Suite’s discreet charms including a spacious living room with a stunning gas fireplace and an expansive balcony overlooking Beverly Hills. There is also a den, dining room, a full kitchen for cooking up a storm and a spacious marble bathroom with double vanities and a walk-in shower.

The 23 bungalows are like individual homes with separate entrances, living and dining rooms, wood-burning fireplaces with luxury materials like granite and marble in evidence. Many have pianos, Jacuzzi tubs, silk bathrobes and even treadmills. The secluded presidential bungalow features a waterfall edge private plunge pool. There are floor to ceiling glass sliding doors allowing light to flood into the spacious living room with its raised beam ceiling and private study. The professional chef’s kitchen and dining room will accommodate up to ten guests for private lunches and dinners.

Several have interesting histories with Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Howard Hughes and Marlene Dietrich staying here in the past and each had their favourites with Charlie liking Bungalow 9, Howard Bungalow 3 and Marilyn preferring Bungalow 1. The famed Bungalow 8 nightclub in New York was inspired by the bungalow suites with interiors replete with palm trees and poolside murals.

Service & Facilities

9/10

The Beverly Hills Hotel Pool is famous in its own right. This large pool opened back in 1938 and quickly earned celebrity status when stars such as Katharine Hepburn jumped in fully clothed, The Beatles hosted a private pool party, Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall filmed there and Leonard Bernstein came up with the idea of West Side Story in cabana three.  The pool measures 20.1 metres by 9.1 metres, has underwater music and is heated to 27.8 degrees centigrade for year-round enjoyment.

Today the loungers house the affluent and the famous with fresh fruit smoothies, chilled M&Ms and lemonade slushes being served on the hour as the temperature rises. Alongside the loungers, sunshades and towels are provided with sunglass cleaning and skincare products available.

There are 11 private poolside cabanas accommodating up to four people with each enjoying a residential feel in shades of signature pink – newly reimagined with a vintage vibe by Champalimaud Design. They are equipped with a universal phone charging station, Apple TV, personal safes, mini fridges, plush bathrobes, 46-inch HD flat screen televisions and three dedicated lounge chairs. Complimentary amenities include unlimited still, sparkling and coconut water, seasonal fruit, dry snack offerings, organic Coola sunscreen and Evian misters.

The pink daybed, something of a pool institution, was designed by artist Marc Ange and is now back at the pool after first being unveiled at Milan Design Week. “Le Refuge” is now a permanent installation and when it is booked, guests are treated to a chilled bottle of Rock Angel Rosé, signature pink towels for the day, bespoke treats on the hour from the chef and additional pool loungers to soak up the sun. 

The light and airy Spa is an oasis within an oasis. Designer Alexandra Champalimaud has created a serene, elegant space inspired by the flora and fauna of California with the nature theme flowing throughout the space. Treatments range from the organic wellness or science driven skincare, pink Himalayan salt stones or Ayurveda rituals. There is a wide range of services available from massages to facials, wraps to body peels and LED light therapy to Knesko Collagen Masks.

There is also an adjacent pampering Nail Bar available for exclusive power manicures and pedicures, a Joseph salon and a well-equipped fitness centre for a full and balanced workout. Other facilities include four treatment rooms, one couple’s suite and a relaxation room for quiet contemplation. There are steam showers and spa products to ease a return to a world outside the spa. Products used include For a Mirabilis, Knesko Skin, Valmont, Jet Peel, UMA and Natura Bissé. 

For resident guests who like two wheels, the hotel provides a fleet of full serviced Linus bicycles for complimentary rental complete with a neighbourhood map and picnic menu to enjoy the best of Beverly Hills’ parks, tree-lined streets and rolling green lawns. 

The Signature Boutique on the hotel’s ground floor is a treasure trove of souvenirs from the “Pink Palace” including banana leaf bags, Chef and bellmen teddy bears and limited-edition swimwear, gifts and accessories. You can even buy a banana leaf Linus bicycle if you cannot bear to be without it when you leave. 

The Beverly Hills Hotel offers a V-VIP programme for all children visiting the hotel which includes children’s menus, swimming, local attractions, babysitting on request and children’s amenities such as a teddy bear and chocolate chip cookies. All children of 12 and under receive their own personal V-VIP credit card for complimentary sodas in the Fountain Coffee Room and the Cabana Café.

Our four-legged canines are not forgotten at The Beverly Hills Hotel and are very welcome. They are welcomed with bone-shaped doggie cookies with their named emblazoned on each cookie, doggie beds and bowls.

Style

9/10

This hotel has to be one of the most famous in the world with that legendary 1950’s hotel signage immediately identifiable, the pink hued walls so very Hollywood and that indelible image of a post-Oscar winning Faye Dunaway shot by the poolside. 

Everyone who was is anyone has stayed or come to visit including The Rat Pack who came in force, led by Chairman of the Board Frank Sinatra, Raquel Welch was “discovered” by the pool and Elizabeth Taylor is said to have taken to the bungalows with six of her eight husbands whilst John and Yoko did a sleep-in for a week.  If these walls could talk, what stories would they tell? 

Even its wallpaper is so popular that it has influenced scores of interior designers and is now available to purchase. It even inspired capsule collections by Dolce & Gabbana and Michael Kors whilst still feeling modern and very “now” today. It has recently been installed – in a pink version – in the pool cabanas, reimagined by Champalimaud Design with a more residential feel. “Everything is the same, nothing is the same” … as the saying goes. 

A hundred years ago, this hotel sat on its own in a sparce landscape, accommodating those who wanted to purchase homes in the area – there was nothing else around. Around its perimeter, now sits some of the most expensive real estate in America as well as one of the most coveted zip codes – 90210. 

Where else would this kind of influence be possible? A hotel that created a neighbourhood, a wallpaper that inspired fashion, a bungalow that inspired a nightclub? It is quite an achievement.

Restaurants & Bars

9/10

The restaurants at the Beverly Hills Hotel are perfect for power lunching or poolside lounging. Perhaps the best known of these is the Polo lounge, named for the polo fields that used to be there. With a green and white candy-striped ceiling, the Polo Lounge was once dubbed “Hollywood’s commissary” and serves American cuisine with an Italian edge with a daily specials board. Famous dishes include the McCarthy Salad, named for a regular guest, Neil McCarthy, in the 1940s. Captain of the local polo team, he requested a very specific list of ingredients for a salad and it has remained on the menu, untouched, ever since. Like The Savoy Grill in London, the Polo Lounge has specific seats for specific people with the power booths for the high-profile deals, strategically placed seats that let you quietly watch the doorway in the mirror to see who’s arriving and alcoves for intimate dates. The patio with its palm trees and flowers has to be one of the prettiest terraces of any Californian hotel. 

The Fountain Coffee Room is the 1950s writ large. With bar seating curving around the bar and walls papered with the iconic Martinique banana leaf print, enjoy breakfast all day long, classic menu favourites, milkshakes and the freshest of seasonal juices. That Martinique print was created by CW Stockwell and introduced to the hotel in 1949 by decorator Don Loper. It is one of the most recognisable wallpapers in the world and is used for the hotel’s corridors and has even inspired Dolce & Gabbana’s Charlotte Dellai Collection and sportswear by American designer Michael Kors.

Poolside dining cannot be cooler than at The Cabana Café. Perfect for casual dining whilst watching life swim leisurely by, there are wood-fired pizzas, club sandwiches, burgers, smoothies and fresh salads to choose from.

Named for the year of opening, Bar Nineteen 12 is the place to enjoy signature cocktails or light bites either inside or on a beautiful terrace overlooking the palm shaded gardens with spectacular views from an elevated vantage point. 

Sustainability

The Dorchester Collection is mindful of its role and the impact it makes on society, the economy and the planet. As part of The Dorchester Collection, each property seeks to minimise the environmental impact of its operations, including those relating to energy consumption, water use, waste minimisation and management, product procurement and use and the selection of materials in refurbishment and new build products. Each hotel monitors its environmental impact and seeks continuous improvement in reducing its impact. In addition, every property also ensures that it makes a positive contribution to the local community.

As an organisation, The Dorchester Collection values the heritage and culture of each of its properties, allowing each hotel to give every guest as authentic a local experience as possible. The group complies with all applicable environmental legislation and strives to follow the best environmental practices, building alliances in the communities where each property is located.

What We Love

  • Location: Beverly Hills 90210. Enough said.
  • Polo Lounge: Home to the legendary McCarthy Salad. Lettuce (Romaine and Iceberg), grilled chicken, roast beetroot, egg yolk, egg white, diced Cheddar, bacon, tomato and avocado.  Dressing: balsamic, shallot, brown sugar, roasted garlic, Dijon mustard, salt & pepper and rapeseed oil. Mixed with love.
  • Bungalows: To stay in one of the 23 bungalows is to have your own LA home albeit temporarily! They feature anything & everything from kitchens, Jacuzzis, pianos … and most importantly, absolute privacy!

    Varun Sharma
    Editor-In-Chief
    BusinessClass.com

What They Love

  • Our heritage: The Beverly Hills Hotel has a rich heritage and, in fact, had her name long before the city even existed. Celebrating its 110th anniversary this year, it is a much-loved part of Hollywood history. We honour our legendary past while ensuring the hotel remains as iconic now as it was then. We strive to provide guests with an unforgettable blend of vintage glamour and modern luxury - you cannot help but feel the energy and spirit of LA while visiting The Beverly Hills Hotel.
  • The hotel’s striking design: The ‘Pink Palace’ is inimitable when it comes to its design – from its iconic signage and its much-loved blush pink façade to its red carpet entrance complete with signature green and white stripes. However, it is its palm leaf print that sparked something of a global trend since its installation. The Martinique® banana leaf wallpaper was created in 1942 by textile brand CW Stockwell, and chosen to adorn the walls in 1949, since when it has become a well-known symbol of the hotel.
  • The new spa: In 2021, we were delighted to unveil the hotel’s brand new spa. Designed by Alexandra Champalimaud, the spa is an oasis within an oasis, taking inspiration from the flora and fauna native to LA, featuring tranquil blues reflective of the city’s blue skies and, of course, a nod to our iconic wallpaper with bespoke, banana leaf coverings.  

    Zachary Lapidus
    Hotel Manager
    The Beverly Hills Hotel

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About the author
Varun Sharma
Editor-in-Chief
With over 25 years of experience in luxury travel journalism, Varun is responsible for all the content you see on BusinessClass.com. He works closely with all the hotel and airline brands that appear on the website. BBC-trained, Varun has appeared in print, on radio, television, and now online media - having worked for outlets including the BBC, Telegraph (UK), MSNBC, Travel Channel and Cond...
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