12:06 PM PST 2/20/2012 by Merle Ginsberg & Gary Baum
It's a pampering arms race as the poshest L.A. inns compete to host as many nominees as possible.
At L.A.'s top hotels, Academy Awards weekend is easily the most
frenetic 48 hours of the year. Even for properties that are used to the
most famous names in the biz, pampering reaches its zenith, logistics
resemble military maneuvers and room rates can rise by 50 percent
(though almost none are now available). Around town, extra seamstresses
are hired, facialists work double shifts and pastry chefs dream up
desserts to congratulate Oscar-winning guests upon their return (the
Peninsula Beverly Hills has an employee texting the kitchen with show
updates).
PHOTOS: Academy Awards 2012 Nominees
Flower arrangements and goodie bags deluge front desks -- so much so
that at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills, an entire room is set aside to
hold them until they can be delivered. Ceremony tickets, meanwhile, are
put under lock and key after they are dropped off. "Even the
Vanity Fair [afterparty] tickets we put in the safe; we don't take any chances," says Peninsula managing director
Offer Nissenbaum.
While every hotel has loyal customers, by most accounts the one that
nets the greatest number of nominees is the Four Seasons, thanks in
large part to longtime director of entertainment sales
Carol Watkins,
who has built the city's most robust junket business. Rooms are so in
demand Oscar weekend that the hotel doesn't take reservations for most
until noms are announced -- at which point it books based on a wait
list. With just days to go, the race is on to give guests all they
expect -- and beyond.
One of the masters of such service is Sunset Tower's famed Tower Bar maitre d',
Dimitri Dimitrov, who counts New York-based Moneyball producer nominee
Rachael Horovitz
as a devoted fan. "I'm bringing my whole family for Oscar weekend," she
says, "and he has promised to watch the awards with my children! I
already know they won't want to come home."
Beverly Hills Hotel
The pink hotel with the red-carpet entrance celebrates its 100th birthday this year. In 2011,
Harvey Weinstein and crew celebrated here the day after their Oscar win for
The King's Speech, and in 1970,
Richard Burton consoled himself with
Elizabeth Taylor and friends after losing to
John Wayne
for best actor. ("You son of a bitch. You should have this, not me," a
drunk Duke said apologetically when he swung by the couple's bungalow
later that night.) On Feb. 25, the Motion Picture & Television
Fund's Night Before the Oscars fund-raiser takes place here.
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Indulgence: Two new $15,000-a-night presidential suites opened in the summer, each with a private pool.
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Who Stays: HBO's Richard Plepler, McG. From $520
PHOTOS: Oscar Nominees Luncheon
Hotel Bel-Air
Opened in 1946, the property with the iconic swans recently emerged from a two-year, $100 million renovation that added a
Wolfgang Puck
restaurant, a La Prairie spa and 12 canyon-view suites with modernist
interiors. Count on its tucked-in-the-hills location to continue to woo
power players.
Oprah Winfrey celebrated her 50th birthday here in 2004, and
Bette Davis
once said to a studio chauffeur who tried to drive her to a competing
hotel: "Take me to the Bel-Air. That's my home, even if I have to sleep
in the lobby. They'll find me a bed."
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Indulgence: The tasting menu of three sirloin steaks served with braised wagyu cheeks ($185).
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Who Stays: Hilary Swank, Russell Crowe. From $590
Sunset Tower
The Art Deco 1929 landmark hotel with a great Hollywood history -- once home to
Elizabeth Taylor,
Howard Hughes and
Diana Ross -- is now the swank canteen to
Jennifer Aniston,
Ryan Murphy,
Emma Stone and
Brian Grazer at its Tower Bar restaurant. In 2010,
Angelina Jolie and
Brad Pitt broke bread here with
David Fincher the night before the Academy Awards, and this is where
Michael Fassbender hit the dance floor with
Channing Tatum at the CAA post-Globes party in January that ran past 3 a.m.
Vanity Fair
holds its annual Oscar A-list post-telecast fest at the hotel. "Every
aspect of the hotel feels warm and intimate," says NBC-Universal's
Lauren Zalaznick.
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Indulgence: An in-room 50-minute four-handed massage
($240) while staying in one of the two penthouse suites ($2,500), which
come with wraparound terraces.
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Who Stays: Andy Samberg, Tom Ford, Sean Penn. From $375
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Chateau Marmont
Artsy types of all ages call this boho temple home, including mascot
Sofia Coppola, who set her film
Somewhere here. Without a nod from owner
Andre Balazs and his team, getting in for a drink -- which means getting past parka- and evening-gown-wearing doorwoman
Anya Varda -- will be impossible. Awards-season partying is especially lively here: After the 2011 Golden Globes, the
Mad Men
cast had an impromptu pool party, forcing the staff to find 40 extra
robes at 2 a.m.; the year before, Mary J. Blige sang her song from
Precious in the lobby at a soiree hosted by
Oprah Winfrey and director
Lee Daniels.
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Indulgence: The two-story Bungalow One ($2,200) overlooking the pool.
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Who Stays: Wim Wenders, Naomi Watts. From $435
Four Seasons Beverly Hills
The 285-room duchess of Doheny is celebrating its 25th anniversary by
emerging from a $35 million renovation that included the opening of the
modern-Italian restaurant Culina and a sharp redo of Windows Lounge
(where
Jamie Foxx played piano the night before picking up his best actor Oscar for 2004's
Ray).
The Four Seasons hosts the annual BAFTA tea party, and for several
years the Today show has broadcast post-Oscars from the property
beginning at 4 a.m. Monday. So far this season, the hotel has netted 23
Globes nominees and 43 SAG nominees.
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Indulgence: The 90-minute, $305 regenerating facial with ultrasonic vibrations and microcurrent and LED therapies.
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Who Stays: NBCUniversal execs, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy. From $455
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Beverly Wilshire
Built in 1928, the 258-room hotel, a Four Seasons since 1992, claims
it has the largest concierge staff in Southern California (13),
including one dedicated to keeping track of the hundreds of items
delivered to the hotel Oscar weekend. On Feb. 24,
Jeffrey Katzenberg hosts his annual Motion Picture & Television Fund benefit pre-dinner at the property's Cut steakhouse.
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Indulgence: At the new Nail Bar, enjoy a coconut
pearl deluxe pedicure ($120), which includes a coconut-milk foot soak,
crushed-pearl exfoliation and polish.
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Who Stays: Octavia Spencer, Steve Bing (a rumored longtime resident of one of the suites). From $475
Peninsula Beverly Hills
To alleviate limousine gridlock during Oscar weekend, the hotel pays
for permits from the city of Beverly Hills allowing it to post
no-parking signs on four surrounding side streets. The extra curb space
lets limos line up and be ushered into the driveway one at a time. Just
weeks ago, the Peninsula completed a $20 million refresh of its 193
guest rooms, villas and suites. One special touch: Repeat guests get
their own monogrammed sheets. In the living room, look for live music
from former Hotel Bel-Air piano player
Antonio Castillo de la Gala (who has had impromptu duets with the likes of
Billy Joel); he decamped here when the Bel-Air recently was closed for two years of renovations.
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Indulgence: The hotel will deliver room service course by course.
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Who Stays: Kate Winslet, Glenn Close, Cate Blanchett, Michael Caine. From $625
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Sunset Marquis
The five-acre property, which underwent a $30 million renovation and
expansion in 2010 (adding 40 new villas), is a mecca for music industry
players. During Grammy weekend, 32 nominees checked in at the hotel,
whose garage can fit two tour buses. It's also a draw for European
directors (
Danny Boyle,
Pedro Almodovar), and
Michael Fassbender
rented out one of its villas for four nights during his Golden Globes
visit. Those staying in the Presidential Villa ($5,000) can avoid the
lobby via a dedicated staircase to the underground lot.
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Indulgence: Booking time in the hotel's world-class
Nightbird recording studio, where Drake recorded his latest album and
Ocean's Eleven was sound-edited.
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Who Stays: The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius, George Clooney, Usher. From $330
Montage Beverly Hills
There are only three Montage Hotels (the others are in Laguna Beach
and Deer Valley), and they are privately owned and maintained like
polished gems. While the 201-room Beverly Hills location, modeled after
the area's Spanish Colonial Revival great estates, has hosted junkets
recently for
Underworld: Awakening and the fourth
Pirates of the Caribbean,
it's more likely to attract New York society and European royalty. Word
is, when Oprah Winfrey stays in L.A., it's always here.
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Indulgence: For an exclusive get-together with
friends, spend $2,000 to $5,000 to rent out the private bar Ten Pound
(located above Scarpetta restaurant), which pours some of Macallan's
rarest whiskies.
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Who Stays: Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Harvey Weinstein. From $500
