New awards season, new Oscars furor. This year, there's the Kevin Hart controversy (including a futile Ellen DeGeneres intervention), the clash over a new popular film category, and most recently, the backlash against plans to push the more “technical awards” into commercial breaks. But despite all the drama (it is Hollywood after all), the 91-year old Motion Picture Academy Awards remains the final arbiter of whether you have made it to the highest echelons of the entertainment industry. Just ask Netflix. That also means, the Oscars are still the biggest show in town and tickets to the ceremony are harder to come by than a Malibu beachfront property. Let’s suppose you are one of the chosen 3,400 to have received an invitation, where are you going to stay for the big event? We have combed through Los Angeles’s impressive roster of hotels, both legendary and brand-new, to come up with specific suggestions for (almost) every type of attendee.
The Fresh Face - The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
Yesterday, you were waiting tables between casting calls and now everyone suddenly wants a piece of you. And a selfie. It’s your first Academy Awards and your manager suggests you throw your own Oscars party at the hotel that’s at the very heart of it all–literally (it’s across the street from the Dolby theater) and spiritually (the first ever Oscars were held in the Hollywood Roosevelt’s ballroom in 1929). The magnificent rooftop offers sweeping views of the city under the iconic red neon sign, while the pool downstairs, framed by tall palm trees, must be the exact mental image of anyone dreaming of classic Hollywood. You can’t go wrong.
The Accountant - Shutters on the Beach
While the Oscars might be a nail-biter for the nominees, spare a thought for the accountants. Since the 2017 Oscars (who could forget the Moonlight/La La Land mixup), we have learned it’s a job that requires a lot of concentration. So to best prepare, these valiant bookkeepers should check in at Santa Monica’s premier luxury beach hotel, Shutters on the Beach. Comfortable cabanas by the classically designed pool are the perfect place to sort those envelopes over a cool Long Island Iced Tea to calm the nerves. And after the show, there is no better place to wind down.
The Corporate Sponsor – The Surfrider Malibu
For all its exclusivity, it is possible to buy your way into the Academy Awards – you just need the deep pockets of a Fortune 500 company. We’re talking about the sponsors, of course. So, let’s say you are the CEO of a large Midwestern corporation that put its logo on the Oscars telecast, where do you stay? Sure, you could go for a convenient business hotel downtown or the newly opened Waldorf, but why not try something different? Like, The Surfrider Malibu—an intimate hotel with a gorgeously minimal design favoring whites and light greys. You might miss some of the usual frills, but its terrace is the perfect spot to watch a Pacific sunset and you just have to cross the PCH to be on the world-famous Surfrider beach. It’s a beautiful, simple life out here. Who knows, come Monday morning, you might decide to stay a little longer.
The Best Actress and Best Actor Nominees (who are secretly in love) - Chateau Marmont
They are both nominated and, honestly, where else should they be staying? Yes, well, they both own houses just up the hill (and a beach house each) but, would it not be so much more fun if they spent the night by the Chateau’s storied pool?
The Foreign Correspondent – Palihotel Culver City
If you are in town to cover the Oscars, the brand-new Palihotel in Culver City might be a perfect match. Its sumptuous blue Art-Deco façade complements the clean, yet comfortable interior design of the rooms. The hotel has neither pool nor gym, but it exudes a cool, metropolitan vibe with a SoCal touch. It’s for the professional urbanite on a mission, who can do without the crystal quartz scrub as long as they feel they are in the right place. And not to worry, there is a gorgeous bar downstairs serving you a midnight espresso to prepare you for your late-night write-up.
The Oscars Veteran – Sunset Tower Hotel
You have been to the Oscars before. Many times, in fact. You have won it and been nominated more times than you can count. Sitting there between all the hopeful, excited faces, you struggle to stay awake for the whole three and a half hours. But you must, because they want you to present. You walk up there and just start talking. These days, you don’t prepare speeches anymore. Whatever you’ll say, they’ll love it anyway. When someone mentions the word ‘after-party,’ you smile politely and walk away. Chances are, that you have a beautiful old place just up the road but if you had to choose a hotel to stay tonight, you’d head straight to the Sunset Tower Hotel. Howard Hughes used to live there. Frank, too. Sometimes you feel closer to them than today’s crowd. Breakfast tastes better here on that Art Deco marvel of a terrace. The waiters are some of the best in LA. Professionally trained and not annoyingly obsequious. A rarity these days. But, that’s how you like it.
The Live Action Short Film (yes, that’s a category) Nominee – Freehand Los Angeles
Let’s say you borrowed money from your uncle to make a short film. Now, this short film got nominated for an Oscar and you borrow some more to fly out to L.A. Once the afterparty winds down, where are you going to stay? Thankfully, there is a hip, refreshing hotel in the heart of downtown that a young talent on a budget can afford. The Freehand offers private as well as shared rooms, all impeccably designed with solid wood furniture and Navajo-inspired textiles decorating the walls. Oh, and it has a rooftop pool.
The Best Screenplay Nominee – Hotel Covell
You are a writer, torn between secret disdain for the Hollywood smart set and a feverish desire for recognition. Now, they have nominated YOU or, at least, your screenplay. Where do you stay? The stylish Hotel Covell in Los Feliz seems like the ideal place. The rooms here aren’t called, well, rooms but ‘chapters’ (Yorgos Lanthimos brilliantly weird ‘Dogtooth’ comes to mind; his newest, ‘The Favorite’ is one of two front runners this year). The chapters refer to the life of George Covell, a fictional author, and every room tells a part of his story. But aside from that, Hotel Covell is a well-designed boutique gem in one of LA’s most creative neighborhoods with a popular bar downstairs.