Hotel Bel-Air

Hotel Bel-Air

Matchbook from hotel circa 1990
Location in Bel Air/Western Los Angeles Area
General information
Location Bel-Air, California
Coordinates 34°5′11.09″N 118°26′46.63″W / 34.0864139°N 118.4462861°W / 34.0864139; -118.4462861
Opening 1946
Other information
Number of rooms 103
Number of suites 45
Website
Official website

The Hotel Bel-Air is a boutique hotel located in Bel-Air, Los Angeles, California. The hotel is one of the ten luxury hotels operated by the Dorchester Collection[1] which is owned by the Brunei Investment Agency (BIA).[2] The hotel has a total of 103 rooms, 45 of which are suites.[3] The Bel-Air hotel has an overall old Hollywood style and is surrounded by 12 acres of gardens in the Bel-Air Estates neighborhood.[3]

Located just outside Beverly Hills and Westwood, Hotel Bel-Air has regularly housed notable guests and celebrities including Robert Wagner, Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Jimmy Stewart, Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, who frequented the hotel so regularly she had a suite named after her.[4] Hotel Bel-Air was also the setting for Marilyn Monroe's last Vogue magazine shoot six weeks before her death.[5]

History

The hotel was originally built in 1922 on 60 acres of gardens by Alphonzo Bell.[6] Since opening in 1946, the facility, located on Stone Canyon Road, has served celebrities, heads of state and dignitaries.[7] Initially built as office space and riding stables, it was purchased in 1946 and converted into a hotel by Texan entrepreneur Joseph Drown.[8] Drown partnered with architect Burton Schutt to develop the hotel as a luxurious getaway for esteemed guests.[9]

The hotel was themed on an oasis, with Drown adding Swan Lake, which guests cross by foot bridge to get to the hotel. The grounds are planted in ficus, fig, palms and continuously-blooming flowers.[10]

After Drown's death in the 1980s, the hotel was sold off to the Hunt family of Texas and became part of the Rosewood Hotels & Resorts collection.[11] The Hunt family primarily kept everything the same at the hotel, except they decided to bring in chef Wolfgang Puck to consult on the menu and hotel restaurant.[11]

Caroline Hunt sold the hotel for $100 million in 1989 to Japan's Sazale Group.[12] In 1995, the hotel was purchased by Prince Jefri Bolkiah of the royal family of Brunei,[11] and then in 2008 the Dorchester Collection, owned by the Brunei Investment Agency, acquired the hotel. Dorchester Collection subsequently closed Hotel Bel-Air for two years of major renovations before reopening in October 2011.[11][13]

From 2014 onwards, faced controversy concerning the hotel's ownership by the BIA which is operated by Hassanal Bolkiah, the incumbent Sultan of Brunei. Bolkiah enacted the first phase in adopting aspects of Sharia law to the Brunei criminal code.[14] The process of changing the country's legal system is set to be completed in three phases that will end in 2015.[14] The first phase was initiated in April 2014 and has been met with criticism and boycotts in the United States.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Hotel Bel-Air". Dorchester Collection. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  2. ↑ Szu Ping Chan (September 18, 2013). "Luxury Rome hotel snapped up by Dorchester owner". The Telegraph.
  3. 1 2 Forbes Travel Guide (January 13, 2012). "An Inside Look At Wolfgang Puck's New Restaurant At Hotel Bel-Air". Forbes. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ Ventre, Michael (October 28, 2011). "The Hollywood History of Hotel Bel-Air". LA Confidential Magazine. Niche Media. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  5. ↑ Garrahan, Matthew (November 5, 2011). "The return of a Hollywood legend". FT.com. Financial Times. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  6. ↑ Sharon Waxman (August 3, 2009). "Hotel Bel-Air to Close for Major Renovation". The Wrap. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Mission Statement". Joseph Drown Foundation. Retrieved May 18, 2010.
  8. ↑ Architectural digest, Volume 30. Conde Naste Publications. 1973. p. 69.
  9. ↑ Eric Rosen. "See and Be Seen at The Polo Lounge". Los Angeles Confidential. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  10. ↑ Dane Steele Green (December 20, 2012). "Hotel Bel-Air Is Restored and Reopened". Huffington Post. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Michael Gross (January 2012). "Hotel Bel-Air’s Modern New Look". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
  12. ↑ "The Texas One Hundred". Texas Monthly. August 1989. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Hotel Bel-Air to Debut in October 2011" (Press release). Alisha Mahon, Hotel Belair. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  14. 1 2 3 Martha Groves; Nabih Bulos; Matt Stevens (May 5, 2014). "Sultan of Brunei's Beverly Hills Hotel boycotted over rights issues". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
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