Biltmore Hotel

Opened on October 2, 1923, the 11-story Biltmore Hotel became Los Angeles' "Host of the Coast," a lavish symbol of the city's arrival as a great American metropolis. Its opening drew 3,000 guests for a seven-course dinner, dancing to seven orchestras, and appearances by figures including Cecil B. DeMille, Myrna Loy, Theda Bara, and Ramon Novarro. Built by local businessmen for $10 million, it was the biggest and grandest hotel west of Chicago. Designed by Schultze and Weaver, it quickly succeeded, as did the 1,700-seat Biltmore Theatre, which opened six months later and eventually hosted 40 touring plays and musicals before closing in 1964. During Prohibition, a hidden button in the Presidential suite opened a secret liquor compartment. In 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded at a gathering in the ballroom, where Cedric Gibbons sketched the Oscar design on a hotel napkin, and beginning in 1931 the hotel hosted the Oscar ceremonies in the Biltmore Bowl, which also featured Big Bands in the 1930s and '40s. In 1947, Elizabeth Ann Short spent several hours in the lobby making phone calls before she was last seen alive; her body was found a week later about five miles away. The hotel later hosted royalty, seven presidents including Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and John F. Kennedy, and in 1964 the Beatles arrived by helicopter during their first U.S. tour. Long associated with film, it appeared in movies including "The Sting," "Chinatown," "Ghostbusters," "Beverly Hills Cop," "The Fabulous Baker Boys," and "Vertigo," and after being listed as a historical cultural landmark in 1969, it remained known for its richly ornamented interiors and concealed Prohibition-era lookout windows in the Gold Room.

Los Angeles, California · United States