Red carpet arrivals at The Beverly Hills Hotel in the fifties.

If walls could talk then we’d love to get an earful from The Beverly Hills Hotel. Built in 1912, the hotel has more than 100 years of glamour and romance to reflect on. Affectionately known as the “Pink Palace,” the who’s who of Hollywood has at one time or another stepped foot onto the stylish property. During the fifties was when the hotel saw growing popularity with royalty and celebrities, with guests including Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Crown Prince of Monaco, John Wayne and Henry Fonda, as well as Elizabeth Taylor who frequented the bungalows with six of her eight husbands. Marilyn Monroe also became a frequent guest, and in the late fifties stayed in the bungalows (her favourite was Bungalow 7) while filming Let’s Make Love.

In addition to its famous guests, the hotel has had its share of pop culture moments. In 1956 the hotel’s pool and cabana area were backdrops in the movie Designing Women, starring Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall, while Faye Dunaway has an iconic photo of her the morning after the 1977 Academy Awards, lounging poolside with her Oscar she received for Best Actress for her work in Network.

Hanging around, whether it be poolside or in the Polo Lounge are both notorious past-times at the hotel. In the mid-fifties receiving a phone call while at the pool was a hallmark of exclusivity and some celebrities even had themselves paged even with they were in residence to help keep up appearances. In the Polo Lounge it wasn’t uncommon to find Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and the rest of the Rat Pack, indulging in some serious drinking, while Marlene Dietrich was regularly spotted sitting on a bar stool with her fur coat.

Although this hotel has gone through a lot of changes during its lifespan, its managed to transition through the years without losing its original feel and extraordinary service guests come to expect from a hotel of this caliber. Impressive? Yes. Iconic? Definitely.