By Laura Medina
This year, the tony town of Beverly Hills is celebrating its 100th birthday.
To toast, Beverly Hills' five best hotels have decorated their 100th Suite representing the best of Hollywood Glamour through the Forties through the Nineties, transporting the visitor back in time. Each of the Suite 100 in the five hotels celebrating Beverly Hills' 100th birthday evokes a time and an era.
Beverly Hills, a city known for its
bespoke luxury experiences and services will celebrate the 100th anniversary of
its founding on January 28th, 2014. While a series of year-long festivities
will pay homage to the city's history and culture, one event in particular
promises to commemorate the special occasion with Beverly Hills' signature,
iconic style.
Running through the end of the year, the Suite 100 program will consist of five
of the most luxurious hotels in Beverly Hills: The Beverly Hills Hotel, The
Beverly Hilton, L'Ermitage Beverly Hills, Montage Beverly Hills and The
Peninsula Beverly Hills. Each participating property will redesign a suite to
capture a moment in time from the last 100 years.
Inspired by celebrities, fashion and
lifestyle trends, all suites promise unique, era-specific experiences for
guests. Each property will guarantee a unique, exhibiting experience with
inspired furnishings, décor and accessories carefully selected down to the
finest details. From the fun-loving style of the Studio 54 era to the classic
flair of the Marilyn Monroe age, the event offers visitors an opportunity to
uniquely experience the legendary style of the city and the glamorous life of
icons of eras past.
The time-traveling party tour kicked at the legendary Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows.
A Marilyn Monroe impersonator sashayed into the hotel's Suite 100, where guests were greeted by a crooning Dean Martin/Frank Sinatra singer accompanied by pianist.
They represented the "Golden Age of Hollywood."
The Suite 100 at the Beverly Hills Hotel was redecorated into a Fifties living room with curved fireplace and marble coffee table.
Of course, it wouldn't be Marilyn Monroe or the Fifties unless the bathroom sink counter was decorated by her beloved Chanel No. 5 and a bottle of champagne by the tub.
Tihany
Design drew inspiration for The Beverly Hills Hotel's Suite 100 from the
glamorous lifestyle of Marilyn Monroe, a frequent hotel guest, and the
"understated elegance" of Paul Williams, the celebrated architect who
designed the hotel's Polo Lounge, signage and iconic pink-and-green color
scheme. Gracefully curved furnishings in rich hues of green and blue complement
the existing architectural details of the suite's curved ceilings and walls.
Quintessentially Californian, the design features black lacquer finishes,
tropical prints, shag carpets and a bar made of rich sycamore wood that speaks
to the era's modernist influence
The guests had no idea this was a tour of the best 100th Suites of Beverly Hills' participating hotels until the "party trolley" rolled up.
Thank god, the guests were allowed to board the "party trolley" carrying their cocktails with them, a swanky field trip for adults.
The second stop was a real time flip, the "Studio 54" Suite 100 at L'Ermitage
Beverly Hills.
Hot on the heels of "American Hustle," L'Ermitage's Suite 100 re-done in Andy Warhol Polaroid portraits dotting the hallways. The actual Halston and Diane Von Furstenberg actually worn by Jennifer Lawrence were stored in the closet. The bathroom was wallpapered in '70's "Interview" magazine covers. Guests nibbled on lamb chops and sipped Harvery Wallbangers staring at real Halston on the mannequins.
It
is the mid-1970s. Halston and disco reign the scene. Imagine Bianca Jagger
breezing through the red-velvet rope at Studio 54. Flashbulbs are popping and
buss is thumping. Legendary designer Ken Fulk has created Suite 100: an homage
to Andy Warhol's Factory and Halston, the era's favorite designer. High-gloss
lacquer, mirror finishes, orchids and vintage fashions in the closet balance
delicately against the use of Ultrasuede, throughout the expansive suite. Other
elements that evoke the decade include a powder room papered in Interview
Magazine covers, a "Do Not Disturb" sign that plays on Warhol's
celebrated silk-screen portraits and an interactive iPad photo booth mimicking
the allure of the paparazzi adjacent to the room's elevated catwalk
The third stop was a true switcheroo, the 1940's Montage.
Piping hot, fresh-out-of-oven Oyster Rockefeller, dripping in cheese and spinach greeted the guests, along with the mini Lobster Thermidors.
Hurried up to Montage's Suite 100, it was drenched in Femme Fatale Film Noir. The script of "The Maltese Falcon" and a vintage 1940's typewriter decked the desk. A closet stored vintage 1940's fashion. A room service buzzer just for champagne.
The "party trolley" did a time warp again, leaping twenty years ahead to the "swinging" Mad Men Sixties Suite 100 at Merv Griffin's Beverly Hilton.
Oyster Rockefeller re-appeared again but this time with Betty Draper's Pigs-in-a-Blanket. The Beatles debuting on the Ed Sullivan Show was on constant loop on a Sixties TV console.
Inspired
by the sophisticated yet rebellious attitude of the 1960s, when The Beverly
Hilton epitomized the era's Jet Set glamour, this Suite 100 embodies the elegance of
actress Audrey Hepburn and the free spirit of her character in Breakfast at
Tiffany's; the sophistication of Tipi Hedren, star of Alfred Hitchcock's The
Birds; the interior design bravado of David Hicks, who was noted for using bold
colors and mixing antique and modern furnishings for his star-studded clientele;
the musical innovation of Brazilian singer-songwriter Gilberto Gil; and Tom
Ford Design showcase furnishings that evoke the revolutionary times of the
1960s along with the panache of the then-popular Hollywood-Regency style
Each stop, on the trolley tour, signals a twenty years leap in time. Going from Beverly Hilton's Swinging Sixties to the Nineties Peninsula Hotel Beverly Hills was a thirty years different.
Re-done in bold, masculine black lacquer and bold primary red, the Oyster Rockefellers were replaced by mini bowls of mac n' cheese and chili and a fresh fruit bowl of lychees, white grapes, and dried apple slices.
It's fitting that the Peninsula Hotel Beverly Hills represented the Nineties since it was born in 1991. Design
firm Forchielli Glynn has transformed a suite into the embodiment of modern
Hollywood glamour.
The
bedroom features mirrored walls accented with silvery finishes, ideal for
couples getting dressed in their finest for a night on the town.
"Forrest Gump" was on constant loop instead.
The
suite's living room walls are clad in photographic murals of a red carpet
Hollywood gala event.
Their
inspiration is the style and excitement of Awards Seasons - The Golden Globes,
The Grammys, The Oscars - when The Peninsula Beverly Hills plays host to
Hollywood VIPs and celebrities, representing the rise of entertainment news and glossy tabloids, pre-dating social/celebrity media.
Each one of the Suite 100 are available for booking reservations right now at http://www.lovebeverlyhills.com/suite100.aspx
Remember, you got a year to soak yourself in your favorite eras: The Forties, The Fifties, The Sixties, The Seventies, and the Nineties.
