6141 Franklin Ave
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 464-5181
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| Image Source |
My wife and I went to LA for the TCM Film Festival. One of her friends, Jill, recommended this hotel near Hollywood Blvd. This hotel is geared towards a movie buff. It was built in 1948, went through a few remodels and is still standing.
Upon check-in we were immediately impressed. The entire lobby is covered with photos of movie stars mostly past and some present. They also had personal correspondence and cancelled checks from some of the stars. They also had an old-time light they would use on set in the lower lobby. Even a few famous movie lines are paved into one of the parking lots!
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| The lower lobby. The door on the right leads to the diner. |
A letter from Frank Sinatra
A letter from Jimmy Stewart
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| Desi and Lucy Arnez |
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| Jack Lemmon |
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| Joey Bishop |
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| Francis Ford Coppola |
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| Burt Lancaster |
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| Edward G. Robinson |
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| Kirk Douglas |
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| Paul Henreid |
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Sydney Greenstreet |
I had to take a picture of this! There were hundreds of movie star pictures along the walls. I chose some of my favorites.
This is inside of the elevator. That is Joan Crawford on the right and Gregory Peck on the left. The two other stars not pictured are Lucille Ball and Natalie Wood.
This is the pool which I intended to use several times. Unfortunately due to the hectic schedule of the TCM Film Festival, I used it exactly once!
Equally impressive was the coffee shop, 101 Coffee Shop. It is named as such because it was your last opportunity to drink a cappuccino before hitting the 101 highway. It was once much smaller and was a drug store. Then it was changed into the diner it is today. The food was moderately priced and very good. I was surprised how tasty everything was. I was expecting bland diner food. We had a very cool waitress, Marissa. I had to ask her which famous persons have eaten there. She mentioned several and noted Drew Carey was a regular and a very good tipper. The movie "Swingers" was filmed there. One morning I was eating breakfast and I saw Johnny Knoxville. On our last day there my wife saw Josh Radnor from, "How I Met Your Mother". It's difficult to tell that is him from this shot. She recognized him before he sat down.
I was pleasantly surprised how friendly everyone was, the quality of the rooms, and the decor. I would not hesitate to stay in this hotel again. Derrick, one of the gentleman behind the front desk, was kind enough to answer my questions about the history of the hotel and mentioned a video on YouTube chronicling the hotel. I watched it and here it is:
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