Script Coverage Chronicles – February 2019 - Which L.A. Hotel Will You Stay At When You Hit Big In Screenwriting?

For a bit of extra motivation to push harder on our screenplays – and as an excuse to spend some time thinking about my favorite Hollywood area hotels – this month’s blog lists five great Los Angeles locales to celebrate a big break.

The Beverly Hilton

This unassuming edifice at the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica is the home of the Golden Globes.  They have a large circular driveway where they’ve been known to park their guests’ most exotic rides for all to gawk at.  So if you’ve just sold a screenplay, you can research the hot new car you plan to buy right outside the spacious main lobby.  I saw a Bugatti there once.  If that’s the one you pick, you’ll have to sell a few more scripts.

The Hotel Bel-Air

This famous La La Land lodge offers “out of the fray quiet elegance”.  It has a simple round pool – nearly empty and silent the one time I stayed there.  There was an equally noiseless herb garden with the most amazing aromas – oregano and basil melding with the nearby lavender and bougainvillea.  It’s a place to sit back, listen to your dreams and smell victory.

The Beverly Wilshire

I never actually stayed here, but I attended an industry event inside its hallowed walls at the south end of Rodeo Drive.  The ornate arched entryway is grand.  You walk past pillars framing impeccably clean windows into a world of luxury and privilege.  This is the hotel where they filmed the movie Pretty Woman – you know, the one where Julia Roberts plays a hooker who falls in love with her john.  Hoist a drink here with your fellow screenwriters and toast to prostituting your soul to Hollywood.

The Beverly Hills Hotel

I love this place.  It’s pure pink panache tucked in among a rainforest of semi-tropical foliage.  There’s something so old-school glam about the setting, it makes for an amazing spot to sit poolside on a plush chaise lounge and tweak your latest script.  And yes, it’s very likely you’ll dine near someone famous in the Polo Lounge.  My wife and I sat ten feet from Diane Keaton. Maybe, in a few years, someone will be able to say they sat ten feet from you.

The Chateau Marmont

You’ve probably heard the old saying about this storied Sunset Strip hotel: “If you must get in trouble, do it at the Chateau Marmont.”  That idea always appealed to me.  This hilltop gothic palace is the place to party when you really have a reason to let loose.  I’ve never stepped foot on the grounds.  I vowed not to until I’ve done everything I wanted to in screenwriting.  I haven’t done that yet – not even close.  I’m not even sure what it will look like, but I’ll know it when it happens.  And when it does – or if my writing career ever tanks for good – you’ll find me at the Chateau Marmont getting in trouble.