The Beverly Hills Hotel Turns 100!

 

Happy 100th Birthday to the Beverly Hills Hotel!

There isn’t a more famous hotel in Los Angeles than the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel. Its pink exterior and distinctive script logo flanked by palm trees is practically synonymous with L.A., and the list of stars that have lounged around the luxurious pool and sipped a drink in the famous Polo Lounge is too long to list here. (But John Lennon, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe are just a few.)

This month this historic icon will celebrate an important milestone – it’s been 100 years since The Beverly Hills Hotel opened its doors on May 12, 1912. In addition to singing Happy Birthday to “The Pink Palace” in your best breathless Marilyn Monroe imitation, the hotel has a few other things you can do to join in on the celebration.

Drink like a celebrity and visit the famed Polo Lounge for a signature birthday cocktail

A friend and I were at an event at the hotel this week and decided to stop by the Polo Lounge for a decadent afternoon cocktail (hey, us busy moms have to fit it in sometime.) There the waiter presented us with their special ‘These Walls Are Talking’ cocktail menu, a celebration of their 100th anniversary. They call them “anecdotal potables,” concoctions dedicated to some of their more famous guests – drinks like Pickfair Punch (in honor of the home of  Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks), The Rat Pack (a homage to Sinatra and his cronies who frequented the hotel in the ‘50’s) and the Norma Jean, simply a glass of Dom Pérignon Champagne to honor Monroe.

While I ordered a standard Bloody Mary (that was excellent, by the way) my friend ordered a Violet Eyes off the special menu – a crazy mixture of black raspberry vodka, elderflower liqueur and agave nectar that was amazing and had me wishing I had  been a bit more adventurous in my ordering. And if only I’d had a bit more change on me, I might just have ordered the 100-year cocktail, priced at $100 and served in an engraved collectible keepsake glass coupe with 100-year design.

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We were at the Polo Lounge at around 4pm mid-week, and we had the place to ourselves. Not an easy feat for most people, I know, but it seems like the ideal time to visit the hotel and have a drink and explore the grounds. The staff – especially our bartender – was very friendly and attentive.

This is Hollywood, so make an event of your stay at the hotel

Book one of the hotel’s specialty packages to celebrate in high style. There’s a two-night Centennial Package that features a luxury room, a pair of complimentary cocktails from  the “These Walls Are Talking” cocktail menu, a chocolate truffle box, daily breakfast for two and and a keepsake 100-Year candle to take home with you. (Am wondering if a couple of extra cocktails can be served in lieu of the candle.)

Or, if you want to spoil your kids, check out the decadent (no, really decadent) Little Legends Family Package that will greet your little celebs with a kids’ red carpet arrival complete with photo shoot and an “autograph seeker” to give them the real-life experience of being hounded by the paparazzi. (Before their walk down the carpet they’ll also be fitted with a stylish boa, sunglasses and top hat.) After that your ‘Little Legends’ can take their VIP welcome card and head on over to The Fountain Coffee Shop for a milk shake or ice cream  sundae and a personalized ‘Walk Of Fame’ chocolate star.  After all the excitement they can collapse into bed wearing their “I’m a Little Legend” 100-year tee-shirt. Might not be able to take them back to Chuck E Cheese after a weekend like this.

Be a diva and get a centennial spa treatment

Don’t worry – this doesn’t mean you’ll be massaged by a 100-year-old masseuse. The Celebration Spa Services take place in the famous Beverly Hills Hotel Spa by La Prairie and feature pamperings like The Pink Palace Manicure and Pedicure, Diamond Anniversary Facial, and the Caviar Express Massage. At $100 a pop I’m betting you’ll feel extremely relaxed and in a celebratory mood. Bring on the anecdotal potables!

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If you go:

Beverly Hills Hotel
9641 Sunset Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California 90210
310.276.2251

Post by Marsha Takeda-Morrison. Also find me at Sweatpantsmom.com

Photo: Marsha Takeda-Morrison