The Famous Hollywood Sign

Interesting news in the San Francisco Chronicle this weekend: a developer intends to restore the Byron Hot Springs Hotel, famed playland of Hollywood stars like Clark Gable and Mae West.

If you were wild over Leonardo DiCaprio’s Howard Hughes in The Aviator, where can you find the haunts of screen stars of the 20′s, 30′s and 40′s?

Until Byron Hot Springs reopens, here are a couple of choices…

Open since 1927, the Roosevelt gave comfort to Tinseltown stars like Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Shirley Temple, and Errol Flynn. The hotel also hosted the first (and shortest!) Academy Awards in 1929. Rooms run as a low as $199 per night during the week, up to $499 per night for the luxurious Cabana Suite, overlooking the famed Tropicana Bar.

It’s no longer an operating hotel, but the Knickerbocker at 1714 Ivar Avenue in Los Angeles was home to many of Hollywood’s great hotel stories: Frances Farmer was arrested in her hotel room, Houdini’s widow held a rooftop seance to contact him, and the bar stools supported the bottoms of Marilyn Monroe and Joe Dimaggio.

Built in the 1920′s, The Cecil Hotel lacks the romance of drunken starlets or rooftop seances, but it’s a great budget option at only $70 per night for a Queen room or $139 for a family “mini-suite.” A great, affordable jumping off point to explore the Walk of Fame or remants of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

image from wikimedia commons