Viceroy L'Ermitage Beverly Hills
Viceroy L'Ermitage Beverly Hills is a luxury boutique hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Built in 1975, the property was the first all suite hotel in the United States. Today, the hotel consists of 116 suite and remains one of the most luxurious accommodations in the area.
| Viceroy L'Ermitage Beverly Hills | |
|---|---|
| |
| Hotel chain | Viceroy Hotels and Resorts |
| General information | |
| Location | Beverly Hills, California |
| Address | 9291 Burton Way |
| Opening | 1993 |
| Management | Viceroy Hotels & Resorts |
| Other information | |
| Number of suites | 116 |
| Number of restaurants | 1 |
| Website | |
| http://www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com/en/beverlyhills | |
The hotel offers a restaurant, bar, lounge at Avec Nous, which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Avec Nous is known for its classic French bistro cuisine with a refreshing, contemporary twist. The dishes transport guests to the Mediterranean coast with some artful Spanish and Italian touches.
History
The hotel was originally built in 1975. It was intended to be condominiums but was converted to a hotel when it was sold to Severyn Ashkenazy.
The hotel was the first all-suite hotel in the United States. Severyn Ashkenazy later expanded, with his brother Arnold, and brought 9 hotels around the city. Some include: Mondrian, Bel-Age and Le Parc Hotel. For 7 years, L’Ermitage maintained its 5-Star, 5-Diamond rating. It lost one diamond due to the renovation.
The hotel was famous for the privacy, location, sizes of the rooms, and the strawberries and brown sugar offered to every hotel guest. Everything was tailored to fit every individual guest needs.
In 1984, due to Russian boycott and other misgivings, the investment in the hotel started to fall apart. In 1986, Ashkenazy Enterprises filed for bankruptcy.[1] In 1992, he lost every hotel he owned. In June 1992, the hotel was taken over by the bank. They brought a management company in to manage the property.
On December 31, 1992, L‘Ermitage was purchased by Kensico Co. and Immobilier, a partnership based in New York, Their plans were to demolish the building, rebuild and reopen in 8 months. It was to be shut down in September 1993, and reopened in June 1994.
Kensico started the project, but dissolved their partnership with Immobilier in 1995. In 1996, Immobilier took over the hotel. At that point, some renovation was completed, but Immobilier did not like the look of the hotel, as the same designers had designed the Peninsula and Four Seasons. They thought it looked too much like them, so they demolished the entire building and started from scratch.
The hotel did not open until June 1998. It had taken 5 years for renovation. In 1998, a Los Angeles-based company called Colony Capital bought the hotel from Immobilier. Colony Capital owned the hotel up until October 5, 2000, when it was sold to Raffles Holdings; A Singapore-based Hotel Corporation for 68 million dollars. It was the first Hotel that Raffles acquired in the United States.
In 2002 it received its 5th diamond back making L’Ermitage Beverly Hills one of just seven 5 star / 5 diamonds hotels in California. In January 2010, it was purchased by Jho Low and managed by the Viceroy Hotel Group.[2]
In Hollywood
For decades, Viceroy L’Ermitage Beverly Hills has been the epitome of Hollywood glamour and a central hub for Hollywood's elite. Established as a relaxing yet inspiring environment for cultural icons, Viceroy L’Ermitage Beverly Hills has stood the test of time and remains at the center of the Los Angeles’ entertainment scene and culture.
The building was formerly a condominium complex for Hollywood's elite such as Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Michael Jackson. Brooke Shields celebrated her 18th birthday at the hotel in 1983. Rod Stewart married Alana Hamilton at the hotel in 1979.
Screenwriters frequented the hotel's bar as their place of inspiration for screenplays such as Good Will Hunting, The Godfather, Jaws, Ocean’s Eleven and The Graduate.The Big Wedding (Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton) was written and directed by Justin Zackham, a former bartender at the hotel.
References
- Colker, David (1989-07-16). "The Prince of Barter : For hotel magnate and art collector Arnold Ashkenazy, every day's a high-stakes swap meet". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
- Vincent, Roger (2020-07-10). "This famous Old Hollywood hotel is for sale — while its former owner is on the lam". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-07-14.