You know you've picked the right spot for an urban poolside tanning session when David Beckham walks in. You're doubly sure of it when he saunters over to the cool gang occupying the sun loungers opposite and makes himself comfortable before striking up an animated conversation over a few ice-cold Corona Lites (in a can, just so you know) with Jamie Hince, lead singer of The Kills and Kate Moss's new husband. Despite the blazing hot sunshine and the fact that everyone else was rocking swimwear, Jamie was sporting a pair of high-heeled black boots; Becks, for the record, was in jeans, a long-sleeved shirt and a big black beanie hat.
This was the best of a great bunch of prime celebrity sightings that occurred during my three nights at the iconic 300-room Hollywood Roosevelt hotel last month, before the Coachella music festival in nearby Palm Springs. The H Roose, as I heard more than one of the impossibly trendy scenesters who spend their days meeting here refer to it, first opened its doors in 1927 financed by a group including Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Louis B. Mayer. It is now part of Thompson Hotels and, in keeping with the urban cool flavour of their other properties, is situated in the middle of Los Angeles's most famous star-studded sidewalk at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, right opposite the Kodak Theatre, where the world fixes its gaze each year on the annual Academy Awards.
Indeed, this place is so steeped in, and integral to, old Hollywood history that the first ever Oscars ceremony was held here during a private dinner for 250 in 1929. Marilyn Monroe spent two years living in Cabana suite 229 and her first-ever magazine ad (for suntan lotion) was shot on the hotel pool's diving board (recently removed). During prohibition Errol Flynn prepared his gin recipe in the back room of the hotel's barber shop and it's said that Shirley Temple took her first tap-dancing lesson on the hotel's ornate tiled stairway.
Following a major renovation in 2005 in keeping with its Spanish Colonial-style roots, the hotel experienced a new surge in popularity with current LA players: Katy Perry, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan — to name just a few — have all been recently photographed leaving Teddy's, the in-house nightclub and go-to place for uber see-and-be-seen sessions just off the main lobby. The Spare Room, a modern-day gaming parlour complete with two bowling lanes and backgammon tables and another celebrity favourite, has a louche 1920s speakeasy vibe. In keeping with this theme, oil heir Brandon Davis was arrested just outside recently for 'possession of a controlled substance'.
In spite of the busy location, as soon as you step off the main drag and walk just fifty metres round the corner to the hotel's reception you're confronted with a distinctive black and white marquee style entrance with billowing curtains that hint at the calm perfectionism to be found inside and a bunch of charming, handsome valets who'll help you with pretty much anything you desire during your stay. Pale gold Spanish tiles gleam underneath dark, dramatic walls and ceilings; the dim lighting, leather furniture and stunning flower arrangements make for a very glamorous, sexy atmosphere with all sorts of interesting spots to check out.
The Public Kitchen & Bar serves breakfast, lunch and dinner to guests and locals alike in an airy space underneath brass chandeliers and the original 1927 ceiling fresco. Locals often hail the hotel's burger bar, 25 Degrees, open 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, as the best burgers in town and I now know why. My mouth is watering as I think back to the 'number 3' I ordered: hand-chopped prime rib with mezzo secco jack cheese, green chilli, chipotle and avocado. Wow, is all I've got to say about that. The onion rings also deserve a special mention for being huge, delicately fried and dreamy tasting. A girl could get fat if she spent too long here.
As you have probably already realised, the eye candy around the pool — complete with mural hand-painted by David Hockney — and the adjacent Tropicana Bar is so good as to be almost ridiculous. I spent three hours one morning lying next to actor Ed Westwick, the gorgeous one from Gossip Girl, as he rubbed sun cream into his legs wearing a pair of small, tight shorts and cadged cigarettes from everyone that passed. In the evenings the glamour and the crowd ramp up a level. Drinking Tropicana Smashed Lemonades, delish concoctions containing Belevedere pink grapefruit vodka, lemonade and cranberry juice, sitting next to a fire pit and watching the LA cool pack mingle in the twinkles of the fairy lights wrapped around the trunks of the scattered palm trees makes for a heady evening.
The HRH offers 240 king deluxe suites and 60 poolside cabanas, including the Marilyn Monroe Suite and The Gable & Lombard Penthouse. Room service is 24-hour (the tomato soup was topped with croutons and garlic, the grilled cheese so sublime it sent me into not so much of an afternoon snooze as a coma), oversized terry robes in the bathrooms are made by Frette and the products are Kiehl's. The rooms are as good as you'd expect from a Thompson hotel, full of clean lines across a muted palette with lots of lacquer and glass and the best in comfortable furnishings, but what with the prime location, stunning weather and celeb spotting opportunities, I can't imagine you'd want to spend much time holed up in one.
If you're looking for a glamorous LA sojourn filled with reminders of Hollywood past and present, in the very epicentre of the city, then look no further than the HRH. You'll leave wondering just how easy it is, exactly, to break into the movie business and make this stuff of fantasy an everyday reality.
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90028 (323 466 7000; thompsonhotels.com). Room rates start from £179 (plus tax) per room per night.
