The New York Palace Hotel

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Yet another Gossip Girl location that I set out to stalk during this year’s Manhattan vacation was the New York Palace Hotel, a locale which has appeared in pretty much every single episode of the series since it began back in 2007.   Truth be told, though, I actually first stalked this location quite a few years back during my very first trip to the Big Apple, long before Gossip Girl was even on the air.  And, let me tell you, I absolutely fell in love with the place!  Each year since then I’ve made sure to stop into the Palace at least once during our annual New York vacation to either grab a cocktail at GILT or to simply relax for a few minutes in the hotel’s opulent lobby.  So, as you can probably imagine, I was completely floored this past summer when I first watched the pilot episode of Gossip Girl and realized that a huge portion of it was filmed on location on the hotel grounds.  So, while in New York two weeks ago, I just had to drag my fiancé back to the Palace, this time to do some stalking of my new favorite show!  🙂

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The New York Palace Hotel is absolutely beautiful inside and out and is one of my very favorite places to visit in all of New York.  By now, I really must sound like a broken record due to the fact that I pretty much say that about every single place I stalk in the Big Apple.  LOL  But it’s just that there are so many spectacular and incredibly unique places on the island of Manhattan that I find it very difficult to narrow down my favorites!  Anyway, the New York Palace Hotel was originally built as a private home for New York Evening Post  editor and Union Pacific Railroad founder Henry Villard in 1882.  Villard hired the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White to design and build six four-story townhouses surrounding a central courtyard in an empty lot across from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  The buildings were constructed in a Neo-Italian Renaissance style and were  modeled after Rome’s Palazzo della Cancellaria.  In 1883, Villard moved into his new home, which was still under construction, for a period of just a few months.  Sadly, though, he ended up filing bankruptcy shortly thereafter and was forced to sell the entire property, which was then known as the Villard Houses, to several different owners before construction had even been completed.  In 1974, the townhouses were purchased by the Helmsley (yes, that Helmsley) Hotel chain.  The Helmsleys came up with the inspired idea to purchase the air space above the Villard Houses (and here all this time I never knew that type of thing was for sale!  LOL)  in order to add a 55-story tower to the property and turn it into a luxury hotel.  Construction of that tower took six years to complete and in 1981 the Helmsley Palace Hotel finally opened its doors to the world.  It didn’t take long for the Palace name to become synonymous with the utmost in luxury and elegance.  In 1992, the hotel was sold to a private limited partnership, who changed its name to the New York Palace Hotel, as it is known today.  The Palace Hotel is currently owned by the upscale Dorchester Group and boasts 360 square-foot guest rooms, 22,000 square feet of meeting space, two restaurants, including GILT, which has been awarded two Michelin stars , and a 7,000 square foot spa and gym, where complimentary tennis shoes and workout clothes are made available to guests.  LOVE IT!  Rooms average $297 per night, which is incredibly low for such upscale accommodations, especially considering that the hotel is located in Manhattan.

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The Palace Hotel features prominently on Gossip Girl, not only because the hostelry is owned by Bart Bass, Chuck’s father, on the show, but also due to the fact that Serena van der Woodsen and family lived in one of the hotel’s Triplex Suites while their home was being remodeled during Season One.   The hotel is such an integral part of the show, actually, that, according to this article, filming of GG takes places there at least twice a month!  How cool is that??  The areas of the hotel that have been used in the filming over the past three years include the front exterior (pictured above),

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the central courtyard,

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the second floor mezzanine,

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the lobby’s courtyard entrance,

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the special events venue named the Madison Room,

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the entrance to the famous GILT restaurant,

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the interior of GILT,

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and the GILT kitchen. 

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In fact, GILT’s menu now even features “The Gossip Girl – You Know You Love It” grilled cheese and truffle oil sandwich (YUM!), much like the one Chuck made for Serena in the pilot episode.  🙂  My good friend Steffi, who is also a HUGE GG fan, is holding GILT’s menu in the above picture.

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Besides being a main filming location for Gossip Girl, the Palace is also a celebrity magnet.  According to fave book, Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Full Story, back during his “Thriller” days, the Palace was the only New York Hotel where the King of Pop would rest his head.  The hotel also plays host to a number of A-List events each year.  A few of the stars who have been spotted there in the past include Prince, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Lady Gaga, Orlando Bloom, Harry Connick, Jr., Helena Christenson, Claire Danes, Hugh Dancy, Molly Sims, Kristin Davis, Bethenny Frankel, and Rose McGowan.

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I honestly can’t recommend stalking the New York Palace Hotel enough!  The staff is INCREDIBLY friendly – one of the concierges even went so far as to get me a GILT menu when I was there two weeks ago just so that I could take a picture of the Gossip Girl sandwich listing!   🙂  And the entire property – from the Central Courtyard to the ornate lobby – is just simply breathtaking. I honestly can’t say enough about it!  Especially at Christmastime!  If you find yourself in the area during the month of December, stopping by to see the Palace’s Christmas decorations, which are pictured above, is a MUST!  Christmas trees, garland, and white twinkle lights can be found EVERYWHERE, especially in the hotel’s Central Courtyard which is absolutely transformed into a mass of sparkle.  LOVE IT! 

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For further information on the hotel you can read an amazingly in-depth review, written by someone who actually stayed there, here.  Although, because the author listed the fact that Palace’s “popular restaurant/bar is closed intermittently for film crews” under the Con section of her Palace Hotel Pros and Cons List, you have to take everything she says with a grain of salt.  LOL  I mean, for me that little tidbit is SO totally a Pro!  🙂   

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The New York Palace Hotel is located at 455 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. You can visit their website here.

The Carlyle Hotel

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Yet another of my favorite New York haunts is the ultra-exclusive Carlyle Hotel, located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.  I blogged about the Carlyle’s famous Bemelman’s Bar, which was featured in Sex and the City: The Movie, after last year’s trip to the Big Apple, but didn’t include much information on the actual hotel itself.  So, here goes.  The Carlyle Hotel, which was named after author Thomas Carlyle, was built by Moses Ginsberg and designed in the Art Deco style by architects Sylvan Bien & Harry M. Prince.  The thirty-five story building first opened its doors in November of 1930 and was actually a residential hotel at the time, with apartments leasing for approximately $20,000 a year.  To show you how times have changed, today there is a room at the Carlyle which rents for approximately $15,000 a night!  LOL  Due to the Great Depression, the hotel did not fare well during the early years.  In 1932, it was sold to new owners who managed to keep it afloat and occupied, but failed to really put the hotel on the map.  In 1948, businessman Robert Whittle Downing purchased the building with the intent of transforming it into an exclusive, upscale hotel property.  And transform it, he did!  Shortly after the change of ownership, then-president Harry S. Truman stayed at the Carlyle, and the rest, as they say is, history.  Every president since that time has stayed at the Carlyle at least once during their presidency.  In fact, JFK owned an apartment at the hotel from 1953 until the time of his death and was such a frequent visitor that during his tenure the Carlyle earned the nickname “the New York White House”.  (By the way, I have absolutely no idea what I was looking at when my dad snapped the above picture, but it’s the only one I have of the front of the hotel.  LOL)

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JFK’s wife Jackie was also a frequent guest at the Carlyle during her lifetime.  The hotel honored her patronage by placing the above framed photograph just inside the main entrance.  Ironically enough, rumor has it that Marilyn Monroe was also a frequent visitor to the Carlyle – but only when JFK was in town and only when Jackie wasn’t able to accompany him.  According to legend, there is a secret tunnel system located below the hotel which allows the rich and famous to enter and leave the property without being spotted by the masses.  Thanks to the discretion and privacy that the Carlyle affords, it has long been a celebrity magnet.  In fact, the New York Times just recently dubbed it “a Palace of Secrets”.  Just a few of the celebs who have been spotted at the hotel through the years include Elizabeth Taylor, Steve Martin, Debbie Reynolds, Princess Diana, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Christian Slater, France’s First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Scarlett Johansson, Jack Nicholson, Gwen Stefani, Nicole Kidman, Jay Z, Beyonce, Ryan Reynolds, Britney Spears, Swiss tennis star Roger Federer, Kate Bosworth, Victoria Beckham, Kate Hudson, Katie Holmes, and Tom Cruise.  And, of course, Sarah Jessica Parker.  In fact, SJP and Matthew Broderick are such fans of the Carlyle that they not only honeymooned at the hotel, but hosted an after-after party for the Sex and the City: The Movie premiere there. 

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The Carlyle is an absolutely beautiful place, with sparkling marble floors, dark wood paneling, crystal chandeliers, and antique elevators complete with real gloved operators.  And I highly recommend stalking the place!  If you can’t afford to stay there (the average cost of a room is about $525!), you can grab a drink in the hotel’s Bemelman’s Bar or dine in their restaurant, Cafe Carlyle.  On our last trip to the Big Apple, we stopped in to the hotel and I asked my dad to snap some photos of of it for me while I went to ask the concierge about the filming that had taken place there over the years.  The two pictures shown above were the result of that request. LOL  Why he took only two photographs, both of me and not of the hotel, I’ll never know!  LOL My apologies!  Anyway, to get a better idea of what the Carlyle looks like inside, take a peek at the photo gallery on the hotel’s website.  🙂

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The Carlyle is also, of course, a filming location.  Woody Allen met ex-wife Tea Leoni at the Carlyle’s Bemelman’s Bar for a drink in the 2002 movie Hollywood Ending.  Woody also shot a date scene with Dianne Wiest in the hotel’s restaurant, Cafe Carlyle, for the 1986 movie Hannah and her Sisters.

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According to the book New York: A Movie Lover’s Guide, the penthouse where Anthony Hopkins lived in Meet Joe Black was actually one of the Carlyle Hotel’s deluxe suites.  The exteriors of his building, however, were filmed elsewhere.

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Also according to New York: A Movie Lover’s Guide, the Carlyle stood in for the European hotel where Glenn Close first met Jeremy Irons in the 1990 movie Reversal of Fortune, but I’m not entirely sure that information is correct.  As you can see in the above screen captures, the decor just doesn’t seem to match that of the Carlyle.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The Carlyle Hotel is located at 25 East 76th Street on New York’s Upper East Side.

The St. Regis Hotel

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Last year while visiting Manhattan, I dragged my boyfriend out to the posh St. Regis New York hotel on 55th Street.  I had wanted to see the St. Regis not so much because it is an oft-used filming location, but because my girl Marilyn Monroe stayed there back in 1954 while on location in New York filming favorite movie The Seven Year Itch.  I found this spot thanks to favorite Manhattan stalking book New York: The Movie Lover’s Guide, which claimed that the hotel was the site of a monumental fight between Marilyn and her then-husband Joe DiMaggio.  According to the book, and just about everything else ever written about The Seven Year Itch, Joe and Marilyn’s relationship was not in a good place at the time of the filming.  Things came to a head on September 15, 1954 – the night Marilyn filmed the famous subway grate scene.   Joe was on hand for the shoot that night and became absolutely irate at the fact that 5,000 spectators had showed up to catch a glimpse of his wife’s unmentionables.  Legend has it that the fight between Marilyn and Joe started out on the 52nd street set and continued all the way back to their suite at the St. Regis Hotel, where their screaming awakened the entire floor!  Now, I’m not sure if the story about the St. Regis brawl is true or not, but I just had to stalk the hotel regardless.  🙂

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The St. Regis New York was built in 1904 by millionaire businessman John Jacob Astor IV and at the time was considered to be the finest hotel in all of Manhattan.  Today it is considered to be one of the finest hotels in all of the world.  Astor’s goal was to build a hotel where guests would not only experience the utmost in luxurious accommodations, but at the same feel as if they were staying in a private home.  To give his hotel that “home away from home” feel, each of the St. Regis’ 229 rooms (164 regular rooms and 65 suites) featured a doorbell.  🙂  At the time of its opening each room also boasted such state-of-the-art amenities as personal thermostats, fire alarms, central air conditioning, telephones, Steinway pianos (yes, each room had its own Steinway piano!!!!), and – my personal favorite – a centralized vacuum system.   Rather than lugging around vacuum cleaners all day long to each and every room, the housekeeping staff had only to attach a small hose to sockets that were located in the hotel walls and the dirt would simply be sucked away.  My former boss had a centralized vacuum system in his house and, let me tell you, it’s just about the COOLEST THING EVER!  The fact that the St. Regis had one back in 1904 is mind-boggling to me!  In today’s world, the St. Regis name has become synonymous with luxury, splendor, and the utmost in hospitality.  The amenities of 2009 include a spa, a fitness center, a business center, and twenty-four hour butler service!!  The St. Regis New York has won countless awards over the years, including most recently “Top 75 Hotels in the United States” by Conde Nast Traveler, “World’s Best” by Travel & Leisure Magazine, the “Five-Star Award” by the Mobil Travel Guide, and – for the past fourteen years in a row – the “Five Diamond Award” by AAA!  The above photographs were taken during last year’s New York vacation in a sitting room located just off of the St. Regis lobby.  As you can see, the hotel is absolutely BEAUTIFUL inside and I just love visiting it.   I would also LOVE to stay there sometime, but being that rates start at around $600 per night, there is no way in heck the Grim Cheaper would ever go for that!

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The exclusive St. Regis has long been a celebrity haven.  Besides Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio, past guests of the hotel include Humphrey Bogart, Salvador Dali, Russian Prince Colonel Serge Obelensky, Marlene Dietrich, Rex Harrison, Alfred Hitchcock, Ernest Hemingway, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, John Huston, Joseph Pulitzer, William Paley, and Gertrude Lawrence, just to name a few.  In more recent years Demi Moore, Nathan Lane, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Penn, Victor Garber, Scarlett Johansson, Tara Reid, Thora Birch, Courteney Cox, and Martin Short have all been spotted at the hotel.

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And, of course, the St. Regis is also a filming location!  🙂  The hotel’s King Cole Bar showed up in fave movie The First Wives Club, as the location where Goldie Hawn lamented over being asked to play the character of “Monique’s mother” – instead of “Monique” – in her next movie.  The King Cole is famous in and of itself thanks to the massive Maxfield Parrish mural of Old King Cole and his knights flanking the bar.    In 1906, John Jacob Astor IV paid $5,000 for the commission of the eight foot by thirty foot mural and first hung it in another of his hotel properties, the Knickerbocker.  When the Knickerbocker closed its doors in 1932, the mural was brought over to the St. Regis and hung above the bar, where legends about it abound – two in particular.  The first story states that the face of King Cole in the painting is actually that of the hotel’s owner, John Jacob Astor IV.  Legend also has it that the reason behind the King’s mischievous expression in the mural is that he  has just passed gas.  I’m not kidding!  LOL   And yet another legend asserts that the King Cole Bar is where the first ever Bloody Mary was served on U.S. soil. 🙂

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The King Cole Bar was also featured very briefly in the movie The Devil Wears Prada as the location where my love Simon Baker gave Anne Hathaway the unpublished manuscript for the 7th “Harry Potter” book.  I so LOVED The Devil Wears Prada, by the way.  The movie is worth seeing just for Anne Hathaway’s wardrobe alone!  🙂

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The St. Regis also popped up in the 1976 movie Taxi Driver as the location where Cybil Shepherd caught a ride with cabbie Robert De Niro.

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In 2000’s Miss Congeniality, Michael Caine and Sandra Bullock dined at the St. Regis’ now-defunct Lespinasse Restaurant.

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Joe Jackson’s (not MJ’s father) music video for his 1982 song ‘Steppin’ Out’ was also filmed at the hotel.  And Woody Allen has shot no less than THREE movies on location at the St. Regis – Anything Else, Hannah and Her Sisters (the hotel was the site of Michael Caine and Barbara Hershey’s illicit affair), and Radio Days (Mia Farrow was a cigarette girl in the King Cole Bar).

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I honestly can’t recommend stalking the St. Regis New York enough.  It is a truly beautiful, truly unique hotel.  And I’d also recommend stalking the King Cole Bar – if you can get a seat, that is.  My fiancé and I have tried to grab a cocktail there countless times on each of our numerous trips to New York, but have never been able to get a seat in the popular bar.  🙁

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: The St. Regis New York hotel is located at 2 East 55th Street, at Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan.  You can visit their website here.

How To Spot a Movie Star!

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Because so many of you have been asking lately, and in honor of the upcoming Oscar Weekend, I thought I’d do a post today on the best places to go in L.A. to see a star.   But first let me start by saying that if your sole purpose in visiting L.A. is to see celebs – and let’s be honest, what other reason is there? 🙂 – the very best time of year to plan your trip is Oscar Weekend.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Hollywood comes alive for the Oscars.  I swear it’s like celebrities come out of the woodwork during that time of year and everyone who’s anyone is here.  Last year this fellow stalker took my Oscar Weekend advice (you can read that advice – Part I and Part II –  here)  and saw 68 celebs – yes, she counted.  🙂  But if you can’t make it to L.A. this weekend – have no fear!  I have advice for the other 51 weeks of the year, too!  So where is the best place to go to see a movie star?  The answer to that question is actually quite simple.  It’s two words, really.   Hotel bars!   Or hotels in general for that matter – hotel lobbies, bars, restaurants – they’ll all do.  A few years ago I realized that for whatever reason, almost every single time I visited a hotel restaurant or bar in the Hollywood/West Hollywood/Beverly Hills area I spotted someone famous.  So now I’ve pretty much made a habit out of stalking hotel bars.  And there are quite a few that stand out in my mind as celeb magnets.

So, without further ado, here is my list of must-stalk hotels (in no particular order, except for the last one):

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1. Hollywood Renaissance Hotel – 1755 North Highland Boulevard in Hollywood.  I’ve spotted Nikki Blonsky and Will Smith on different visits to this Hollywood hotel.  The lobby was also featured in the movie Red Eye.  The lobby bar is located just to the right of the main entrance.

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2. The Mondrian Hotel – 8440 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.  This is one of my favorite hotels in all of Los Angeles.  The staff is always warm and friendly and the views from the pool and the hotel’s Asia De Cuba restaurant are to die for!  I’ve spotted both Victoria Beckam and Spike Lee at the Mondrian.  Britney Spears had one of her meltdowns during her shaved head period at the Mondrian’s pool.  Pictured above is me standing with all of the paparazzi waiting to see Victoria Beckham a few years ago. 🙂  I’m the one poking my head out behind the guy in the blue blazer. 

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3. The Regent Beverly Wilshire – 9500 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.  Besides being the hotel where Pretty Woman  was filmed, the Regent Beverly Wilshire also hosts the Night Before the Night Before Party each year during Oscar weekend.  I also spotted Jake Gyllenhaal in the hotel’s lobby one random Friday afternoon.  And Spencer and Heidi are big fans of the restaurant Cut located inside the hotel.

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4. Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel – 7000 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.  I’ve blogged about this hotel numerous times before as it is so steeped in Hollywood history.  Almost every celebrity in history has been spotted at this hotel.  Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift used to live there and today celebs like Lauren Conrad and Nicole Richie hang out by the Tropicana Bar at the hotel’s pool.  I even got to meet Kristin Cavallari once while hanging out at the Tropicana.

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5. Sunset Tower Hotel – 8358 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.  Another of my favorite L.A. hotels.  Both the Tower Bar and the Terrace Room boast A-MA-ZING views and serve up some great cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.   I met Kate Bosworth on one of my visits to the Terrace Room and both Jen Aniston and Kevin Spacey are regulars at the Tower Bar.  I really can’t recommend this place enough!

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6. Raffles L’Ermitage – 9291 Burton Way in Beverly Hills.  This is the place where Brenda and Dylan shared their first kiss on the original 90210  series, so of course it holds a special place in my heart.  🙂   I’ve heard that seeing a celeb at the hotel’s Writer’s Bar (where scripts of legendary movies line the walls) is pretty much a sure thing.  While I was stalking the hotel I spotted James Woods who supposedly lives there.  

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7. Beverly Hills Hotel – 9641 Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills.  This hotel hosts the Night Before Party every year during Oscar Weekend.  And I almost always spot a celeb at the hotel’s legendary Polo Lounge Restaurant.   While there I’ve seen Paris Hilton (first picture of this post), Rob Reiner, Elle Macpherson, and Reese Witherspoon.  It’s one of my favorite bars in all of L.A.  It’s pricey, but so worth it!

8. Beverly Hilton Hotel – 9876 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.  This hotel plays hosts to OVER 200!!!!! celebrity events and awards show parties each year, including the annual Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Party.  There is an event there pretty much every Saturday night and you can literally just park yourself in the lobby bar, order up a few champagnes, and enjoy your perfect view of celebrity arrivals through the front door. 

9. Viceroy Santa Monica- 1819 Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica.   Celebs LOVE this ultra-modern avant-garde hotel, especially Britney Spears and LLo who are regulars.  Kate Beckinsale has also been spotted here. 

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10. Casa Del Mar -1910 Ocean Way in Santa Monica.  Once while grabbing a drink at this seaside hotel, I spotted my girl Jen Aniston, Vince Vaughn, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jon Favreau who were all there doing publicity for The Break Up.  Katie Holmes, Mandy Moore, Britney Spears and KFed have all stayed at the hotel at one time or another.  Casa Del Mar is very historic and very upscale and it’s centralized lobby bar is situated in the perfect location for viewing the many celebs who enter the front door.  Shutters Hotel located right next door to Casa Del Mar is also a notorius celeb hangout.  The above pics were taken with my camera phone the day we saw Jen.  The first pic is of me standing with the paps outside Casa Del Mar and the second is of Jen getting into her waiting car.   You can’t really tell, but I am wearing my Team Aniston sweatshirt in the pics – when Jen saw it she pointed and said “Oh, thank you!”  lol 

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11. Chateau Marmont – 8221 W. Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.  A list of celebrity hotspots would not be complete without at least a mention of the famed Chateau Marmont.  The problem is I hate this place!  The staff is pretentious and snooty and if you aren’t a celeb, they pretty much treat you like dirt.  Which I’m sure is one of the reasons stars like the place so much.  LOL  COUNTLESS celebs have visited this hotel including Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan (who used to live there), Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Ginnifer Goodwin, the late Heath Ledger and his wife Michelle Williams, etc., etc., etc.  But if you happen to spot a celeb while visiting the Chateau DON’T EVEN THINK of going up to them or snapping their pic (no cameras of any kind are even allowed in the hotel! I’m not kidding).  Which is, again, probably why celebs love the place so much – and why stalkers hate it.  🙂

It is at this point that I realize my list of hotels could go on and on.  Why?  Because looking back on my eight years of living in L.A. I can hardly think of a time I visited an upscale hotel and didn’t  spot a celeb.  You really can’t go wrong with any hotel you choose.  What can I say – celebs love ’em.  And why not?  If I was rich and famous I’d be constantly staying in hotels, too.  Who wouldn’t want daily turn down service and a nightly pillow mint?  🙂 

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Restaurants can also be good places to see celebs, but I’ve always had better stalking luck at hotels.  If you want to try your hand at a restaurant, though, these are the ones I’d recommend:  Marix Tex Mex Cafe (a Jen Aniston favorite located at 1108 N. Flores Street in West Hollywood – she sits on the patio), The Ivy (THE celeb stalking restaurant located at 113 North Robertson Blvd. in Beverly Hills – every celeb and their mother has dined here), Ago (the Robert Dinero owned Italian restaurant where Quentin Tarantino once punched out his dinner mate located at 8478 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood), Nobu (another Jen Aniston – and every other celebrity – favorite located at 3835 Cross Creek Road in Malibu), Katsuya ( a celeb fave sushi spot located at 11777 San Vicente Blvd. #120 in Los Angeles), Orso (Simon Cowell’s favorite located at 8706 West 3rd Street in Los Angeles), Il Sole (Jen’s absolute fave and notorius celeb hot spot located at 8730 Sunset Blvd. in West Hollywood), and, finally, Madeo (the celeb restaurant du jour located at 8897 Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood).

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And finally, a few random locations where celebs always seem to congregate: the Brentwood Country Mart  shopping center which seems to be Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s home away from home; the Santa Monica Farmers Market – an outdoor food bazaar that occurs on Arizona Avenue twice weekly (Wednesday and Saturday mornings) where a lot of celebs buy their produce; Malibu Country Mart – Malibu’s main upscale shopping center; and the place I blogged about on Monday, the Los Angeles Farmers Market.  It seems celebs like farmers markets and country marts.  🙂  LOL

My final piece of advice?  If you are in the Beverly Hills/Hollywood/West Hollywood area and you see a large group of men standing out in front of a hotel or restaurant, pull over immediately!  Those men are paparazzi, which means there is a celeb in the vicinity!!  🙂   I’ve seen quite a few celebs just by spotting the paps.  🙂  And if you are lucky enough to come across one of those yellow signs that I love so much, stop!!! and ask the crew what is being filmed.  Most crews are very friendly and will let you on set to watch!

So there it is – my advice on the best places to go celeb-stalking.  Just visit a hotel, mill around the lobby a bit, grab a bite to eat or just a cocktail (much cheaper than an entire meal) and sit back and wait for the celebs to arrive.  🙂  

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂