The Beverly Hilton

Historic Hotel Draped in Hollywood Elegance

BY MONIQUE REIDY

AMONG THE WELLKNOWN LANDMARKS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, ICONIC HOTELS ARE SOME OF THE MOST RECOGNIZED. THE BEVERLY HILTON, A MONUMENT ON WILSHIRE BOULEVARD IN THE OPULENT CITY OF BEVERLY HILLS, HAS HAD AN ILLUSTRIOUS HISTORY SINCE IT OPENED IN 1955.

Distinctive since its inception, The Beverly Hilton is a historic destination that has accommodated Hollywood legends like Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. It’s still a movie industry hot spot today, and it’s not uncommon to find A-listers in the lobby or at one of the property’s restaurants.

The hotel's International Ballroom has hosted the annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony since 1961 and has been the location choice for the Oscar Nominee Luncheon, the prestigious Milken Institute’s Global Conference, and a variety of red carpet events.

The hotel’s history stretches more than three quarters of a century. Conrad Hilton originally created The Beverly Hilton in the mid-fifties as a showpiece. Merv Griffin purchased the hotel for $100.2 million in December 1987, and in 2003 sold it for $130 million to Oasis West Realty. However, Hilton Hotels has maintained management of The Beverly Hilton since it first opened.

When the property went through a $35 million renovation in 2020, the designers revived the decor, but retained its sophisticated mid-century style. The gold- and neutral-toned furnishings in the lobby reflect the Hollywood chic motif of yesteryear yet the vibe is modern and minimalistic.

There are 24 meeting and banquet rooms on the property, an outdoor Oasis Courtyard, three ballrooms, meticulously manicured gardens, and oversized outdoor spaces for weddings and special events. The gift shop features everything from logoed souvenirs to posh pool attire for outfitting guests when they visit the hotel’s famous swimming pool.

The Aqua Star Pool has been enjoyed by some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Angelina Jolie who took a dip in it after winning her second Golden Globe. There is poolside food and drink service, and daybeds are available to rent for a more elevated experience.

Adjacent to the pool is the 6,000-square-foot, Upgrade Labs, a wellness center that offers high-tech experiences such as cryotherapy, a whole-body vibration plate, and infrared and ozone saunas. There is a state-of-the-art fitness center, a full-service hair salon, and a luxurious spa to pamper skin and sore muscles.

With a total of 566 guestrooms, visitors have an option to stay in any of three areas depending on accommodation preferences: The Wilshire Tower Rooms and Suites, The Oasis Building or Poolside Cabanas. >>

Rooms in The Wilshire Tower feature contemporary decor, floor-to-ceiling windows and terraces that offer spectacular views of Beverly Hills. The Oasis building offers 181 rooms adorned in midcentury furnishings and a large shared outdoor garden with an artistic fountain. Poolside Cabanas are 36 rooms that encircle the Aqua Star Pool and offer a laid-back, resort experience.

Bordering the pool, Circa 55, named for the year in which The Beverly Hilton was built, is the hotel’s casual eatery that features breakfast,

“We have a bartender who’s been here for 45 years, a doorman for 40 and people in nearly every department for more than 20 years. It’s a wonderful place to be, even if it’s where you work.” lunch and dinner and a fabulous Sunday Brunch. Sant’olina restaurant sits at the hotel’s rooftop and features outdoor dining, a Mediterranean menu, breathtaking views of the Hollywood Hills and full bar.

Perhaps the most notable feature of The Beverly Hilton is the duration of time that much of the staff has served at the hotel. Valeri Young, who has worked in the marketing office for five years, said the team is like family.

“We have a bartender who’s been here for 45 years, a doorman for 40 and people in nearly every department for more than 20 years,” she said. “It’s a wonderful place to be, even if it’s where you work.”

The Beverly Hilton is a magical property that has it all — luxury, history, celebrity and, most of all, impeccable service. It’s an experience worth a visit and is especially suited for SoCal locals looking for an ideal staycation. g

THE BEVERLY HILTON

9876 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills, CA 90210 (310) 274-7777 beverlyhilton.com

BY MICHELE STUEVEN

Michael Cimarusti’s Michelin-starred Providence, on a busy street in the heart of Hollywood, has always been the subject of praise and sustainability in culinary and environmental circles. But the latest buzz around the elegant seafood restaurant is the approximately 100,000 gentle honeybees that call the restaurant’s urban rooftop garden home.

With the help of Robin Jones, garden designer and curator of Honey Girl Grows, Providence installed two Italian honeybee hives with re-hived locally removed colonies in April of this year. Unlike raising new populations, re-hiving an already existing honeybee colony that you might find in your loft, attic, garage or underground DWP meters doesn’t pose any threat to available food for other pollinators. After re-hiving, Providence’s colonies were requeened with docile Italian DNA from a queen bee breeder to assure the genetics were less defensive.

“We pick specific breeds of queens that will lay eggs of bees that are docile with a less defensive DNA, so we’ve added friendly bees into the neighborhood,” Jones told LA Weekly, as she and Chef de Cuisine Tristan Aitchison inspected the stacked boxes of bees.

“We take hives that have been rescued locally and bring them up here with other native species so that there’s food for everybody, supporting the whole ecosystem,” she said. “It’s all organic; the nectar is the carbohydrate that becomes honey and the pollen is the protein of the hive. The Providence honey is from the local neighborhood and made from the plants and trees that grow near here.”

The bees, which have a five-week life span, pollinate and collect nectar within a four-mile urban area that includes the fruit- and flower-filled neighborhood of Hancock Park, with about 10 million surrounding flowers, shrubs and trees in their ecosystem. In fact, they don’t even venture as far as the Hollywood Hills to the east.

“When you see a cluster of bees without a hive, it is in a heartshaped form, which they recreate in these boxes as well,” Jones explained. “They build from the bottom to the top; and as they fill the boxes, we divide the boxes by frames to make it easier for the beekeeper to check on their health and wellness, and see what they’re bringing in and their nutrition and growth. The older bees are on the bottom because that’s where the babies are. That’s where the forager bees that you see in your garden come in carrying their nectar and bring it to the young blind bees, and they transfer it in a very tonguey process that looks like a French kiss.”

The nectar gets transferred into the wax cell that is the honeycomb.

“Providence’s rooftop-sourced honey has a floral flavor profile that is slightly less sweet than most,” Aitchison, who spearheaded the rooftop ecosystem, said. “We harvested five gallons in August and have used it in the reserve Tableside Japanese Penicillin cocktail and in its purest form as an accompaniment to post-dinner tea service.” g

This article first appeared on LAWeekly.com

BY MONIQUE REIDY