The Château Marmont, a star hotel in Los Angeles, is even more privatized

It had been the haven of peace and the playground of stars for almost a century. The luxury hotel Chateau Marmont, located on the heights of Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, will become an even more private establishment.

It was in this neo-Gothic hotel that Jean Harlow and Clark Gable had a torrid passion, that James Dean landed his role in The Fury of Living  by breaking into Nicholas Ray's bedroom, and that John Belushi died of an overdose. He is also known for his memorable parties, from Leonardo DiCaprio's birthday party in 1995 to the one hosted by Beyoncé and Jay-Z after the Oscars ceremony in 2020.

Hollywood: the stars hotel Château Marmont turns into a private establishment https://t.co/FfZiwuMMgL pic.twitter.com/PK7SJt674P

A hotel like a "super yacht"

Already very exclusive, the seven-storey hotel will be even more “select” this year by becoming a private hotel. It will offer a package of services including a private dining room, dedicated staff and long-term storage space for a few members with shares in the hotel.

😮! The Château Marmont, the legendary hotel in LA, will be transformed into a private residence where only members of the “club” can stay. Last June, covid obliges, the Marmont looked like a magnificent liner a little abandoned and without a crew ... pic.twitter.com/JxZWxKjMbb

“It's comparable to a super yacht,” explains the owner, Andre Balazs. “You can only provide these kinds of services - and have people on deck - if they're carefully selected. No information has yet been released on the cost of membership. The owner already had this transition in mind but the process accelerated with the coronavirus pandemic.

Restoring the accounts after confinement

Faced with this privatization, however, criticism has risen, especially from those fearing that they will no longer be able to dine in front of their favorite stars. "There will always be a public dimension, probably the restaurant", reassures Andre Balazs. “And maybe [there will] also be a public aspect in some rooms. "

The Château Marmont has been "for a long time a VIP club that pretends to be accessible to the public," said producer Shawn Levy, author of a book on the hotel, in the  Los Angeles Times . Membership fees and contributions would be, according to him, “a golden boon for the Château, which […] suffered during the pandemic. In March, the majority of the staff had been made redundant, admits the owner of the hotel.

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• United States
• World
• Luxury
• Privatization
• Los Angeles
• Hotel
• Stars