When the 85th Academy Awards air on Sunday, the world will see Hollywood’s best and brightest competing for the most important prizes in the movie industry. With all the red-carpeted fuss though, you’d think the actors were the only ones who had any screen time. Actually, many top hotels have strutted their stuff in legendary films, too. Our film-obsessed editors have gone through the Oscar-movie archives and found properties that had unforgettable close-ups on camera.
The St. Regis Atlanta
Nominated for two awards this year—Best Actor for Denzel Washington and Best Original Screenplay for John Gatins—Flight filmed scenes in Atlanta at the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star St. Regis Atlanta in Buckhead. The glamorous Wine Room was transformed into an executive breakfast buffet for a scene with Washington and his character’s lawyer (played by Don Cheadle), and all of the furniture used in the film is original to the hotel. When it’s not starring in an Oscar-nominated movie, the Wine Room serves flights and personalized tastings around its mahogany marble-topped sommelier counter.
Park Hyatt Tokyo
Oscar winner Sofia Coppola’s indie hit Lost in Translation won the Academy Award in 2004 for Best Original Screenplay, and included shots of the luxe Park Hyatt Tokyo throughout many of its major scenes. The film’s main characters, Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), spend much of the movie in one of the hotel’s best spots: the top-floor New York Bar. Today, the bar still provides incredible views of Tokyo’s skyline and Mount Fuji, and serves up classic cocktails, such as Manhattans, Cosmopolitans and caipirinhas.
Hôtel Le Bristol Paris
Hôtel Le Bristol Paris is used to hosting Hollywood A-listers, but playing one is another story. That is until Woody Allen shot much of the 2011 Academy Award-winning film Midnight in Paris in the exclusive Panoramic Suite. Characters Inez (played by Rachel McAdams) and Gil (Owen Wilson) stay in the suite, which is decked out like a luxurious Paris apartment with antique mirrors, Louis XV furniture, a private gym and a garden terrace. You can spot other locations in the hotel throughout the film as well, including the two-story brasserie 114 Faubourg, where former first lady of France Carla Bruni-Sarkozy makes a cameo appearance lunching.
The St. Regis Princeville Resort, Kauai
The Descendants took home the award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2012, and the flick showcases the natural beauty of Hawaii’s coastline—and The St. Regis Princeville Resort. In the film, George Clooney’s character runs along the beach in front of The St. Regis, which is located on Kauai’s North Shore, also known as the “Garden Island.” The lush waterfront resort is an actual location in the original book, so it was only natural that director Alexander Payne chose to include the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star hotel’s lobby and Presidential Suite in the movie.
The Beverly Hilton
Ben Affleck’s 2012 directorial work for Argo has earned him much praise. Nominated for seven Academy Awards this year (including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay for Chris Terrio), the flick based on the 1980 escape of six Americans from Iran during the revolution shot scenes in the Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Beverly Hilton. The glam Stardust rooftop space serves as the backdrop for the famous cocktail party celebrating the “launch” of the phony movie Argo that the CIA conjured up as a cover to rescue the stranded Americans. The film’s staged press conference for Argo was also filmed at the Beverly Hills hotel.
Photos Courtesy of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc, The Beverly Hilton and Hotel LeBristol
