Remember the time when romantic comedies were done right?
Pretty Woman was a hugely successful film with a worldwide gross of nearly half a billion dollars. It made Julia Roberts into a superstar and resurrected the career of Richard Gere. It drove up the sales of Lotus Esprit cars and the soundtrack went on to be certified three times platinum. I remember when the movie came out and it sat for weeks in the theaters. Everyone, it seemed, was falling in love with Pretty Woman.
Oh, if it were all true. Billionaires don't look like Richard Gere, they look like Warren Buffett. Hookers on Hollywood Boulevard are a little more Laura San Giacomo and a lot less Julia Roberts. I'm pretty sure that sales ladies on Rodeo Drive wouldn't turn away a potential customer in this economy (although I could be wrong about that) and who ever heard of a ultra-rich dude finding love on the streets anyway? It doesn't matter; romantic comedies are supposed to be escapist fantasies and as long as the stars align (which they did in Pretty Woman), everyone goes home happy.
Vivian Ward played by Julia Roberts made her sinful money on Hollywood Boulevard. Of course, Hollywood Boulevard is a major street in Los Angeles and parts of it are still quite seedy. I've never walked down it at night but I'm not sure I would want to without at least a couple of cocktails in me.
I congratulate the scouts for finding authentic filming locations. If you turn off Hollywood and go a short distance up Las Palmas ...
... you arrive at the hotel where Vivian and her hooker roommate (played by Laura San Giacomo) lived.
This is the Hotel Las Palmas and the address is 1738 N. Las Palmas Avenue, 90028.
It looks exactly like it did in the movie. There is the fire escape which Edward Lewis (played by Richard Gere) bravely mounted so he could rescue Vivian from her life of shame. I suppose if you wanted to get technical about it, Vivian had already decided to give up her hooker life at that point so Edward was really just bumping her up into a different tax bracket.
Las Palmas is what you would call a "budget" hotel. It does have a great location if you want to party on Hollywood Boulevard and thankfully, security looks pretty tight at least from the outside.
The rates are $40 a night and $190 a week. That's pretty awesome for Hollywood especially if you're a struggling actor from India and you've come to LA to hit the big time. Good luck Deepak!
I'm guessing hourly rates are probably negotiable.
And the rates apparently include a tv! I wonder if there is HBO ...
If you're interested, the website is http://www.hollywoodhotellaspalmas.com/.
Okay, now for the other extreme. Let's take a ride on a Lotus Esprit and travel from the Hotel Las Palmas to where Edward was staying: The Regent Beverly Wilshire currently known as the Beverly Wilshire. It isn't that far but distance in LA is not measured in miles, it's measured in time and that can vary wildly depending on the time of day. At 2pm in the afternoon, it took about half an hour to make the trip.
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Parking in Beverly Hills can be a bit of a nightmare if you want to avoid the valet. I found a space at the library public parking and it was two hours free. Free in LA? In Beverly Hills? I nearly crapped in my Gucci loafers.
(Please note: I don't own a pair of Gucci loafers.)
If you park at the library, there is a short walk down Rodeo Drive where you can do a lot of window shopping and silently curse your parents for not giving you a bigger inheritance.
Rodeo Drive feels a little like an upscale Disneyland and judging by the number of tourists, a lot of people think of it in this way.
Oh yes, all the famous names are there ...
Something more affordable, perhaps?
And finally, if you haven't collapsed from all the sheer materialism, you arrive at Wilshire Boulevard ...
... and the Beverly Wilshire, located at 9500 Wilshire Boulevard.
It was finished in 1928 and built in the Italian Renaissance architecture style. It is a very imposing building and to me, it looks like it should be haunted but I have no proof that it is.
This ain't no Lotus Esprit but it is a Bentley parked outside for everyone to see. One day I hope to touch one of these cars and not get arrested.
The lobby of the Beverly Wilshire is strangely quite bland. It's easy to walk in--the doorman won't bother you--in fact, if he treats you anything like he did me, he won't even open the damn door. I clearly didn't look like I could afford either to eat or to stay at this luxurious palace.
Why did Edward stay at the Beverly Wilshire? Because it was the best. I should hope so---with rates exceeding $400 a night, I would expect nothing less.
If you feel like you deserve to be pampered (or just live out a Vivian/Edward fantasy), then please check out the hotel website at www.fourseasons.com/beverlywilshire/.
HOW TO GET THERE: The Hotel Las Palmas is in central Hollywood very close to the tourist mecca, the Hollywood-Highland complex. The Beverly Wilshire is in central Beverly Hills and you can't miss it if you are visiting Rodeo Drive.
WORTH THE TREK? 8/10 Seeing the Hotel Las Palmas was pretty cool and if you're a fan of the movie, I highly recommend it. Not sure if I would stay there unless my tax bracket took a tumble. 7/10 for the Beverly Wilshire. The architecture of the building is very interesting but unless you can afford the rooms or the expensive restaurants (CUT by Wolfgang Puck), you might feel as if you're a pauper in a palace.
