Legendary Hollywood types have been lining up at the rather gothic Marmont ever since it opened doors in 1933. Garbo, Polanski even Jim Morrison and lately, Tim Robbins, Ethan Hawke and Keanu Reeves have all stayed her. But it's not only the guests which provide additional excitement and status of the Chateau Marmont: the movie " The Doors" was filmed here and "Rebel without a Cause" was written and rehearsed here. More significantly, the hotel was best known prior to the nineties for its Hollywood style infidelity and drug-induced wildness. The adage used to be that, "if you are going to get into a little trouble, do it at the Marmont", so said many agents and studio heads to their star "performers".

The bad behaviour reached an all-time high in the sixties, when hard rockers rolled in: Led Zeppelin had motorcycle races in the halways, Alice Cooper played football...naked and, in 1982, John Belushi died of a drug overdose in bungalow # 3. At this point most of the regulars had relinquished their psycho-motor responses to the trustee-ship of modern technology, had become devoid of humour and promptly moved out to somewhere else possible to get a grip.

By the late Eighties, the Marmont's reputation and physical condition was less than shabby but was soon saved by Andre' Balazs who with his General Manager, Philip Truelove (who trained with the Savoy Group), put the Marmont back on the map. Restored to its original 1930's style and glory, the place just oozes atmosphere and panache. In particular, a nostalgic sense of all that took place here over the previous 60 years.

The Chateau Marmont is bohemian beatnik as opposed to chic. Understatement and privacy is its essense, with no public lobby or restaurant. Instead the rooms have huge refridgerators and six-inch-thick sound-absorbing walls.

At any given time famous screenwriters and directors like Tim Burton of "Batman" fame may be locked away in their suite working up the next blockbuster, or flop. Actors and others of Hollywood fame are returning with new found reason and purpose.

The Marmont is so exclusive you might feel a little left out if you don't hold the candle in the right position. But its worth getting into the spirit of it, so hire the Jag, put on the shades and plug-in for the shear experience of it all.