AS SEEN IN...Luxury Hotels & Lifestyle Brands with Starring Roles on Screen
Thursday, October 15, 2009 at 04:12PM From Chuck Bass’s bedroom to Grace Kelly’s balcony, these luxury international hotels and lifestyle brands have shined in starring roles on screen and in song.
InterContinental Carlton Cannes, Cannes, France
www.intercontinental.com
The history of InterContinental Carlton Cannes is closely linked to that of the Cannes International Film Festival, a whirlwind of red-carpeted steps and camera flashes. In welcoming the greatest stars of the festival, the hotel has become a star itself. Photographed the world over, its legendary Belle Époque façade has become a familiar sight on the silver screen. The InterContinental Carlton Cannes served as a backdrop for the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock classic To Catch a Thief, a glamorous caper starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. Years later, another romance blossomed between Kevin Kline and Meg Ryan in the playful ‘90s rom-com French Kiss.
Guests can star in their own Hollywood epic when they stay in the hotel’s top-floor “celebrity suites,” each boasting a private terrace with stunning panoramic views. Suites have been named after popular celebrity guests such as Sean Connery, Uma Thurman, and Sean Penn.
Farley Hill, Barbados
www.visitbarbados.org
Heralded as a “filmmaker’s island,” Barbados was featured in 20th Century Fox’s sweeping 1957 political drama Island in the Sun, starring calypso legend Harry Belafonte and beauties Dorothy Dandridge and Joan Collins.
Though set on a fictitious Caribbean island, the film was shot at Farley Hill in Barbados against its plush backdrop of greenery. Today, Farley Hill serves as a popular entertainment venue where stars and famous musicians venture each January to listen to celebrated beats at Barbados’s legendary Jazz Festival.
, St. Michaels, Maryland
www.perrycabin.com
During filming of the 2005 runaway hit Wedding Crashers, starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, The Inn at Perry Cabin housed the actors and was the site of the main wedding reception in the film. The cast was so impressed with the Inn’s Executive Chef Mark Salter that they ordered room service from The Inn at Perry Cabin, even though they were temporarily relocated to another hotel.
The little town of St. Michaels also has close romantic ties to Hollywood that date back to the 1920s. It was the site of the Fay Wray and Gary Cooper 1928 silent film The First Kiss, which featured glimpses of The Inn at Perry Cabin.
, Marrakech, Morocco
La Mamounia
www.mamounia.com
In 1956, La Mamounia enjoyed a starring role in Alfred Hitchcock’s iconic film The Man Who Knew Too Much, starring James Stewart and Doris Day. Perhaps known best for her signature song, “Que Sera, Sera” (first performed in this suspense film), Doris Day would have something new to sing about La Mamounia today. The legendary hotel recently re-opened on September 29, 2009 after a three-year restoration project, led by internationally-acclaimed interior designer, Jacques Garcia. A classic grand hotel, the property features 136 stylish guest rooms, 71 suites, a new 27,000 sq. ft. Mamounia Spa, three signature restaurants, and its legendary 200-year-old gardens, originally given as an 18th- century wedding gift to Prince Moulay Mamoun by his father, King Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah
According to hotel staff, Hitchcock also found inspiration for his man vs. nature flick The Birds while staying at the hotel when he opened his balcony door and was startled by pigeons. Even then, megawatt stars continue to “flock” to La Mamounia, among them Tom Cruise, Kate Winslet, and The Rolling Stones. Guests are welcome to peruse the Livre d’Or – the guest book – featuring comments from many of the hotel’s celebrated guests.
Keswick Hall, Charlottesville, Virginia
www.keswick.com
Named one of the top boutique hotels in the US and Canada, Keswick Hall’s Italianate architecture, pastoral green setting, refined ambiance, and elegant décor are reflective of 19th century American affluence. The scenic property – namely Room 12 and Villa Crawford – served as the ideal setting for the Alan Alda and Carol Burnett vehicle The Four Seasons (1981), a comedy about quirky married couples who enjoy seasonal getaways together.
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles, California
Thompson Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills, California
60 Thompson, New York, New York
6 Columbus, New York, New York
Thompson LES, New York, New York
www.thompsonhotels.com
No strangers to glitz and glamour, the Thompson Hotels have enjoyed many cameos over the year on both silver and small screens alike. As one of Tinseltown’s historic properties – and the site of the first Academy Awards presentation, in the hotel’s legendary Blossom Room in 1929 – the Hollywood Roosevelt has seen its fair share of luminaries, among them Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. Celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe (star of Bravo’s “The Rachel Zoe Project”) favors the slinky Thompson Beverly Hills and has been known to camp out in Soho’s 60 Thompson during New York Fashion Week. Now Zoe has set her sights on the art-chic Thompson LES, home to an outdoor pool immortalizing Andy Warhol’s face, while the kids from Bravo’s other hit show, “NYC Prep,” decide to keep it classically New York with parties thrown in 6 Columbus’s penthouse.
Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
www.copacabanapalance.com
Copacabana Palace, Rio’s landmark hotel, has served as the backdrop for some of Hollywood’s most enduring classic movies, including 1933’s Flying Down to Rio, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Additionally, Copacabana Palace (also known as The Girl) released in 1962, takes place during Carnival at the hotel – a dazzling combination of color, music and magic. It was even rumored that musical star Carmen Miranda, a frequent performer in the hotel’s spacious Golden Room, found solace after the dissolution of her marriage in the spectacular ocean views afforded by her suite window.
SFERRA Fine Linens
www.sferralinens.com
As the resident bad boy of the Upper East Side, it’s only natural that Chuck Bass – a prime player in the CW’s teen sensation, “Gossip Girl” – has equally swoon-worthy linens. That would be SFERRA’s sumptuous Illaria bedding, featured in Season Two of the high school hit show. Intricate, stylish, and dramatic – a perfect fit for the boy who has everything. Sferra products have also been featured on the popular reality shows “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” and “The Rachel Zoe Project.”
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