Beverly Hills in style: luxury, history, and a city on the rebound
The catastrophic fires did not touch Hollywood’s key attractions and the famous suburb of Beverly Hills. The show must go on and that includes welcoming visitors back to the city.
Flashback: I am in the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel, a paradise for people-watchers. It was the social hub for “more stars than there are in heaven”, as Hollywood studio MGM once boasted about its workforce, and still performs as an entertainment industry powerhouse. Lunching in the Californian sun in the lounge garden, all pastel pink and green (the hotel’s colours), I’m discovering the food and cocktails aren’t half bad either. Ordering the seasonal souffle is a must, I’m advised. And that season is Christmas. This hotel and all others in Beverly Hills, its stores and gardens are a-glitter. The mood is de-lovely, as Cole Porter likely sang in these environs.
How difficult it is to comprehend that within three weeks of my visit, the Beverly Hills Hotel will be an evacuation hub for citizens fleeing the fires that ripped through parts of Los Angeles, killing 28 people and destroying more than 10,000 buildings. While epicentre Pacific Palisades is about 25km from Beverly Hills, the closer Hollywood Hills were threatened.
January 7 is marked as the “start” of the inferno, but fires had been menacing in the lead-up to Christmas. For my flight home, I bought a copy of the LA Times, which reported fears of explosive wildfires. In a preview of the epic horror to come, residents of oceanfront Malibu had been evacuated, including 99-year-old actor Dick Van Dyke.
Now comes the gigantic task of rebuilding the City of Dreams and reinvigorating its creative spirit. LA is to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the Summer Olympics in 2028. It is an international gateway for visitors to the US, particularly from across the Pacific. The city sprawls (one of its frustrations) and many of its attractions have not been fire-affected. Hollywood – hit by the blazes and also the impact of prolonged strikes and structural changes in film and TV production – is preparing a brave face for the Oscars on March 3. The show goes on.
Little more than a century ago this area was a ranch and lima bean farm, neighbouring the citrus orchards of Hollywood. But Beverly Hills had an asset as a catchment area for rainfall running down the canyons beyond. Nearby settlements were eyeing the prize, so in 1914 Beverly Hills incorporated as a city, separate from surrounding Los Angeles. A bid by the latter to annex the upstart forced a “revolution” planned over drinks at the pink hotel by word warriors including silent star Mary Pickford and humourist Will Rogers. They won the day and in short order the small city of 15sq km – now with 35,000 permanent residents – had a grand civic hall, police force and water supply.
What many of us know about Beverly Hills comes from movies and television. I am word-perfect on the theme song of The Beverly Hillbillies; Beverly Hills 90210 imprinted in fans’ minds a memorable ZIP code. Today, the Housewives of Beverly Hills – Real or Desperate? – are having their moment in the sun.
The Golden Triangle retail and hospitality precinct, centred on Rodeo Drive, is walkable, a big plus in a freeway metropolis. On Santa Monica Boulevard, I’m near the start of Route 66, linking LA with Chicago. What an adventure to fuel up at a Union 76 gas station, with upswept, 60s-style canopy (the design was originally for an LA airport terminal) and break free.
But I’m not going anywhere, thanks, ensconced as I am in the luxury of The Maybourne Beverly Hills, part of the hotel group that manages Claridge’s and The Connaught in London. It’s ideally located on North Canon Drive, aka Restaurant Row, with celebrity drawcards such as Spago, Mastro’s and Avra nearby. My guestroom is a dream with terrace overlooking a square. The furnishings, in neutral tones, hark back to mid-century swish although in the marble bathroom, mosaic tile work with heraldic flourishes presides over the tub. I’m guessing this reinforces the hotel’s promise of “European charm with California flair”. The Maybourne offers spirit-reviving massage treatments (one of the best of my life) and hosts an impressive art collection, including work by Damien Hirst, Ed Ruscha, Alexander Calder and Marc Newson.
On the rooftop, with views to the Hollywood sign, Australians Linden Pride and Nathalie Hudson have opened a west coast offshoot of their handsomely awarded Manhattan bar, Dante. The couple recently partnered with Neil Perry to launch Bobbie’s bar in Sydney’s Double Bay.
A stay in Beverly Hills is a splurge, especially in light of the Australian dollar hovering atrociously in the low US60c range. The city has a portfolio of five-star hotels, including a Waldorf Astoria, Peninsula and, under construction, an Aman, with nightly rates from about $1500, but there are properties such as Sixty in the $500-$600 bracket.
I am galloping along Rodeo Drive with “chief experience officer” at LA Food Tours, Brian Rodda, who is the full bottle on the history of the exquisite stores and restaurants, and is partial to a little gossip too. We start at the classic 1920s Beverly Wilshire, where THE Blvd serves a pink cocktail, The Feeling Pretty, in honour of the 1990 film Pretty Woman, set here.
Rodda leads our group past the A-list of designer stores of a size and stock to match their flagships in Manhattan. Note the futuristic Frank Lloyd Wright building completed in 1952 but still as modern as tomorrow, which houses Givenchy. And across the road, the yellow Ferrari SF90 Spider parked permanently outside, and colour-coordinated with, men’s tailor the House of Bijan. Similar vehicles are cruising the Golden Triangle (valet parking always available). Some of the most spectacular are safeguarded underground at Auto Vault Rodeo Drive by local identity Scot Prescott, a car-washer-turned-classics-collector. Head-turners are wheeled out for the Rodeo Drive Concours d’Elegance, a Father’s Day (in June) event.
A visit by appointment to vintage jeweller Martin Katz’s Penthouse reveals the beauty of crafted objects that are the best money can buy. Katz’s pieces have graced stars on the red carpet for decades, including Nicole Kidman, Kate Winslet and Sharon Stone. A starting price for a serious buyer may be $US20,000 ($32,000), he says. But then he passes around a blue diamond that is in the realm of millions. My hand trembles.
Three weeks later, as I watch the news on TV, it’s my heart that’s trembling. But there’s a lot of wit, wisdom – and wealth – in these parts to give hope for a speedy recovery.
In the know
The Beverly Hills Visitor Centre is at 9400 South Santa Monica Boulevard.
Guestrooms at The Maybourne Beverly Hills from $US796 ($1276).
United Airlines flies daily to LA from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Graham Erbacher was a guest of the City of Beverly Hills and United Airlines.
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