The Culver Hotel – Old Hollywood Glamour in Culver City – Los Angeles

You are ready for a night on the town, but you would like an upscale place so you can dress up like a real adult. A place with no cover, live jazz, great drinks, friendly bartenders and elegant, historical architecture, does such a place exist anymore? Yes, Virginia, it does. It’s the Lobby Bar at the Culver Hotel.

Music playing is an integral part of the Culver Hotel experience. As the evening begins, the hotel’s Grand Lobby transforms into jazzy supper club. Vintage armchairs, classic movie projections and up-and-coming artists help create an ambiance of old Hollywood and modern times helped along with handcrafted cocktails, tasty fare and musical pleasure. You can order a ‘Good Witch’ or a ‘Cucumber Mule’ cocktail while you sit back and enjoy different interpretations of Jazz, every evening of the week after 7:30 pm. Shared appetizers or a three course dinner are just an order away. (Culver Hotel)

Alternatively, If you are in the mood for something equally “Culver-esque” but with a more contemporary playlist, go past the lobby and up the stairs. You will find the Velvet Lounge reminiscent of a 1920’s ‘Speakeasy’ with a twist of Parisian boudoir. Chic and eclectic, dark and whimsical, The Velvet Lounge is open Thursday through Saturday after 8pm and offers plenty of secluded corners to enjoy a cocktail, wine or bottle service. (Culver Hotel)

TripAdvisor.com calls the Culver Hotel the # 1 Hotel in Culver City. The Lobby Bar is a popular place where 30 somethings and older like to hang out because of the atmosphere and the drinks. The price range for food is between $11 ane $30 per person. I would judge the food good, but not great. They do take reservations and have take-out available but do not do delivery. They accepts all major Credit Cards, and while the dress cord is casual, the ambiance is classy. There also is a wonderful outdoor patio which also features the full dinner menu and drinks. Valet parking is right outside, while there are city parking garages within a short walking distance.

HISTORY

The Culver Hotel is a national historical landmark in downtown Culver City, California. It was built by Harry Culver, the founder of Culver City, and opened on September 4, 1924, with local headlines announcing: “City packed with visitors for opening of Culver skyscraper.” Originally named Hotel Hunt, and later known as Culver City Hotel, the six-story Renaissance Revival building was designed by Curlett & Beelman, the architecture firm behind renowned Art Deco buildings throughout Los Angeles, including downtown Los Angeles’ Roosevelt and Eastern Columbia buildings. (Wikipedia)

But the hotel is most famous for its long and tangled history with Hollywood and its stars. Built in 1924, the property has also housed countless Hollywood legends over its 90-year history. And Greta Garbo, Mickey Rooney, Ronald Reagan, Judy Garland, and Clark Gable are just a few stars who actually maintained part-time residences at The Culver Hotel. Charlie Chaplin was even the owner for a while until, legend has it, he lost the property in a poker game to John Wayne. Dwight D. Eisenhower even had a campaign office in the hotel during his run for President in 1952. Modern celebrities who have stayed there include all 4 members of the boy band 98 Degrees, Abby Lee Miller of Dance Moms, Countess Luann de Lesseps from Real Housewives of New York City. (Wikipedia)

The Culver Hotel may not be an A-list actor herself, but she has appeared in the background of close to 80 projects. The historic hotel has been used in The Wonder Years, Cougar Town, The Last Action Hero, Marvels Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and many more. Numerous television shows, movies or commercials shoot in and around Culver City, and the hotel’s exterior and interior have stood in as a street in London, an apartment in Barcelona, and a café in Paris. (Travel and Leisure)

During the 1960’s, the hotel began to decline and fall into disrepair. In the 1980s, it was boarded up for a time and at risk of demolition. In the 1990s, the hotel was partially restored and reopened, joining the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, but the Culver Hotel’s modern comeback truly began after a hotelier family bought the ailing property in 2007. Since 2007, the hotel’s entire plumbing and electrical systems have been upgraded, each of the guest rooms and public spaces have been redone, all 140 handmade windows in the guest rooms have been replaced, and the public spaces have been entirely re-imagined all the while maintaining the property’s architectural integrity. The flatiron-shaped building is next door to the historic Culver Studios and a few blocks from the former Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios (MGM), now Sony Pictures.

Casts from movies like Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz stayed at the hotel during filming, including the more than 100 actors and actresses who played the Munchkins in the Oz film. (wikipedia) Which will lead to another column about the Culver and its notorious place in Hollywood history which earned it the nickname, the “Munchkin Hotel”.

Culver Hotel is a must see for Hollywood History, and a great nightspot in Los Angeles!

Hours For the Hotel