Sunset Marquis Hotel is a luxury hotel in West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California. It is owned by George and his son Mark Rosenthal, and located at 1200 Alta Loma Road, and situated just off the Sunset Strip. Known for its celebrity clientele, especially musicians and people in the film industry, the hotel offers 100 suites and 52 villas located on 3 1/4 acres. Cavatina, the hotel restaurant, is popular for an expansive al fresco dining area and Bar 1200 was the original Whiskey Bar. NightBird Recording Studios, a professional recording studio in the lower level of the hotel is very popular with professional musicians and many GRAMMY winning songs have been recorded here. The hotel is also home to the Morrison Hotel Gallery which features fine art photography of rock legends. As of October 2017 room rates range from $350 to $10,000 per night.
History
“In the summer of 1960, two years before he broke ground on The Sunset Marquis Hotel, real estate developer George Rosenthal sat in the living room of Chicago’s Playboy mansion with Hugh Hefner, trying to decide whether or not they should accept a twelve-million-dollar loan from Jimmy Hoffa. On the plus side, it was the entire amount of money Rosenthal needed to build a Playboy Club and Hotel in the heart of West Hollywood’s legendary Sunset Strip. On the downside, it meant getting into business with Jimmy Hoffa, a proposition that presented the very real potential of being hazardous to one’s health. After mustering the courage to turn down Hoffa’s proposal, Rosenthal was able to find local financing for an office building to house Playboy’s West Coast operations, but not the Playboy Hotel. Shortly after construction began on the office building and still believing in the need for accommodations for the performers and guests at the club, he purchased property just down the street at 1200 Alta Loma Drive. The Sunset Marquis, as he would call the place, initially opened in 1963 as an apartment-hotel with limited services. Since then, it has evolved into a full-service hotel with 152 suites and villas, a restaurant, a spa, a recording studio..." - From the book If These Walls Could Rock.
Architecture
The Sunset Marquis is inspired by Mediterranean style villas, with white and cream buildings and clay tile roofs. It has 152 rooms.
Cavatina
The hotel restaurant is Cavatina.
Bar 1200
The bar of the hotel, known as BAR 1200, was established in 2005. It is a small bar and only accommodates about 60 people, but it is known as a hangout for musicians and celebrities. It is often visited by musicians such as Billy Gibbons, U2, Rolling Stones, Robbie Williams, John Mayer, and Aerosmith. It regularly hosts music industry and entertainment related events and parties. This is the original Whiskey Bar where Rande Gerber partnered with the Sunset Marquis to create the exclusive concept. Bar 1200 continues the legacy of appealing to the music industry and music lovers.
