The Ambassador Hotel, and its lore.
(Sole shooting location for “Boy-Next-Door”)

The Ambassador Hotel, at 3400 Wilshire Boulevard in L.A., opened on New Years Day 1921 and instantly became a Mecca for the Rich & Famous of Hollywood . The opening of the Cocoanut Grove on April 21^st, 1921 just confirmed The Ambassador Hotel as the top spot in Hollywood. The Grove's interior contained palm trees (said to have been props from  Rudolph Valentino's classic 1921 film The Sheik) with stuffed monkeys hanging from them and a blue ceiling painted with twinkling stars. The Cocoanut Grove quickly established itself as Hollywood's premier nightclub and on any given night a host of the most famous celebrities of the day could be found partying the night away. From its opening, through to the 60's, the celebrities who partied, stayed or even lived at The Ambassador Hotel read like a Who's Who of the Rich & Famous.

The Ambassador has, over the years, been used for many events, celebrations, and perhaps for the most famous debut. On the 3^rd of April 1930, Oscar was introduced to the world at The Cocoanut Grove, Oscar being the gold statuette given out at the Academy Awards. The hotel was used throughout the 30's & 40's for the Academy Awards and, in 1944, also played host to the first Golden Globe awards. A lesser know fact is that the Ambassador is where the jury in the Charles Manson murder trial stayed in 1971 for the duration of the 9 month trial.

Many celebrities had permanent suites reserved for them at the Ambassador Hotel, including Howard Hughes, reputed to then be the richest man in the world.

Despite all of its celebrated history & past glory days, The Ambassador Hotel will forever be remembered  & associated with one of America's blackest days - The assassination of  Robert F Kennedy, brother of  President John F Kennedy, who had himself been assassinated in Dallas on the 22^nd November, 1963. Senator Robert F Kennedy was himself running for the Presidency in 1968. He had just finished delivering his victory speech for the Californian Primary, in the Hotel's Embassy Ballroom , when on leaving through the pantry he was gunned down by Sirhan Sirhan, an Arab Palestinian. The time 12:23am, June 5^th, 1968. Kennedy was hit twice, and as a result both the senator and in a sense the Ambassador Hotel died that night.

The Ambassador Hotel had been slowly but surely falling out of favor, due to a combination of newer Hotels in the now chic area of Beverly Hills, and  the lack of upkeep by the Ambassador’s management. The Ambassador Hotel carried on, but it was just never the same from that night on.  Gradually, year by year, becoming more run down, closing   floor by floor, until finally closing its doors to the public on January 3^rd, 1989. Virtually 68 years to the day from that grand opening, the Ambassador Hotel and Cocoanut Grove was locked, together with their history & memories of Hollywood's   Golden Age.

However, this 500 room hotel is still making headlines some 16 years after its closure. Now owned by the Donald Trump Organization, the Ambassador Hotel has been, since its closure, the subject of many so called projects, planning permissions, and legal arguments, ranging from being replaced by a new school to various office and shopping developments, all of which have so far come to nothing. The hotels contents were auctioned off in the ninety's and it now stands as an empty building.

The hotel had been used in many movies before its closure, perhaps the most memorable being The Graduate. However, since its closure, The Ambassador has been used exclusively for location shooting in Movies, TV series, commercials & music video's. The dark wooden veneer walls, high ceilings & general 30's decor make it a firm favorite with film companies, especially with no public to contend with. Some other film shootings which have taken place at the Ambassador  include scenes from:

Pretty Woman - The scene when Vivian (Julia Roberts) is taught the use of place settings was filmed in the ballroom.

L.A. Story - The Ambassador's Entrance & Foyer are used as the L'Idiot Restaurant.

Forest Gump - Used as the strip club  in which Forest's  girlfriend Jenny  performs & sings in the nude.

Apollo 13 - Used as the apartments used by Gary Sinise and Kevin Bacon in the film.

Deep Impact - The scene where Morgan Freeman is in a Hotel kitchen area was filmed at the Ambassador.

Update - Plans have now been passed for The Ambassador to be demolished and a college to be built on the grounds. Apparently, not enough people cared about this fantastic Hotel & its history, which will now be lost forever.