- Hyatt West Hollywood
The Hyatt West Hollywood is a 262-room Hyatt hotel located at 8401
Sunset Boulevard ,West Hollywood, California (at Kings Road).It opened in
1958 as the Gene Autry Hotel. Sold in1966 , it was renamed the Continental Hyatt House.In the late 1960s and 1970s the hotel became the preferred accommodation in Los Angeles for travelling rock bands, due largely to its close proximity to popular clubs such as the
Whisky a Go Go . It was during this time that it was given the nickname Riot House on account of the wild antics carried out by band members there, most notably those of English rock groups such asLed Zeppelin ,The Who and theRolling Stones . This hotel is currently closed for the transformation to become Andaz.Rock stars and film
* Led Zeppelin rented as many as six floors of the hotel in the mid-to-late 1970s for the band members and entourage. Drummer
John Bonham was reported to have driven a motorcycle along the hallways. In the film "Rock Star", the character Izzy Cole does this.
* Room 1015 bears the distinction of being where Rolling Stones guitaristKeith Richards dropped a TV out the window. The Who'sKeith Moon was also reported to have dropped a TV out of one of the hotel's windows. In the film "Rock Star" also, the character "A.C.", played byJason Bonham , son of Led Zeppelin drummerJohn Bonham , throws a T.V. off the window in rage, after he is told that his wife ran off withPeter Gabriel .
*Lemmy wrote the song "Motorhead" on one of the hotel balconies in the middle of the night, usingRoy Wood 's Ovation acoustic guitar.
* Scenes in the film "Almost Famous " which depict the hotel were filmed at the actual hotel. Parts of the hotel were refurbished with exactly the same decor as existed there in the 1970s.
* The scene from "Almost Famous" in which Russell Hammond cries out, "I am a Golden God!" is a reference toLed Zeppelin singerRobert Plant who allegedly said the same thing while looking overSunset Strip from one of the hotel's balconies in1975 .
* The end-of-tour party scene in the film "This is Spinal Tap " was filmed on the roof of the hotel.
*Little Richard lived in room 319 at the hotel through much of the 1980s and 1990s
*Jim Morrison lived there until he was reportedly evicted by management for hanging out a window by his fingertips, dangling over the pavement.References
*Kurutz, Steven, [http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/travel/09journeys.html "Rock 'n' Roll Hotels for a New Generation,"] "The New York Times", July 9, 2006.
*Fein, Art, (1998) "The L.A. Musical History Tour: A Guide to the Rock and Roll Landmarks of Los Angeles", 2.13.61 Publications, ISBN 1-880985-57-8External links
* [http://westhollywood.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/index.jsp Hyatt West Hollywood]
* [http://westhollywoodbusiness.blogspot.com/2007/05/hyatt-west-hollywood-100.html Hyatt West Hollywood Human Rights Campaign Index]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.