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The Hotel Bel-Air's legacy is recaptured as it raises its own bar on design and luxury

Every guest is a VIP no matter where you sit at "the Bar"

A match made in dining heaven — architects Rockwell Group and chef Wolfgang Puck

Champalimaud's guest room designs take refined elegance to new heights

Perfect balance of design, detail, and proportion in the larger-than-life Presidential Suite

An award-winning hotel bathroom and one of our favorite in any setting

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Hotel Bel-Air

Location:

Style: Historic

A famous Southern California destination reestablishes itself as the exclusive luxury hotel it has been for over 60 years, with a perfectly executed redesign that honors its hometown industry and the guests who made it famous.

In 1920 savvy developer Alphonzo Bell purchased 600 acres of prime virgin land in Southern California, north of Sunset Boulevard and west of Beverly Hills. That alone would suggest an exclusive residential project was planned. Bell’s vision was to create a luxury, private community offering custom homes at low density with mature landscaping, views, and a country club. The sales office for the development, a showpiece in and of itself, is today the Hotel Bel-Air. Opened to immediate success in 1946, the Hotel Bel-Air became the haunt for Hollywood royalty. The hotel and its lush setting were popular for film and photographic shoots including Marilyn Monroe’s “last sitting” in 1962.

In 2011, following the most ambitious renovation program to date, the Hotel Bel-Air reopened to unprecedented attention. The results are dramatic and beautiful, demonstrating that the right team of designers, operators, and financiers can take an already remarkable luxury destination to the next level. The star-studded team consisted of interior designer Alexandra Champalimaud who recreated the lobby, spa, and guest rooms, and The Rockwell Group as architects, who are credited with the dining areas. Southern California’s Spanish Colonial architecture provided the perfect backdrop for the new design.  

Drawing inspiration from Hollywood’s historic past and its relationship with the hotel, the essence of this iconic destination is maintained with absolute refined elegance. There is a wonderful balance of grace and detail within an atmosphere of understated glamour.

The Hotel Bel-Air offers 58 guest rooms and 45 suites. The rooms are exquisite, reflecting the ultimate in residential luxury while evoking the allure of Hollywood from the 1930s to the 1950s. There are seven Specialty Suites, some honoring past VIP guests and others recognized for past notable events. The Presidential Suite truly lives up to its name, at over 6,700 square feet, featuring a grand piano, chef’s kitchen, and private pool.

Who better to take on the dining experience at the Hotel Bel-Air than the masterful LA-based chef Wolfgang Puck! Wolfgang Puck at Hotel Bel-Air offers an especially created menu for the hotel. Puck focuses on Southern California’s cuisine and lifestyle with, of course, his signature European and Mediterranean twist. Puck’s culinary team, the Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group, also creates the menus for the garden terrace, bar, private dining, and special events for which the hotel has long been known. 

The cuisine, the hotel and its canyon setting, the gardens and the Southern California climate are hard to beat as a place to celebrate absolutely anything and everything. The Garden Room Ballroom, a light-filled contemporary space, can accommodate large dinner receptions or conferences. The Palm Room provides privacy and technology for executive meetings and other private gatherings. The famous outdoor spaces, “Front Lawn” and “Swan Lake,” continue to provide picture-perfect settings for weddings.

The hotel’s 12 acres of gardens also provide an unmatchable location for an equally unmatchable spa, the Hotel Bel-Air Spa by La Prairie.

Image source: the Dorcester Collection