Since it was built in 1929, The Regent
Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills has attracted rich and famous
guests from around the world. To the general public the hotel is most
famous for being used in the 1990 movie Pretty Woman. They have
disappointed thousands of people by turning down requests from around
the world who would like to stay in the same suite that Julia Roberts
and Richard Gere had in the movie because it does not exist, it was
filmed at the Walt Disney studio.
The Julia Roberts character in the film
was not the only pretty woman who stayed there. In the 60's the hotel
became a swinging hangout for Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson, with
parades of women going in and out of their rooms. A little old lady who
stayed beneath Beatty constantly banged her ceiling with her broom, to
try and get him and his lady friends to stop making so much noise.
Not
everyone was having fun in the hotel. Michael Caine spent his honeymoon
there with his beautiful wife Shakira. Caine was and is a favorite of
the staff. In honor of Shakira they decided to give them the "authentic"
Indian honeymoon suite. The hotel staff incorrectly claimed that in
India, the honeymoon beds hang from the ceiling with bells hanging from
the bottom. The neighbors like to hear the bells go off for the happy
couple, but in this case Shakira was already pregnant and Caine was
jetlagged. All they wanted was to get some sleep but they couldn't do it
because of the blankety blank bells! The English actor ended up ordering
four hamburgers from room service and stuffed the buns into the bells so
that they could get through the night!
Stephen Schochet tells Hollywood Stories on radio, audiobooks, tours and speaking engagements. To hear more tales go to http://www.hollywoodstories.com.
