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Hollywood Revived

Even though I lived in Southern California for many years, I had only visited the Hollywood section of Los Angeles when it was absolutely necessary. Over the years, the glamour of the early twentieth century was replaced with run-down or vacant buildings, hucksters and hookers, and an ambience generally unreceptive to visitors. Oh, some of the old landmarks, such as Grauman's Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Bowl remained very popular sites, and the visitors came, but Hollywood was just not the place where many tourists sought lodging or dined out.

Having heard talk of renovations, restoration and new construction, in particular the Kodak Theater, new home of the Oscars, I decided to stay right in the heart of Hollywood on my last trip to Southern California. I was very glad that I did.

After arriving in Los Angeles' beautifully restored Union Station, we headed out on the Metro Red Line to Hollywood. Surprisingly, Los Angeles now not only has a public transit system, but a fast and easily accessible system. Twenty minutes later, we were in the heart of Hollywood.

What a change - hotels, old and new, museums, also old and new, restaurants likewise, and lots of new attractions now make Hollywood a full-service destination. We decided to go for the old, and stayed at the historic, and some say haunted, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Right on Hollywood Boulevard, the Roosevelt is reminiscent of the glory days of Hollywood stars and the elegant parties that they hosted. We chose a cabana room, a nice size room in the lower level of the hotel, opening right onto a small patio rimmed in beautiful foliage, and adjacent to the pool and hot tub. The hotel includes an excellent restaurant, and a small hotel bar right in the lobby. The lobby itself is worth a visit - beautiful carved ceilings, very comfortable chairs, a wonderful place to sit and watch the people go by. We made our reservations through Turbo Trip and got excellent rates.

After arriving, we checked out "Hollywood and Highland", the name of the four level shopping and entertainment center that contains the Kodak Theater. It was my son, a true movie buff, who noticed that the center's courtyard is modeled after scenes of ancient Babylon from D.W. Griffith's 1916 epic "Intolerance," including upright elephants seated on huge pedestals. This center contains numerous shops and restaurants, many that you might be familiar with from visits to shopping areas in other major cities, since most of the shops are chains, albeit upscale ones. However, there are some restaurants that are local, such as famed chef Wolfgang Puck's Vert (6801 Hollywood Blvd., Ste. 411, Hollywood, 323-491-1300). The menu is very reasonable priced, and includes Puck's wonderful thin crust pizza, a favorite of mine. Vert has great desserts, too, and an excellent wine list.

We then headed next door to the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater and checked out new additions to the hand and footprints outside the theater. This theater is the site of many Hollywood premieres, and the week we were in town it featured the star-studded premiere's of "Scooby-Doo" and "Windtalkers." If you are going to Hollywood, you can get information about premieres, and lots of other celebrity related information, at www.seeing-stars.com.

A block further down Hollywood Boulevard is the new Hollywood Entertainment Museum. This museum features some very interesting permanent and temporary exhibits, including its current exhibit "Smoke, Lies and Videotape," about smoking in films, including a tribute wall listing those actors and actresses that died of smoking-related illnesses. There is a free tour available, taking visitors behind the scenes to see actual working spaces, including a costume design room, and art director's studio and special effects rooms. These are actual working locations since the museum is used as a high school for a group of high risk students who attend classes there and receive training in various film-related crafts, such as lighting and costume design. The tour also includes a visit to the actual set of the television show "Cheers," which now resides in this location.

The next day we walked the half mile up Highland to the Hollywood Heritage Museum, where, in 1913, the Jesse L. Lasky Feature Players Co. made Hollywood's first full-length motion picture. This studio eventually became Paramount Pictures. The barn that is now the Heritage Museum is filled with historical artifacts and offers an excellent film on the life of Cecil B. DeMille, who made this early movie. Open Saturday-Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

We really wanted to check out some of Hollywood's old-time restaurants, to see how they held up over the years. The newly renovated Pig and Whistle, on Hollywood Blvd., is certainly worth a visit, if just for a look at the design details. Over the years, its intricate carved ceilings and walls were covered over, but when new owners ripped out the false ceilings and walls they found a building that is almost church-like. We were there in the late afternoon, and ordered from an economical bar menu that offered very tasty light meals.

We also dined at Miceli's Italian Restaurant, right off Hollywood Blvd. at 1646 Las Palmas (323-466-3438). This old style, dark paneled restaurant serves up huge portions of pasta and various other southern Italian dishes. I love Italian food and dine on it frequently, and I found Miceli's pasta to be excellent, neither under nor overcooked. Make sure that you are hungry when you go here.

On our last day in Hollywood, my son wanted to see a film studio. We had gone to Universal Studios a few years ago, but that is really a theme park. What we wanted to see was a real working studio. Everyone that I spoke with recommended the Warner Brothers tour. Since Warners is not in Hollywood, but over the hill in Burbank, we took a taxi, costing about $14.00 one-way, including tip. The expense was well worth it, since the tour of this studio was really exceptional. Although most of the television shows were in hiatus for the summer, we were able to go on the sets from the "Drew Carey Show" and "Friends." We also saw many more of the actual day to day activities of a studio than visitors see on the Universal Studios Tour. And the group was small, only ten people, so it was much more personalized. The tour is $35.00, a little pricey but good value if you, or your kids, like this type of tour.

Find out about city tours in Hollywood/Los Angeles

There is so much more to see, just within walking distance of our home base, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, and the best way to orient yourself and decide just what to see is to get a copy of the Hollywood Historic Walk brochure. In addition to a detailed map and walking tour listings, the brochure provides detailed information about local public transportation. To request the brochure, send an e-mail to info@angelswalkla.org.

The Ultimate Hollywood Tour Book