The Georgian Hotel

The Georgian Hotel, Santa Monica, CA

In the early 1930s, if you were looking to get away, maybe be a bit naughty, or simply hideout, you might have stayed at The Georgian Hotel located at 1415 Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, California. While Clark Gable was married to the much older (17 years older) Texas socialite, Ria Franklin Prentiss Lucas Langham, he would sometimes meet up with actress Carole Lombard at The Georgian Hotel. Fatty Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, and many others from old Hollywood's elite have stayed here. Even big time gangsters like Bugsy Siegel and Al Capone would come to the Georgian to lay low.

 

The Georgian Hotel, Santa Monica, Ca

 

When this modern art deco hotel was built, Santa Monica was a wooded, quiet beachside community. The hotel was not far from Hollywood and Los Angeles, but far enough to be private. During Prohibition, the hotel utilized the private setting by running a speakeasy. You can imagine all the big time Hollywood actors, writers, directors and executives with a taste for alcohol, coming out to this exclusive spot to kick back some martinis. After prohibition the speakeasy turned into a legitimate watering hole known as the Red Griffin Room, which is apparently haunted. If you got any stories, please share!

Santa Monica is now completely built up and no longer has the same private setting, but the beautiful Georgian Hotel still attracts Hollywood's elite. Robert Downey Jr, Al Pacino, Nic Cage, among others, have been known to visit the Georgian Hotel. It is also sometimes used as a film location (Get Shorty, The Opposite of Sex) and a place to conduct celebrity interviews.

I have yet to spend a night in The Georgian Hotel - it's a bit out of my price range for a casual stay - but if you have visited the hotel, please feel free to share your experience.

Your thoughts?