26 Old Hollywood Hotels You Can Still Book Today

The golden age of Hollywood left behind something better than movies. It left behind hotel suites, cocktail bars, and swimming pools where the greatest stars of the 20th century lived, loved, fought, and occasionally threw furniture. These are not museum pieces. They are working hotels, and you can sleep in them tonight.

Here are 26 hotels with genuine old Hollywood pedigree, still taking reservations, still serving martinis, and still trading on the kind of glamour that no amount of boutique minimalism can replicate.

" On a budget? Not every old Hollywood hotel costs a month's salary. The Hotel Diana in Tossa de Mar, where Sinatra visited Ava Gardner on the set of Pandora, starts from around €100 per night. The Millennium Biltmore in downtown LA, where the early Oscars were held, is around $180. The Culver Hotel, where the Wizard of Oz Munchkins ran amok, is around $200. And the Hollywood Roosevelt, site of the first Academy Awards, starts from around $250. You don't always need a Contessa-level budget to sleep where the stars slept, but it does help.

1. The Beverly Hills Hotel, Los Angeles

The Pink Palace has been the epicentre of Hollywood deal-making and heartbreaking since it opened on Sunset Boulevard in 1912, three years before the first film studio arrived in town. Its banana-leaf wallpaper is one of the most recognised interiors in the world, and its bungalows have hosted more affairs, breakdowns, and career-defining conversations than any other address in California. Elizabeth Taylor honeymooned here six of her eight times. Marilyn Monroe used Bungalow 7 so frequently it was renamed Norma Jean in her memory. Howard Hughes lived here on and off for thirty years, sometimes renting multiple bungalows at once and having roast beef sandwiches delivered at 3am.

The Polo Lounge remains the power-lunch capital of the entertainment industry, though the power has shifted from studio bosses to streaming executives. The Fountain Coffee Room, with its 1940s soda fountain and vintage decor, is the less formal option and serves an excellent eggs benedict.

" Who stayed here: Valentino, Swanson, Chaplin, Keaton, Monroe, Taylor, Burton, Sinatra, Gardner, Dietrich, Dean, Hughes, basically everyone. Old Hollywood heritage: Taylor and Burton's favourite was Bungalow 5. Bungalow 7 (Norma Jean) was Monroe's regular. The Polo Lounge martini is the hotel's signature drink. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around $700 per night; bungalows from considerably more. Polo Lounge reservations recommended. 9641 Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills.

2. The Warwick Hotel, New York City

Built by William Randolph Hearst in 1926 as a place for his Hollywood friends to stay when visiting New York, the Warwick on West 54th Street has a guest list that reads like a casting call for the 20th century. Cary Grant lived here for twelve years, occupying the 27th-floor suite that is now named after him. The Beatles stayed during their first American tour. Elvis checked in. James Dean brooded in the lobby. When Roger Moore needed somewhere to stay while filming Live and Let Die, Grant lent him the suite, and Moore spent his first night there watching a Randolph Scott western on television.

The hotel also has suites named after Hearst, Marion Davies, Jane Russell, and the Ziegfeld Follies, each designed to reflect the style and tastes of its namesake. It is a building-sized love letter to old Hollywood, located a few blocks from Central Park and the Museum of Modern Art.

" Who stayed here: Grant (twelve years), the Beatles, Elvis, James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, Roger Moore. Old Hollywood heritage: The Cary Grant Suite (Suite of the Stars) on the 27th floor: 1,200 sq ft, four-poster king bed, whirlpool, sauna, wrap-around terrace with Manhattan views. Also the Hearst Suite and Marion Davies Suite. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Standard rooms from around $300 per night; signature suites on request. 65 West 54th Street, Midtown Manhattan.

3. Hotel Splendido, Portofino

Perched on the hillside above one of the most photographed harbours in Europe, the Splendido (now Belmond) has been the default destination for Hollywood royalty visiting the Italian Riviera since the 1950s. Ava Gardner stayed here while filming The Barefoot Contessa, and the hotel named a suite after her. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton arrived on the Kalizma and dined on the terrace overlooking the harbour. Rex Harrison proposed to Kay Kendall here. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall honeymooned here.

The restaurant terrace, where you can eat fresh pasta while looking down at the yachts bobbing in the harbour below, is one of the most romantic dining spots in the Mediterranean. The harbour piazzetta, a five-minute walk downhill from the hotel, has barely changed since the 1950s.

" Who stayed here: Gardner, Taylor, Burton, Bogart, Bacall, Harrison, Sinatra, Dietrich, Gable. Old Hollywood heritage: The Ava Gardner Suite. Terrace dining with harbour views unchanged since the 1950s. Plan your getaway: Seasonal (typically March to November). Rooms from around $2,000 per night, which is why the stars who came here were stars. Salita Baratta 16, Portofino.

4. Claridge's, London

Mayfair's art deco masterpiece has been hosting Hollywood visitors since the talkies era. Cary Grant stayed here whenever he was in London. Ava Gardner was a regular during her years living in Knightsbridge. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn maintained a discreet suite arrangement. The hotel's combination of supreme discretion and impeccable service made it the obvious choice for stars who wanted privacy without sacrificing luxury.

The Foyer serves one of London's best afternoon teas, and the hotel bar has the kind of hushed, wood-panelled atmosphere where you can imagine Grant ordering a very dry martini and making it look like the most natural thing in the world.

" Who stayed here: Grant, Gardner, Tracy, Hepburn, Taylor, Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn. Old Hollywood heritage: The hotel's discretion policy means specific rooms are not publicised, which is rather the point. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around £500 per night. Brook Street, Mayfair, London W1.

5. The Hollywood Roosevelt, Los Angeles

The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in the Roosevelt's Blossom Room on 16 May 1929, and the hotel has been trading on that distinction ever since (it was a fifteen-minute ceremony, nothing like the four-hour endurance test it has become). Opened in 1927 by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Louis B. Mayer, the Roosevelt was the headquarters of early Hollywood glamour. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard conducted their affair in the penthouse (five dollars a night). Marilyn Monroe lived here for two years while her modelling career was taking off and is said to haunt the corridors.

The pool is a David Hockney painting come to life (literally, Hockney painted the bottom of it), and the Spare Room cocktail bar has two vintage 1930s bowling lanes if you fancy rolling a frame after your martini.

" Who stayed here: Pickford, Fairbanks, Chaplin, Swanson, Garbo, Clara Bow, Gable, Lombard, Monroe, Montgomery Clift. Old Hollywood heritage: The Blossom Room (first Oscars). The Spare Room bowling lanes. The Marilyn Monroe Suite. Ghost sightings of Monroe and Clift regularly reported by guests. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around $250 per night. 7000 Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood.

6. The Regent Carlton, Cannes

The belle epoque palace dominating La Croisette is the hotel that Alfred Hitchcock used as the centrepiece of To Catch a Thief, and it has been the unofficial headquarters of the Cannes Film Festival since the festival began in 1946. Grace Kelly's character stays here in the film, and Kelly herself met Prince Rainier III of Monaco during the 1955 festival. Their marriage the following year ended her film career and began the Monaco fairy tale.

During festival season (May), the hotel is essentially the most glamorous office building in the world, with every suite occupied by a studio executive, a producer, or someone pretending to be one.

" Who stayed here: Grant, Kelly, Hitchcock, plus virtually every major star who has attended the Cannes Film Festival. Old Hollywood heritage: The private beach where Grant's character arrives in To Catch a Thief. The suites overlooking La Croisette where the famous fireworks/seduction scene was set. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around €500 per night (significantly more during the festival). 58 La Croisette, Cannes.

7. The Dorchester, London

The grande dame of Park Lane has been hosting Hollywood since it opened in 1931. Elizabeth Taylor's relationship with the hotel produced one of the best anecdotes in these guides: during a stay, Taylor reportedly struck a Van Gogh painting hanging in her suite with a hairbrush during an argument with Richard Burton. The hotel sent her the bill for the damage. She paid it without complaint, which is probably the most Elizabeth Taylor response imaginable.

Marlene Dietrich lived at the Dorchester during the London Blitz, refusing to leave despite the bombing. When asked why she stayed, she reportedly said the hotel had the best bomb shelter in London.

" Who stayed here: Taylor, Burton, Dietrich, Garbo, Chaplin, Sinatra. Old Hollywood heritage: Taylor and Burton's favourite London hotel. Dietrich's wartime residence. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around £700 per night. 53 Park Lane, Mayfair, London W1.

8. Hotel Diana, Tossa de Mar

This family-run modernist boutique on the Costa Brava is as different from the Dorchester as a hotel can be, and that is entirely the point. Built by a disciple of Gaudi over a century ago, the Diana sits directly on the beach in the medieval town where Ava Gardner filmed Pandora and the Flying Dutchman in 1950. Frank Sinatra flew in to visit her on set, and the two stayed here together during one of the more tempestuous chapters of their relationship. The beachfront restaurant, La Terraza del Diana, has sea views that haven't changed since Gardner and James Mason were filming on the beach below.

Ranked number one in Tossa de Mar on Tripadvisor, with sea-view rooms, balconies, and direct beach access. It is the kind of place where you half expect Ava to walk through the door in a white sundress and ruin everyone's afternoon.

" Who stayed here: Gardner, Sinatra, James Mason. Old Hollywood heritage: The hotel where Sinatra came to visit Gardner during the Pandora shoot. Plan your getaway: Seasonal (typically April to October). Rooms from around €100 per night. Plaza de Espana 6, Tossa de Mar, Costa Brava.

9. Copacabana Palace, Rio de Janeiro

Opened in 1923 overlooking Copacabana Beach, this Belmond property is the most famous hotel in South America and the natural setting for any film involving romance, intrigue, and tropical grandeur. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman's balcony kiss in Notorious was set here. The hotel's art deco pool is one of the most photographed in the world, and its New Year's Eve gala is one of Rio's most exclusive events.

Princess Diana, Orson Welles, and Marlene Dietrich all stayed. The hotel has maintained its original 1920s character while adding modern comforts, and the view from the sea-facing rooms across Copacabana Beach to Sugarloaf Mountain is one of the great hotel views anywhere.

" Who stayed here: Grant, Bergman, Welles, Dietrich, Princess Diana. Old Hollywood heritage: The setting for the balcony kiss in Notorious (1946). The art deco pool. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around $300 per night. Avenida Atlantica 1702, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro.

10. Westin Excelsior, Rome

The "magnificent white palace on Via Veneto" was ground zero for the dolce vita era, when Hollywood decamped to Rome in the 1950s and turned the Via Veneto into the most glamorous street in Europe. Ava Gardner and Frank Sinatra had blazing rows here. Charlton Heston stayed during the filming of Ben-Hur. The hotel's sidewalk cafe was the celebrity-spangled watering hole that inspired Fellini's La Dolce Vita, in which Marcello Mastroianni escorts Anita Ekberg's character back to the Excelsior after a night of partying.

The Villa La Cupola suite, tucked beneath the hotel's signature dome, comes with a private cinema, wine cellar, fitness room, and priceless antiques. It is regularly cited as one of the most expensive hotel suites in the world.

" Who stayed here: Gardner, Sinatra, Heston, Ekberg, Taylor, Burton, Sophia Loren. Old Hollywood heritage: La Dolce Vita connections. The Villa La Cupola suite. The Doney sidewalk cafe. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Standard rooms from around €250 per night; the Villa La Cupola from a figure best not discussed publicly. Via Vittorio Veneto 125, Rome.

11. Ashford Castle, County Mayo, Ireland

An 800-year-old castle on the shores of Lough Corrib that became world-famous after John Ford filmed The Quiet Man in the neighbouring village of Cong in 1952. John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, and the crew stayed at the castle during filming, and the estate has been trading on the association ever since. It has won the World's Best Hotel award multiple times and offers falconry, archery, a cinema, a wine cellar, and a George V dining room.

The surrounding village of Cong is tiny and walkable, with Quiet Man filming locations signposted throughout. Pat Cohan's Pub, which doubled for the pub in the film, serves traditional Irish food and cold Guinness amid walls covered in movie memorabilia.

" Who stayed here: Wayne, O'Hara, Ford, plus generations of film fans making the pilgrimage. Old Hollywood heritage: The Quiet Man filming base. George V dining room. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around €400 per night. Cong, County Mayo, Ireland.

12. Fairmont Banff Springs, Alberta, Canada

A castle-like railway hotel in the heart of the Canadian Rockies where Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum stayed while filming River of No Return in 1953. The province's drinking laws at the time meant the Banff Springs was the only place for miles with any alcohol, so Mitchum could be found propping up the hotel bar most nights. Monroe spent time here with Joe DiMaggio while recovering from a leg injury sustained during filming.

The hotel looks virtually unchanged from the 1950s, though the amenities now include multiple restaurants, a world-class spa, a bowling alley, and a golf course ranked among the top ten in Canada. The Bow River, Lake Louise, and the surrounding mountain scenery are all within easy reach.

" Who stayed here: Monroe, Mitchum, DiMaggio. Old Hollywood heritage: The bar where Mitchum drank during River of No Return. Mountain views unchanged since the 1950s. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around CAD $400 per night, plus a CAD $65 resort experience fee. 405 Spray Avenue, Banff, Alberta.

13. Chobe Game Lodge, Botswana

The most romantic (and remote) entry on this list. Elizabeth Taylor married Richard Burton for the second time at the Chobe Game Lodge on 10 October 1975, sixteen months after their divorce. The ceremony was conducted by the local district commissioner and witnessed by two lodge employees. The marriage lasted nine months, which is still longer than most safari holidays.

The lodge was the first five-star safari property in Botswana and remains the only one built inside the Chobe National Park. It has Moorish architecture, electric safari vehicles, and Botswana's first all-female guiding team. The Chobe River frontage is home to one of the densest concentrations of wildlife in Africa.

" Who stayed here: Taylor, Burton (who married here). Old Hollywood heritage: The site of the Burtons' second wedding. Honeymoon suite with infinity plunge pool. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. All-inclusive rates from around $500 per night including meals, drinks, and game drives. Kasane, Botswana.

14. The Culver Hotel, Los Angeles

This gorgeous 1924 art deco hotel in the heart of Culver City has one of the best backstage stories in Hollywood. The Munchkin actors from The Wizard of Oz were housed here during filming at the adjacent MGM lot in 1938, and their legendary off-duty behaviour (drinking, fighting, and general mayhem that would have alarmed Dorothy) has been embellished into one of Hollywood's most enduring myths. Whether the stories are true or exaggerated, the hotel's Oz connection is genuine.

Beautifully restored and now operating as a boutique property, the Culver Hotel is also a stone's throw from the Sony lot (formerly MGM), where Gardner, Taylor, Garland, Kelly, and Gable all worked.

" Who stayed here: The Munchkins from The Wizard of Oz, Clark Gable, Red Skelton. Old Hollywood heritage: Munchkin stories. Proximity to the old MGM lot. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around $200 per night. 9400 Culver Boulevard, Culver City.

15. Millennium Biltmore, Los Angeles

This magnificent downtown hotel hosted the Academy Awards ceremony in the 1930s and early 1940s, and its ornate lobby, hand-painted ceilings, and Renaissance Revival interiors have appeared in Ghostbusters, Chinatown, The Bodyguard, and dozens of other films. The lobby alone is worth a visit even if you're not staying. It was also where the Black Dahlia, Elizabeth Short, was last seen alive at a public event before her murder in 1947, a detail the hotel understandably does not lead with in its marketing.

The Crystal Ballroom, where the early Oscars were held, can sometimes be visited on request.

" Who stayed here: Hosted the Academy Awards (1931, 1935-1939, 1942). Every major star of the 1930s passed through. Old Hollywood heritage: Early Oscars venue. Crystal Ballroom. The lobby has appeared in countless films. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around $180 per night. 506 South Grand Avenue, Downtown LA.

16. Four Seasons San Domenico Palace, Taormina, Sicily

A 15th-century Dominican convent turned luxury hotel, perched on the cliffs above the Ionian Sea in one of Sicily's most spectacular towns. Elizabeth Taylor stayed here with Richard Burton, and according to local legend, a fellow guest once asked Burton to play the mandolin more quietly. Burton smashed the mandolin over the man's head. More recently, the hotel was used as a primary filming location for The White Lotus Season 2, which has brought a new generation of visitors.

The views from the terrace, across to Mount Etna and down the coastline, are among the most spectacular of any hotel in Europe. Taylor, who had seen her share of hotel views, reportedly said it was one of the most beautiful places she had ever stayed.

" Who stayed here: Taylor, Burton, Garbo, Dietrich, Loren. Old Hollywood heritage: Taylor and Burton's Sicilian base. The mandolin anecdote. Filming location for The White Lotus. Plan your getaway: Seasonal (typically March to November). Rooms from around $800 per night. Piazza San Domenico 5, Taormina, Sicily.

17. Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles

Hidden away in 12 acres of gardens in Stone Canyon, the Bel-Air was the hotel for stars who wanted privacy rather than publicity. Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, and Gary Cooper were regulars. Swan Lake, complete with actual swans, is one of the most peaceful spots in Los Angeles, which is saying something for a city that rarely sits still. The hotel opened in 1946 and has maintained its secluded, garden-party atmosphere ever since.

Unlike the Beverly Hills Hotel (see and be seen) or the Chateau Marmont (see, be seen, and regret it in the morning), the Bel-Air is for old Hollywood glamour of the quieter kind.

" Who stayed here: Kelly, Grant, Cooper, Garbo, Hepburn. Old Hollywood heritage: Swan Lake. The garden setting. Discretion as a design principle. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around $600 per night. 701 Stone Canyon Road, Bel-Air.

18. Palace Hotel, Gstaad, Switzerland

The Burtons' Swiss base, set in the exclusive Alpine resort town where the couple maintained the chalet that Richard described in his diary with such affection. The Palace is a turreted, fairytale-like building overlooking the village, and it has been the winter headquarters of international high society since the 1950s. Taylor and Burton would arrive with an entourage, several dogs, and enough luggage to fill a small cargo plane.

Julie Andrews, Roger Moore, and a rotating cast of European royalty are among the hotel's other famous guests. The nightclub, GreenGo, has been hosting après-ski revelry since the 1970s.

" Who stayed here: Taylor, Burton, Julie Andrews, Roger Moore, Sophia Loren. Old Hollywood heritage: The Burtons' Swiss social headquarters. GreenGo nightclub. Plan your getaway: Seasonal (December to March for skiing, June to September for summer). Rooms from around €595 per night. Palacestrasse, Gstaad.

19. George V (Four Seasons), Paris

The most opulent hotel in Paris and a favourite of Hollywood royalty since it opened in 1928. Ava Gardner stayed here on her trips through Paris. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton occupied suites during their European years. The flower arrangements in the lobby cost a rumoured €40,000 per week, which tells you everything about the hotel's approach to understatement.

The hotel's restaurant, Le Cinq, holds two Michelin stars. The courtyard garden is one of the most tranquil spaces in the city. For old Hollywood fans, the George V represents the pinnacle of European hotel luxury: the kind of place where a star could disappear into for a week and emerge looking ten years younger and €50,000 poorer.

" Who stayed here: Gardner, Taylor, Burton, Dietrich, Sinatra. Old Hollywood heritage: Gardner's Paris hotel of choice. Taylor's Parisian base. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around €800 per night. 31 Avenue George V, Paris.

20. Mount Kenya Safari Club, Nanyuki, Kenya

Founded by actor William Holden after he fell in love with Kenya during a hunting safari, the Mount Kenya Safari Club sits on 120 acres in the foothills of Mount Kenya, straddling the equator. The Mogambo cast and crew, including Clark Gable, Ava Gardner, and Grace Kelly, drank here during filming in 1953. The Trophy Lounge is filled with photographs of famous past guests, and there is an animal orphanage next door.

It is the most unlikely entry on this list: a colonial-era safari lodge in the East African highlands, run by a Hollywood actor who decided he'd rather live among elephants than studio executives. Given the choice, most people would agree with him.

" Who stayed here: Gable, Gardner, Kelly, Holden (who founded it), Sinatra. Old Hollywood heritage: Holden's creation. Mogambo filming base. Trophy Lounge photographs. Straddles the equator. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around $250 per night. Nanyuki, Kenya.

21. The Gritti Palace, Venice

A 15th-century palazzo on the Grand Canal that has been receiving illustrious guests since the Doge's day, though its Hollywood credentials were cemented in the 20th century. Hemingway wrote Across the River and into the Trees here, working at a corner table overlooking the water with a bottle of Valpolicella for company. Greta Garbo stayed in her usual fashion: anonymously, unsuccessfully, and with great irritation at anyone who recognised her. The Venice Film Festival, held on the nearby Lido every September, has ensured a steady stream of film stars through the lobby since 1932.

The terrace restaurant overlooking Santa Maria della Salute is one of the most beautiful dining spots in Venice, and possibly the world. The hotel's Bellini (prosecco and white peach puree, invented at Harry's Bar just down the canal) is served with appropriate reverence.

" Who stayed here: Hemingway, Garbo, Bogart, Chaplin, Taylor, plus generations of Venice Film Festival attendees. Old Hollywood heritage: Hemingway's writing table. Garbo's preferred Venetian retreat. Festival season suites. Plan your getaway: Open year-round (though Venice is best visited outside the peak summer months). Rooms from around €700 per night. Campo Santa Maria del Giglio, San Marco 2467, Venice.

22. The Ritz, Paris

The Ritz on Place Vendome is not so much a hotel as a monument to 20th-century glamour. Coco Chanel lived here for over 30 years, occupying a suite on the Rue Cambon side until her death in 1971. Marlene Dietrich was a regular between the wars. Garbo checked in under assumed names. F. Scott Fitzgerald drank here (of course he did). But the hotel's greatest Hollywood story belongs to Ernest Hemingway, who during the liberation of Paris in 1944 arrived at the Ritz with a group of resistance fighters and "liberated" the bar. The bar is now named after him, and a plaque marks the occasion. The fact that the Germans had already left the hotel before Hemingway arrived has never been allowed to diminish the legend.

The Bar Hemingway is small, wood-panelled, and decorated with photographs of Papa. The cocktails are superb and superblely priced. The hotel was closed for a four-year renovation (2012-2016) and has emerged even more pristine than before, which is the Ritz equivalent of a very expensive facelift that nobody is supposed to mention.

" Who stayed here: Chanel (31 years), Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Dietrich, Garbo, Gardner, Chaplin. Old Hollywood heritage: The Bar Hemingway (his "liberation" in 1944). Chanel's permanent suite. Fitzgerald's drinking. The Coco Chanel Suite is bookable. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around €1,200 per night. 15 Place Vendome, Paris.

23. Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, Cap d'Antibes

The most mythologised hotel on the Riviera, set on a wooded headland between Cannes and Nice with a swimming pool carved into the rocks above the Mediterranean. F. Scott Fitzgerald based the hotel in Tender Is the Night on this place. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton stayed during their Mediterranean yacht cruises. Marlene Dietrich was a regular. Garbo sunbathed by the pool. The hotel has maintained a steadfast policy of not accepting credit cards (cash or bank transfer only) which, depending on your perspective, is either charmingly old-fashioned or magnificently inconvenient.

During the Cannes Film Festival each May, the hotel becomes the most exclusive address on the coast. Studio executives hold meetings by the pool. Deals worth hundreds of millions are closed over lunch on the terrace. The Eden-Roc restaurant, on the rocks at the water's edge, is one of the most spectacular dining settings in France.

" Who stayed here: Taylor, Burton, Dietrich, Garbo, Fitzgerald (who fictionalized it), Hemingway, Picasso, plus virtually every major star during Cannes season. Old Hollywood heritage: The inspiration for Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night. The rock pool. The no-credit-card policy (unchanged since the golden age). Plan your getaway: Seasonal (April to October). Rooms from around €700 per night. Cash or bank transfer only. Boulevard J.F. Kennedy, Cap d'Antibes.

24. The Savoy, London

London's most famous hotel opened in 1889 and has hosted virtually every major Hollywood star who has crossed the Atlantic. Ava Gardner dined at the Savoy Grill during her London years. Charlie Chaplin stayed on his controversial return visits to England after his exile from America. Noel Coward practically lived in the Grill Room. Marilyn Monroe held a press conference here in 1956 during the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl with Laurence Olivier, at which she wore a dress so tight that the assembled journalists reportedly forgot every question they had prepared.

The American Bar, which opened in the 1890s, claims to be the oldest surviving cocktail bar in the world. Its head bartenders have included some of the most influential mixologists in history, and the art deco interior is a masterclass in how a bar should look and feel.

" Who stayed here: Gardner, Chaplin, Monroe, Coward, Taylor, Sinatra, Dietrich, Garbo. Old Hollywood heritage: The American Bar (oldest cocktail bar in the world). The Savoy Grill where Gardner and Coward dined. Monroe's 1956 press conference. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around £400 per night. Strand, London WC2.

25. Hotel de Paris and Casino de Monte-Carlo, Monaco

The Casino de Monte-Carlo is the belle epoque masterpiece that features in To Catch a Thief, where Grant and Kelly attend the gambling scenes filmed inside its ornate halls. Kelly herself would later live just up the hill as Princess Grace of Monaco after her marriage to Prince Rainier III in 1956. The Casino and the adjacent Hotel de Paris, which has been the default address for visiting royalty, billionaires, and film stars since 1863, together form the centrepiece of Monaco's absurdly glamorous image.

The Hotel de Paris was recently renovated to the tune of several hundred million euros and now includes a rooftop pool and spa. The Casino itself is open to the public (over-18s, dress code enforced) and the interior, all gilt mirrors and frescoed ceilings, is worth the entry fee alone even if you have no intention of gambling. Which, given Monaco's prices, might be the prudent choice.

" Who stayed here: Kelly, Grant, Hitchcock, Taylor, Burton, Dietrich, plus most of European aristocracy. Old Hollywood heritage: To Catch a Thief Casino scenes. Kelly met Rainier during the Cannes Festival and later ruled from the palace above. The Princess Grace Suite at the Hotel de Paris. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Hotel de Paris rooms from around €500 per night. Casino entry €17 (jacket required for the private gaming rooms). Place du Casino, Monte-Carlo, Monaco.

26. Raffles, Singapore

The grand dame of Southeast Asia opened in 1887 and became an essential stop for Hollywood stars travelling through the region throughout the golden age. Charlie Chaplin stayed here in the 1930s during a world tour. Ava Gardner checked in during a trip to Asia. Elizabeth Taylor passed through on her way to somewhere more dramatic, as was her habit. The hotel is also where the Singapore Sling was invented in 1915 by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon, making it one of the few hotels in the world that can claim to have given birth to a globally famous cocktail.

The Long Bar, where the Sling is still served, maintains the old colonial tradition of throwing peanut shells on the floor, which is either charming or annoying depending on how you feel about peanut shells. The hotel underwent a major restoration in 2019 and has emerged with its colonial grandeur intact and its plumbing considerably improved.

" Who stayed here: Chaplin, Gardner, Taylor, Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad. Old Hollywood heritage: The Long Bar (birthplace of the Singapore Sling, 1915). Chaplin's 1930s visits. The colonial-era guest book. Plan your getaway: Open year-round. Rooms from around $500 per night. 1 Beach Road, Singapore. The Singapore Sling at the Long Bar costs around S$40, which is expensive for a cocktail but cheap for a piece of history.