10 Hotels Around the World for Lovers of Movie Magic
By Michael Colbert
Ever dreamed of stepping foot on your favorite movie set? Or have you googled filming locations while watching Casino Royale? Film and television can help armchair cinephiles travel the world from the comforts of their home, but for jetsetters with a love of the big screen, set-jetting has long been a popular source of travel inspiration.
These quasi-pilgrimages to the sites and sets of films don’t just draw visitors to Hollywood, however. ABC reported that since Season 3 of Mike White’s HBO series White Lotus released, online searches for destinations across Thailand increased from 30% to 65%, and the show’s previous seasons boosted demand in Hawaii and Sicily by 300%.
Whether you’re traveling to the Las Vegas Strip with Anora, back in time in New York with A Complete Unknown, or through South America with Queer, at these hotels you can spend the night with a great helping of film history.
Beverly Hills Hotel, Los Angeles
Where to begin but the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel, a classic meeting spot for Hollywood’s movers-and-shakers. The pink and green Polo Lounge oozes decades of Hollywood gossip. Charlie Chaplin had a standing lunch reservation for booth one, and Marlene Dietrich caused the restaurant to amend their no-slacks-for-ladies rule when she showed off her famous gams in pants. Liz Taylor frequented Bungalow Five, and Sidney Poitier danced barefoot in the Hollywood Lobby following his Oscar win for Lilies of the Field. Bret Easton Ellis’s readers today might just be eagerly awaiting the HBO adaptation of his Los Angeles thriller, The Shards, in which the hotel and Polo Lounge prominently figure.
Park Hyatt, Tokyo
Sofia Coppola drew Tokyo with dreamy, wistful brushstrokes in her film, Lost in Translation. Scarlett Johansson spends untold minutes peering out the window from her room high above the city in the Park Hyatt, and the hotel’s New York Bar makes for a swanky nightcap from the top of Tokyo while listening to live music. Though Murray and Johansson’s characters rarely leave the confines of the hotel—and for good reason, the property is one of the luxury brand’s flagship locations and is identifiable by its stunning black anthracite details—the Park Hyatt is located in Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood and is only a brief walk to Yoyogi Park and the Meiji Shrine.
Caribe Hilton, San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan has inspired many a sun-dappled production. When American filmmakers couldn’t make the trip to Havana, San Juan often stood in for its neighbor in productions like Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. The Caribe Hilton has long celebrated a legacy of old Hollywood flair. The hotel was Conrad Hilton’s first venture outside of the continental United States. Liz Taylor stayed at the property during her honeymoon with Conrad Hilton, Jr., her first of seven husbands. More recently, it’s served as a backdrop for Rum Diary, 22 Jump Street, and others. If you visit, don’t miss the pina colada—the drink is said to have originated in their bar.
Bürgenstock, Lake Lucerne
James Bond turned 60 last year, and the Bürgenstock, hidden away on Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne, was happy to celebrate—the hotel rolled out Aston Martin driving experiences, Alpine Summit helicopter rides, and afternoons in cabanas by the Hollywood Pool to recreate the lavish life as a secret agent as experienced by Connery’s Bond. While filming Goldfinger, Sean Connery and the crew spent a month at the resort and shot at the nearby Hammetschwand Lift. George Lazenby also visited their sister property, Hotel Schweizerhof Bern & Spa, as Bond in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The hotel today is known for its for hydrothermal journeys, and guests can unwind in style like Bond after hours.
San Domenico Palace,
Taormina, Sicily
While the world might have its eyes on Thailand’s Koh Samui since the release of season three of Mike White’s White Lotus, season two of the show had viewers enchanted by Taormina’s magic. Italy has a long and rich film history. Cinecittà, the country’s signature studio which opened under Mussolini’s direction in 1937, went on to inspire such filmmakers as Federico Fellini and Pier Paolo Pasolini; produced Cinema Paradiso, 8 ½, La Dolce Vita and Rome, Open City; and cultivated stars like Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. While visitors to Rome can peek inside the studios at Cinecittà, the San Domenico Palace offers guests the chance to stay like the—often ill-fated—guests at The White Lotus. Situated in the Sicilian resort town of Taormina, the San Domenico Palace overlooks the Mediterranean and offers dramatic views of Mount Etna.
Stanley Hotel, Este Park, Colorado
Any horror film lover worth their salt will have the Stanley Hotel on their travel bucket list—should they dare to stay the night. Less than two miles from Rocky Mountain National Park, the property made for an arresting, and haunting, set for Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Though guests won’t spy the iconic hexagonal carpets in the hotel’s halls today, they can learn more about the Stanley’s legacy by joining one of the property’s historical tours. Beyond its relevance to horror fans, this 110-year-old hotel is on the National Register of Historic Places and sits at an attractive vantage in the mountains, only an hour from Denver. Though, if you find yourself tapping the bar and asking Lloyd for a drink, maybe it’s time to head out.
Fairmont Copley Plaza, Boston
Boston has long loomed large in the country’s cinematic imagination, and though some of its most famous films—The Departed and Good Will Hunting—captured much of their footage in New York and Toronto, the city has inspired a host of other directors. Tax incentives have caused Beantown to boom into a film hub outside of New York, inspiring a host of films from Fever Pitch to Little Women, American Fiction to American Hustle. Both American Hustle and Little Women shot inside the Fairmont Copley Plaza, and Luca Guadagnino’s spicy tennis ménage à trois also filmed at nearby hotel, The Newbury.
Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido
The 2022 premiere of Don’t Worry, Darling at the Venice Film Festival had social media sleuths falling down deep online rabbit holes—Florence Pugh’s absence from the press call, questions about whether Harry Styles spit on Chris Pine, Chris Pine seemingly dissociating, a never-ending series of memes about all of it. As much as the 2022 festival launched Venice into the public eye, Italy’s canal city has welcomed slews of stars with their own dramas for decades. The Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido has hosted the festival since its first year in 1932 and makes for a luxurious stay on Venice’s Lido, a barrier island that’s about a 15-minute ferry ride from the city where Katharine Hepburn reportedly swam in the canals while filming Summertime.
Sundance Mountain Resort
Back across the pond, Utah’s otherworldly landscape has long inspired writers, directors, and artists. Among those who felt called by the land was Robert Redford, who in 1969 purchased land known today as Sundance with the vision of “a community committed to the balance of art, nature and community.” In 1981, the Sundance Institute was founded at the Sundance Mountain Resort. The Sundance Film Festival launches the careers of many of today’s biggest names in art films. Although the festival will take place in Boulder, Colorado beginning in 2027, visitors can peek inside the halls where the festival began at the resort, all while exploring the landscape Redford so deeply loved and dreamed to conserve.
Salish Lodge, Snoqualmie Falls, Washington
Daivd Lynch heads will recognize Salish Lodge, peeking just over Washington State’s Snoqualmie Falls, as the exterior of The Great Northern in Twin Peaks. Perched above White Tail Falls, the hotel became a centerpiece of Lynch’s cult favorite series. Although it’s unclear whether a guest may uncover secret passages at Salish Lodge—another location was used as The Great Northern’s interior—the property is a premier getaway in the Pacific Northwest. It ranked at the top of Travel + Leisure’s readers’ favorite resorts in the West in 2024. Yet still it maintains its playful edge, touting its Lynchian connection—guests can order the “Damn Fine Cherry Pie” and “Dale Cooper” cocktail at the hotel’s Restaurant & Terrace Bar and celebrate Twin Peaks Day on February 24.
Photo Credits, left to right: Beverly Hills Hotel, Park Hyatt Tokyo, ©Bürgenstock Hotels AG, San Domenico Palace, Hotel Excelsior Venice Lido, Sundance Mountain Resort, Salish Lodge & Spa
