Fifty-woman orgies, heroin & cocaine cocktails and $46k room service bills – inside world’s most infamous A-list hotel
IF walls could talk, those from the legendary Los Angeles hotel Chateau Marmont would have some of the most salacious stories of all time.
The infamous Hollywood haunt gained a reputation for debauchery during the Thirties and little has changed in the subsequent decades.
This week, Bianca Censori – wife of the rapper Ye, formerly Kanye West – caused outrage when she wore a skimpy outfit while dining at the hotel’s high-end restaurant.
She flouted the ‘business casual’ dress code in favour of a barely-there black bra that just about covered her nipples and high-cut short-shorts.
Controversy is nothing new for Chateau Marmont, which has played host to everything from wild drugs parties to scandalous affairs and, sadly, a fatal overdose.
Harry Cohn, founder of Columbia Pictures, even rented a suite there for his stars to have affairs away from prying eyes, insisting: “If you must get into trouble, go to the Marmont.”
Those to have taken advantage included sex-symbols Jean Harlow, who indulged in affairs while honeymooning there and Grace Kelly, who got frisky with her married High Noon co-star Gary Cooper.
In later years, scores more would use the $1,000-a-night hotel for flings – including Kate Moss and Johnny Depp, who reportedly romped in each of the venue’s 63 rooms.
Rock stars have hosted drug-fuelled parties, others held orgies and some – including Irish actor Richard Harris – managed to get booted out.
Shawn Levy, who wrote about the venue in his book The Castle On Sunset, described it as “a haven, a place where conventional moral judgement held little or no sway”.
He added: “Guests’ proclivities for sex, booze, drugs or unusual work habits weren’t merely abided . . . but accepted.”
Here we look back at some of the most shocking tales from the Chateau Marmont.
$46k room service bill
Lindsay Lohan was kicked out after refusing to settle a $46,350 (£36,000) room service tab in 2012.
According to TMZ, who obtained a copy of the bill, Lindsay’s expenses included nearly $700 on cigarettes, $600-plus on laundry and nearly $400 on pay-per-view movies.
She also reportedly splashed more than $100 on magazines and iPhone chargers from the hotel gift shop and $3,145 on the mini bar and other charges.
It was claimed Lindsay believed a member of her production team would cover the large bill, racked up between June and July 2012, because she was staying at the hotel while filming the Elizabeth Taylor biopic Liz & Dick.
You could have a conversation. You could have a tryst. You could f***ing do drugs
Keanu Reeves
Hotel management, who allegedly gave her notice to vacate the suite, also wrote: “Furthermore, until we get the matter of your outstanding debt paid, know that we will be unable to host you on property or in the restaurant.”
Lindsay joins Irish actor Richard Harris in being banned from the venue.
In the Sixties, he was kicked out for hammering on hotel room doors and shouting about nuclear war after a heavy drinking spree that lasted until 2am.
’50-person orgy’
Legendary actor Dennis Hopper was renowned for having a humungous sexual appetite and reportedly enjoyed a 50-woman orgy while staying at the hotel.
More controversially, it’s claimed that the married actor also had sex with 16-year-old Natalie Wood, who was 27 years younger and co-starred with him in Rebel Without A Cause, at the hotel.
Keanu Reeves confirmed the debauched legacy of Chateau Marmont in an interview for the 2012 documentary Sunset Strip.
He said: “I had some really great, crazy, wild times there. Some that probably overstepped the bounds a little bit personally, where you just have, you know, some emotional blowback.”
The John Wick actor lived there for several years during the Nineties and says it was the kind of place “you didn’t want to take your shoes off”.
He added: “You could have a conversation. You could have a tryst. You could f***ing do drugs. You could hang out. For me, there’s still that pulse here.”
‘High as a weather balloon’
Scores of rockstars have frequented the hotel – including Jim Morrison, from The Doors, who claimed to have used up “the eighth of my nine lives” at Chateau Marmont.
In The Suite Life: The Magic And Mystery Of Hotel Living, it’s claimed the most famous of those near-death experiences occurred when the singer was “as high as a weather balloon”.
He decided to ‘take a shortcut’ by jumping from the rooftop terrace to his suite and “barely made it”. He was said to have “injured his back painfully” in the process.
Bianca Censori and Kanye West's relationship
Bianca Censori was born on January 5, 1995, in Melbourne, Australia
Before her current full-time job, the 29-year-old started a jewelry company called Nylons after leaving high school.
After working as a student architect for three years, she completed a master’s degree between 2019 and 2020 ahead of moving to Los Angeles.
In a radio interview, a childhood friend of Bianca’s claimed that Kanye slid into her DMs on Instagram.
The rapper reportedly said, “Come and work for me.”
At which point she says the designer moved to LA to join his company Yeezy as the “head of architecture” – and has been since November 2020.
WEDDING BELLS
On Friday, October 6, 2023, The Daily Mail reported Kanye and Bianca wed on December 20, 2022.
The couple tied the knot under a “confidential marriage license” in the state of California.
The two wed in Palo Alto, California, according to the document.
The wedding came just one month after Kanye and Kim Kardashian finalized their divorce.
It’s also claimed Led Zeppelin enjoyed wild romps in the hotel and that drummer John Bonham drove his Harley-Davidson – his 25th birthday present – through the hotel’s lobby.
The rock legends were said to have wheeled naked girls between bedrooms on ‘borrowed’ hotel food trolleys and poured baked beans over their manager while he slept with a groupie.
Billy Idol was also reported to have smashed up his bungalow at the hotel after releasing his 1982 hit White Wedding.
He was said to have been spotted standing naked on his balcony when police responded to calls from the hotel – however, they hadn’t arrived due to his actions but because a famous star had suffered a fatal overdose.
Fears for Britney
Chateau Marmont was far from known for having strict rules and has tolerated wild behaviour over the decades.
But in 2007, it was claimed Britney Spears managed to get herself temporarily banned from the hotel.
She was given the boot after smearing her face and body with gourmet food, while dining in the terrace restaurant. Previously, concerned staff said Britney “constantly looked out of it”.
An insider recalled guests – including Victoria Beckham – being so gobsmacked they “began to make noises” and “the hotel acted before she (Britney) made a big scene”.
In May this year, Britney sparked concerns of a “mental health crisis” after being escorted from the hotel during the early hours by medical staff.
The singer, now 42, appeared to only be dressed in short-shorts and was seen clutching a pillow to her chest with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
Tragic overdose
One of the most notorious incidents that occurred at Chateau Marmont was the death of legendary Blues Brothers actor John Belushi.
The 33-year-old died in his sleep from a fatal overdose of heroin and cocaine – the combination is known as speedball – in 1982.
The Saturday Night Live actor was last seen alive by actors Robert De Niro and Robin Williams, who allegedly visited the star at 3am to take cocaine.
In the book The Castle On Sunset, author Shawn Levy claimed they were ‘freaked out’ by how dirty his $250-a-night bungalow was and promptly left.
It said there was ‘dirty laundry everywhere’, old pizza boxes, bottles of wine and a pile of cocaine on the living room table. John’s body was discovered by his bodyguard Bill Wallace.
Sadly, the actor isn’t the only famous person known to died there.
Renowned fashion photographer Helmut Newton, 83, suffered a heart attack while driving out of the hotel’s garage and fatally crashed the vehicle into a wall in 2004.