Homes from home in Hollywood

The best-kept boltholes from which to explore Hollywood

EVEN IF THE glamorous life of the glitzier Los Angeles zip codes isn’t quite your speed, it’s occasionally fun to pretend it is – especially during awards season, when there are even more famous faces per square inch than usual. And if you do want to try on the full Hollywood experience for size, it’s good to ‘go residential’. Stay at one of the glamorous bungalows at The Beverly Hills Hotel (‘The Pink Palace’) on Sunset Boulevard, and you can have the best of both worlds.

Dotted around its lush gardens, the hotel’s 23 bungalows were built in 1915 in response to repeated requests from regulars for more space and privacy. A rolling project to restore them finishes in June. While each is unique, all have living rooms and dining rooms, most have working fireplaces, and they offer a modern Californian take on the hotel’s art-deco-and-1940s heritage. Five have been redesigned in homage to particular past guests, including Elizabeth Taylor – who spent six of her eight honeymoons at the hotel – Frank Sinatra and Howard Hughes. Hughes stayed in many different bungalows over the years and would regularly book several just so nobody knew quite which one he was in (apparently room service would leave his nightly roast-beef sandwich in the low branches of a tree for him to sneak out and collect). Should you be lucky enough to be staying over Oscars weekend, you can join the viewing party in the hotel’s legendary Polo Lounge.

For even more privacy, consider renting a studio room within the Ital- ian-villa-style Sunrise Colonnade, a true old-hollywood home in the laidback hillside neighbourhood of Los Feliz, close to Griffith Park. Once home to English film director James Whale, who made his best films – including Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – while living here, this atmospheric nook has access to a shared pool, hot tub and beautifully landscaped gardens.

For supremely stylish vintage charm in LA’S most celebrity-filled neighbourhood, the white-washed, one-bedroom Hollywood Hills Oasis is another excellent option. Close to Runyon Canyon Park, where you might bump into Natalie Portman walking her dog, this home from home has a light, airy, sundrenched feel, multiple shaded outdoor spots in which to hang out and dine, and a lovely central pool.

1. The Beverly Hills Hotel Bungalow King Rooms from £526 per night (dorchestercollection.com). 2. Hollywood Hills Oasis From £600 per night, with a seven-night minimum stay (onefinestay.com). 3. Sunrise Colonnade From £401 per night, with a three-night minimum stay (plumguide.com)