The Culver Hotel in Los Angeles is a Star in Its Own Right
A-list actors may get top billing on a hit film, but there’s one relatively unknown star that has been in the background of close to 80 projects: The Culver Hotel. A stone’s throw from Culver Studios and MGM, the historic hotel has been used in The Wonder Years, Cougar Town, The Last Action Hero, Marvels Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and many more.
Built in 1924 by Harry Culver, the property has also housed countless Hollywood legends over its 90-year history. Cast members from classic films like Gone with the Wind and the Wizard of Oz—including the 124 Munchkins—have stayed at the hotel. And Greta Garbo, Ronald Reagan, Judy Garland, and Clark Gable are just a few stars who actually maintained part-time residences at The Culver Hotel. Charlie Chaplin was even the owner for a while until, legend has it, he lost the property in a poker game to John Wayne.
In more recent decades, the hotel fell into disrepair, was boarded up for a time in the 1980s and was close to being torn down. Hoping to maintain its appeal, the latest owner Maya Mallick went to great lengths over the past eight years to transform this iconic property into a glamorous boutique hotel, making it yet again the go-to spot for film shoots. She carefully perused vintage markets, exclusive interior design shops, and family heirlooms to select furnishings for both the rooms and the public spaces and sought to preserve the architectural integrity of the building while honoring the richness of decades past.
Today numerous television shows, movies or commercials shoot in and around Culver City. The hotel’s exterior and interior have stood in as a street in London, an apartment in Barcelona, and a café in Paris.
