Los Angeles's Academy Award Winner - Millennium Biltmore Hot

By Author: Kriss Hammond
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Los Angeles's Academy Award Winner - Millennium Biltmore Hotel

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The historic Millennium Biltmore hotel in Los Angeles has seen in its 80 years such visitors as presidents, kings and queens, and Hollywood celebrities. The hotel opened in 1923, and was for many years the home of the Academy Awards, honoring those that were the best in newest technology of the time — movies.

The Millennium Biltmore is more like a Romanesque museum than a hotel, located in the heart of the business and financial district. If it were a wax museum, there would be likenesses of many of its famous guests, such as Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, John F. Kennedy, Harry Truman, Bill Clinton, Queen Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, The Duke of Kent, Eleanor Roosevelt, Howard Hughes, J. Paul Getty, John Wayne, Casey Stengel, Barbara Streisand, Placido Domingo, and the Beatles.

When ...
... entering on Fifth Street the Galleria Room serves as a grand promenade, running the entire length of the hotel. The Main Galleria connects with the South Galleria and the Biltmore Bowl (home of the Academy Awards, complete with the original stage), the Regency and Heinbergen Rooms are also offshoots of the Galleria; the Health Club and the Grand Avenue Sports Bar are accessed by a connecting parquet corridor. The Lobby, Gift Shops, Gallery Bar, and guest room elevators also open on to the main Galleria.

A focal point for the hotel is the lobby, serving as the main entrance from the port-cochere from Grand Avenue. The concierge desk has a commanding presence for arranging tours, restaurants or dinner theater packages. The lobby is always the busiest area of any hotel, but I think I could actually sleep in the Millennium Biltmore's lobby. The colorful rugs and deep sinking and plush and velvety lounge chairs are masterpieces of craftsmanship. Marble lion sculptures surround a tinkling fountain, adding to a refreshing ambience as world travelers rush in and away from the reception desk. JFK's 1960 West Coast campaign headquarters were in the Music Room, which is now the lobby. Many of the guests lounging around are the beautiful Malaysian Airlines flight attendants who make the hotel their stopover home.

The 11-story Millennium Biltmore was designed by the New York architectural firm of Schultze and Weaver, which also designed the Waldorf Astoria and Park Lane Hotels in New York City. The Spanish Italianate Renaissance hotel was completed in 1923 and declared a Historical Cultural Landmark in 1969.

It is believed that the name Biltmore was suggested by Cornelius Vanderbilt, a friend of John McEntire Bowman, president of the Biltmore Company who coined the name for the family estate in North Carolina. Bowman also developed other Biltmore's in the USA and Cuba.

Touted as the Host of the Coast, the Biltmore was the home of high society, and film czars and stars. The founding banquet of the Academy Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences was held here on May 27, 1927, where the concept and design of the Oscar was revealed. A statue was sketched on a napkin in the Crystal Ballroom marking the occasion.

The 1937 Academy Awards dinner in the Biltmore Bowl.
Can you spot Cecil B. DeMille, Roy Disney, Tyrone Power,
Henry Fonda, Spencer Tracey, and other stars?

The original Biltmore Bowl caught fire in the 1990s, but a $3 million renovation blends state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment while maintaining period detail. On a visit with the Food and Beverage Manager I was warned about the ghosts: One of our employees reported seeing a waiter in attire that we have not been using for fifty years. One of the two original escalators still works, bringing new passengers into a more stately era. With plush and quieting carpets the Biltmore Bowl is redesigned for a wide range of groups, including performers and music executives who celebrate with after-parties of the Grammy Awards. The Biltmore Bowl's modern enhancements include 75 audio speakers, video and computer projection, programmable lighting, theatrical lighting, and gold leaf ceilings, wood columns, and bright colorful carpets.

During the Big Band era famous composers, bands, and musicians performed at tea parties, dances, and parties in the Ballroom. But the Crystal Ballroom still retains its former glory and it is the hotel's pride and joy; dance on hardwood floors under Austrian chandeliers and cathedral-like 30-foot ceilings that were hand-painted by Italian artist Giovanni Smeraldi of White House and Vatican fame; one of the hotel's restaurants is named after the artist. Glittering mirrors and draperies enhance this beautiful, festive room, still offering romantic, cozy balconies. In 1977 Bob Hope was the Master of Ceremonies for the Academy's 50th anniversary in the Crystal Ballroom.

I am surprised on how hilly downtown Los Angeles is. A short walk around the hotel finds me puffing for air and thinking of a subdued version of San Francisco. I am within walking distance or short cab ride to West Coast culture, including the Ahmanson Theater, California Science Center, Chinatown, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, El Pueblo de Los Angeles, the Flower Market, the Garment District, Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Japanese American National Museum, The Jewelry District, Little Tokyo, LA Zoo, Mark Taper Forum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Our Lady Queen of Angels Cathedral, and the LA County Museum. The new Walt Disney Concert Hall is not far away, the home to the Los Angeles Philharmonic. A beautiful LA County library is right across the street on Grand Avenue.

The Biltmore's Sports Bar is rated the best downtown by locals, so I can not leave out nearby sporting venues, such as the Brookside Golf Course, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and the Staples Center, home of the Lakers. The Sports Bar offers happy hour specials and Sierra Nevada pitchers for under $11. Try snappy sounding drinks such as the Two Point Conversion, The Grand Slam, A Day At The Ball Park, or the upbeat Cheerleader.

For more elegant apertifs and drinks try the hotel's Gallery Bar and Cognac Room, near the lobby, an elegant lounge offering fine wine, exclusive liqueurs, and signature drinks, such as the Black Dahlia. The Black Dahlia Martini is named after actress Elizabeth Short who disappeared after she was last seen catching a cab by a doorman at the Biltmore in 1947. She was later found murdered, unsolved to this day.

The Black Dahlia was invented by Greg Guzelian, the hotel's winner of the award, Downtown's Bartender Of The Year in 2003. The $14 Black Dahlia is comprised of Citron Vodka, Kahlua, and Chambord, and the result is a purple brown drink that tastes like chocolate. It is served in a martini glass with an orange rind. Phone the Gallery Bar, at 213/624-1011 to find out about the jazz artists that play Thursday and Saturday nights.

With striking elegance and grand ambience the dining choices at the Millennium Biltmore are a mélange of culinary delights.

Sai Sai, the famous Janapense restaurant, has a Peruvian Chef, Ricardo Zarate, who specializes in Japanese cuisine, even throughout his Latin America career. Enjoy the small plates and pan fried oysters with jalapeño chilies and Shishito peppers with tomato salsa and lemon dressing, or his Ceviche with orange panzu coriander juice and yuzu dressing. Or try the kaki shihito — a single deep fried Kumamato oyster dressed in the shell, with tomato yuzu salsa and charred Shishito pepper. Sai Sai lunch and dinner menus feature popular dishes, including sushi, sashimi, Robata grill, tempuras, Kobe beef, shellfish, and vegetarian dishes, and infused South American pan fried oysters. Dinner for two runs about $65. Sai Sai is open Monday thru Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., and for dinner Monday thru Saturday from 6-10 p.m. Sai Sai reservations: 213/624 1100.

Smeraldi's Restaurant is where I dined for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and it offers a more California - style cuisine in a casual atmosphere that suits my every need. The two level restaurant is a splash of glowing gold and frescos and painted clouds on the high carved wooden ceilings. The Mediterranean tile floors are bright. I had the dining rights to the floor-to-ceiling window seat on the upper level for evening dinner so that I could watch the famous LA dusk descend over Grand Avenue and Pershing Square across the street. A vintage menu from the hotel's archives is featured monthly at Smeraldi's. I opted for the lighter fare of Salmon Salad, grilled to perfection, with baby greens, cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, and roasted shallot and balsamic vinaigrette. My waiter, from Mexico, has been serving hotel guests for over 25 years. I was the only diner in the restaurant, but it soon fills up with artists, writers, and loyal locals. Smeraldi's reservations:
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Kriss Hammond, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent- Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com


About the Author Kriss Hammond, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent. Join the Travel Writers Network in the logo at www.jetsettersmagazine.com