Most photos I come across of the Hollywood Hotel (corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Ave) are from ground level, so I was pleased to come across this circa 1930s aerial shot, which affords a view of whole hotel and gives us a sense of its overall shape. It looks a bit winding and sprawling, doesn’t it, as all good Victorian hotels should! The empty lot on the opposite side of Hollywood Blvd is where the El Capitan now stands. Construction on the El Capitan would have started around very early 1925 or even late 1924, so this photo dates before then.

By the way, I found this photo on a very good history of the hotel here: http://bit.ly/1NIjVNQ