Once—just once, is that too much to ask?—I would have loved the chance to walk through this ornate entrance (look at the detailed artwork around the arches and columns) and into the famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Blvd. From when it opened in 1921 until after WWII, this place was one of the epicenters of Los Angeles’s social life. Those palm trees were originally used in Valentino’s “The Sheik” so I do wonder is anybody tried to make off with one of them. It’s probably safe to say that someone (drunk, most likely) made a good attempt.
Entrance to the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, Ambassador Hotel, Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles
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i was going to ask you if you had any Ambassador Hotel images or stories!
have you been to it? i have around 2014 when i lived in KoreaTown. I snuck in and went to the top floor, where Howard Hughes had a penthouse, been to the rooftop (where i can only imagine what might have gone down), been to where Coconut Grove would have been and the outside swimming pool (or large fountain), which was used as walking ground. You could still spot a few of the original artifacts here and there. It was surreal. It is, or at laeast it was at the time, used as low income housing development.
No, Dom, unfortunately I never got to see it. The building was still around when I arrived in LA, but it was closed and/or condemned so I couldn’t get in.
Your descriptions of the place in the first Garden of Allah novel made me feel as though I’d been there. In real, sadly, the closest I’ve come is the black Bakelite ash tray I bought at Thanks for the Memories on Melrose several decades ago. Ah, well.
Hi there! As an LA native, I have always had this amazing fascination with the Ambassador Hotel and the Cocoanut Grove. I have the matchbooks with the Cocoanut Grove Monkeys you ave pictured on one of your posts. Do you have a book about this Ambassador?
Hi Griffin – the best book I know of is “Are the Stars Out Tonight?: The Story of the Famous Ambassador and Cocoanut Grove” by Margaret Burk. It’s hard to track down so copies tend to be expensive, but your local library might have a copy.