You would think that being a celebrity there would be plenty of special places that a person could go that would be completely relaxing for them, especially the mansions that some of them own that are deemed private property and are off limits anyway in a legal sense to paparazzi. But the Chateau Marmont is apparently a playground for celebrities when they want to get out of the house and don’t want to be chased all around by the camera hounds that otherwise make their lives difficult at various times when they’re just trying to have a nice time out on the town. The hotel is not only decked out in the kind of trappings that make it quite unique, but as Courtney Frye from Pedestrian has written it’s a place where the celebrities and the regular folk can congregate and just have a good time no matter who’s who.
Granted, you’ll need to fork over a bit of dough to actually get in, but the absence of cameras for celebrities, unless they decide to not mind taking a selfie or something similar, is what they really seem to cherish. Despite being a bit pricey it does have the advantage of not allowing the paparazzi in as they’re completely banned, which is a big reason why it’s seen as such a special place. Some folks might not want to give celebrities much leeway when it comes to being able to get away since their checkbooks do make it easier for them to find the time and opportunity to go here or there when they want and gain the peace of mind that they so desire. But something about the Marmont seems to draw them here, and it could be the history of the place that’s a big part of it.
It does seem though that the Marmont’s more positive aspects do get overlooked by the more sordid details that come with the hotel’s long history since the list of celebrities that have stayed at this place haven’t always kept themselves on the up and up. While some might call this kind of new sensationalism and scandal at its best there have been plenty stories of illicit encounters and drug use that left some of the guests near death and at least one unfortunately dead in his room where he was found. John Belushi lost his life in the Marmont due to drugs while several other celebrities were said to have consumed mass amounts of narcotics and other substances as well. Lindsay Lohan was even said to have racked up over $50,000 in charges that she refused to pay. As a result she was banned from the hotel for a hefty period of time. In other words, this is a place that celebrities seem to find their way to in order to let their hair down so to speak, but throughout it’s long past that kind of relaxation has come with a long line of questionable acts on the parts of the guests.
If such things still go on it’s hard to know since quite honestly celebrities are either cleaning up when they’re still in public, sometimes, or are being much more cagey about certain things they do in private. Plus if you think about it the many things that celebrities are known for thanks to the paparazzi might be bad enough that they’re simply looking to come to the Marmont in an effort to finally wind down and just let the pressure of their lives fade away for a bit. Again, it seems that their mansions might be a better place to go since it’s a comfort zone that they have all to themselves, including their families of course, and can use as they see fit. But there’s something about the Marmont that keeps them coming and it doesn’t seem to be fading as the years go by. It could be that it’s just the ‘it’ place to go and is extremely lenient when it comes to the overall rules of the house, or it could be the prestige that might come in saying that they’ve been there once, twice, or multiple times. But it does seem as though the hotel bends and even breaks its own rules at times in order to accommodate its more famous guests.
Such things seem to happen quite often when celebrities are involved, but it would also seem that this is a big part of the hotel’s whole persona, that people be allowed to get away with anything short of breaking the law in any overt way. You might want to argue that drugs are a part of that and could possibly bring the hotel down if such scandals continued. But then you need to think about this, after everything that’s happened and everything that might still happen, the Marmont is still there.
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