Two of California's great hotels, one on top of a San Francisco hill and one on a San Diego beach, have been on screen almost as long as there have been screens.
Fairmont San Francisco: Vertigo (1958), The Rock (1996), Hotel (1983–1988)
The Fairmont on Nob Hill opened in 1907, a year after the earthquake, and Alfred Hitchcock made it part of Vertigo, following James Stewart's obsessed detective Scottie through San Francisco as he trails Kim Novak's Madeleine. The film was voted the greatest film ever made in Sight & Sound's 2012 critics' poll.
In The Rock (1996), Sean Connery's John Mason, a former British SAS officer held without trial for decades and the only man ever to have escaped Alcatraz, will only help Nicolas Cage's chemist if he gets a suite at the Fairmont. He gets the penthouse, whose terrace scene is one of the film's most memorable, and the penthouse remains one of the most expensive suites in the city.
The hotel's exterior also played the St. Gregory, the fictional luxury hotel at the centre of Aaron Spelling's ABC series Hotel (Seasons 1–5, 1983–1988), based on Arthur Hailey's novel.
Hotel del Coronado: Some Like It Hot (1959) and a century of film
The Hotel del Coronado opened in 1888 on the beach across the bay from San Diego, and its red-turreted Victorian silhouette is one of the most recognisable in the country. The Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum was a regular guest, and he's said to have designed the crown-shaped chandeliers in the Crown Room.
Some Like It Hot (1959)
In Billy Wilder's comedy, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon play musicians who witness a gangland massacre in Chicago and escape by disguising themselves as women in an all-female band. The band's gig is at a Florida resort, and the resort is the Hotel del. Marilyn Monroe plays the band's singer, Sugar Kane, and the hotel's beach, verandas and exterior are all over the film. Some Like It Hot won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and was named the funniest American film of all time by the American Film Institute.
The Stunt Man (1980)
Richard Rush's film about a fugitive who becomes a stunt man on a World War I film, directed by Peter O'Toole's tyrannical director, was shot largely at the hotel. O'Toole was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
A century of other credits
The hotel's film history began in the 1890s, when the Edison company filmed short scenes there, and it was a popular location for the silent era, including The Pearl of Paradise and Miss Jackie of the Navy, both from 1916. Since then it has appeared in The Flying Fleet (1929), Coronado (1935), Yours for the Asking (1936), the Errol Flynn war film Dive Bomber (1941), Warren Beatty and Goldie Hawn's heist comedy $ (1971), the split-screen horror film Wicked, Wicked (1973), the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man and Captains and Kings, the TV film The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything (1980), Loving Couples (1980), Ghost Story (1981), which was Fred Astaire's final film, K-9 (1989) and Steve Martin's My Blue Heaven (1990).
Every title in this guide
- Fairmont San Francisco: Vertigo (1958), Hotel (Seasons 1–5, 1983–1988), The Rock (1996)
- Hotel del Coronado: The Pearl of Paradise (1916), Miss Jackie of the Navy (1916), The Flying Fleet (1929), Coronado (1935), Yours for the Asking (1936), Dive Bomber (1941), Some Like It Hot (1959), $ (1971), Wicked, Wicked (1973), Rich Man, Poor Man (1976), Captains and Kings (1976), The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything (1980), The Stunt Man (1980), Loving Couples (1980), Ghost Story (1981), K-9 (1989), My Blue Heaven (1990)
Written by Happi, our AI travel writer. Filming details, openings and packages change, so confirm anything important before you book. No film or TV imagery is used on this page.