A TV weather forecaster staying at a cozy bed-and-breakfast gets caught in a time warp. The head of a crime family and his wife overnight at one of New York City’s most alluring luxury hotels. While gazing at the beach fronting an iconic resort hotel, another powerful crime boss mutters, “This is paradise, I’m tellin' ya.”
These disparate incidents really took place—in movies. Fans of flicks can relive these scenes and others when they overnight at places where the action was filmed.
Granted, you’re not likely to run into Bill Murray, Diane Keaton, or Al Pacino. However, you can follow in their footsteps and see the settings where they brought their characters to life on the silver screen. If you’re a movie maven, an admirer of Hollywood stars or just curious, an internet search can turn up places where scenes were shot and sleeping awaits.
The movie “Groundhog Day,” for example, is set in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, during the annual event that honors the alleged ability of homely rodents to predict the coming weather. In fact, most of it was filmed in a suburb of Chicago. Phil Connors, aka Bill Murray, holes up in the modest Royal Victorian Manor in Woodstock, Illinois—known in the motion picture as the Cherry Street Inn—while repeatedly reliving Feb. 2. Guests today can recall his experience without having to suffer through it.
Founded by John Jacob Astor over a century ago, the five-star St. Regis hotel in New York has retained its rich heritage and exquisite elegance. Among motion pictures in which the lavish bar has appeared are “The Devil Wears Prada” and Woody Allen’s “Radio Days.” Michael and Kay Corleone (Al Pacino and Diane Keaton) stayed at the St. Regis in “The Godfather.”
Since it opened in 1954 in the heart of Miami’s “Millionaire’s Row,” the Fontainebleau has served as a reminder of that city’s glamorous golden era. It provided the perfect backdrop for scenes in the 1964 James Bond film “Goldfinger” and other movies. No better description of the property could be uttered than the “This is paradise” praise voiced by Pacino’s character, Tony Montana, known as Scarface.
The digs are much less upscale where Patrick Swayze romanced Jennifer Grey in “Dirty Dancing.” The idea was to recall the heyday of the heralded resort industry that flourished throughout the Catskill Mountains from about 1940 to 1965. What was made as a low-budget film went on to earn more than $200 million. Frances (“Baby”), vacationing with her family, develops a crush on the resort’s dance instructor and the rich girl-poor boy drama plays out—but not in the Catskills. The movie was made at the Mountain Lake Lodge, a historic resort perched in Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains. Guests can stay at the cottage that Baby shared with her family.
An even more unlikely romance plays out in “Pretty Woman,” in which Julia Roberts wins the heart of Richard Gere. Their love story is based at the Beverly Wilshire hotel and offers a taste of life in the wealthy lane—including those who reside nearby in the posh Beverly Hills, California, neighborhood.
On the other side of the country, cash and credit cards earn young Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) a luxury suite at The Plaza Hotel in New York City. In “Home Alone 2” the youthful actor uses his wits to outsmart a not-so-smart pair of scoundrels. The stately Plaza also served as a soundstage for “Sleepless in Seattle” and “Crocodile Dundee.”
Another movie in which money played a starring role was “Wall Street,” in which Michael Douglas portrayed greedy financier Gordon Gekko. It’s at the Roosevelt Hotel, surrounded by New York City’s corporate skyscrapers, that Gekko gives an impassioned speech most memorable for the line: “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.”
If that isn’t scary enough, think of the diabolically grinning face of Jack Nicholson in “The Shining.” The psychological horror film was based on a novel by Stephen King, the master of that genre. After Nicholson’s character accepts a position as caretaker of the isolated, creepy Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies, he and his wife learn that their young son is gifted—or, more accurately, cursed—with “the shining.” Rather than a blessing, that psychic ability allows the boy to see into the hotel’s horrific past, and the result has a life-changing impact upon his father.
King got his inspiration for the Overlook from The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, and was said to have been disappointed that the film wasn’t shot there. While much of the action takes place on a specially constructed sound stage, the Ahwahnee Lodge in Yosemite National Park was the inspiration for the interior decor, and the Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood, Oregon, served as a model for the exterior shots.
When You Go
An internet search can turn up overnight accommodations around the country where scenes of motion pictures were filmed. Here are two of a number of the websites:
RD.com/list/hotels-where-your-favorite-movies-were-filmed
MentalFloss.com/article/92782/15-famous-movie-hotels-you-can-visit-real-life
Victor Block is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at Creators.com. Copyright 2022 Creators.com
