LA dreams: The Beverly Hills Hotel unveils new design scheme

Steeped in Hollywood history, the pool at The Beverly Hills Hotel has always been home to glamorous starlets, movie icons, and the location for many classic films.

Now, having just completed a restoration of its private cabanas by world renowned interior design firm, Champalimaud Design – the same team that was behind the redesign of the hotel’s sister hotel, The Dorchester – The beloved ‘Pink Palace’ moves gracefully into a new and contemporary era. It now provides a new generation of guests with modern day luxuries in a setting reflective of Hollywood’s golden age. The design studio has sensitively led the masterful redesign of all 11 poolside retreats.

“What distinguishes The Beverly Hills Hotel from all others is its magical history. Through time it has been the destination of movie stars and socialites, kings and queens,” says Alexandra Champalimaud, Founder & President – Champalimaud Design. “Vivacious and brimming with life, there is a particularly strong culture around the swimming pool and cabanas. The cabanas hold prime seats to a mesmerising show of beautiful people wading in clusters, chatting in groups as laughter permeates the air. You sit with your family, surrounded by beauty and laughter, and you watch as the amazing show goes on.”

Image credit: Dorchester Collection

The newly refreshed cabanas convey a welcoming residential feel while paying homage to the hotel’s iconic design elements. Admiring the storied history of the hotel and pool area in particular, each space is imbued with a nostalgic sense of Hollywood glamour. The design team have created a distinct atmosphere that builds up from the details: basket weave on the chairs, terrazzo on the coffee tables, and bright candy pink throughout the space. Establishing an even deeper sense of place, the design studio had sourced beautiful peach pink tables from a local Los Angeles designer, Bend. Adorned in pink and white interior striped awnings, guests in the cabanas find themselves immersed in all the fun and exclusivity that Beverly Hills has to offer.

The most notable design feature in the cabanas is the pink Martinique banana leaf wallpaper made by CW Stockwell. The pink is a new colourway, re-introduced from the company’s archives to complement the original green of the hotel’s interiors. This is the first time the hotel has installed this iconic wallpaper since the original installation in the 1940s. The wallpaper is featured in The Fountain Coffee Room and in all of the hallways of the hotel, 5½ miles to be exact. With its distinctive colours, large bright leaves, and waving banana palms, it remains internally and intrinsically connected to the hotel, and has developed a type of celebrity status amongst designers and guests alike.

Main image credit: Dorchester Collection