8 Best Movies About Hotels That You Should Watching Update 04/2024

Beverly Wilshire

Many aspects of a film’s production must be top-notch if it is to become an enduring classic. It’s not just the cast and script that matter; the setting can be just as crucial. It’s not uncommon for a film’s set to become a character in and of itself, and this is especially true for movies that take place in a hotel. When it comes to defining a film’s plot and attracting attention for decades after its release, these properties can be either fictional or real. Listed here are a few of the most well-known movie hotels ever made.

1. The Plaza Hotel

The Plaza Hotel

In 1969, the Plaza was designated a historic site.

Even by itself, the Plaza Hotel is a cultural landmark. Since its appearance in the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, the French château-style building in Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue and Central Park South neighborhood has been a regular stop for celebrities and dignitaries alike. In the film, Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McCallister connives his way into a room at the posh hotel, causing havoc along the way. First appearing in North by Northwest (1942), the property has since been used in such films as The Great Gatsby (1939), American Hustle (1943), and, of course, Eloise at the Plaza (1943).

2. Park Hyatt Tokyo

There are breathtaking views from Park Hyatt Tokyo.

Beyond being a Kenzo Tange architectural masterpiece, this opulent five-star hotel is an experience in and of itself. In addition, Sofia Coppola’s 2003 film, Lost in Translation, was filmed there. At the hotel’s New York Bar, pool, and contemporary rooms, Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray form an interesting friendship. The film’s humorous drama is further bolstered by various scenes shot from above.

3. The Overlook Hotel

The Overlook Hotel

The Shining, based on Stephen King’s novel, was directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Even if the Overlook Hotel was genuine, you probably wouldn’t want to stay there because of Jack Nicholson’s homicidal performance as Jack Torrance in The Shining. The creepy exterior shots of the Timberline Lodge in Oregon were filmed at a soundstage near London for the 1980 horror picture. There are themed dinner-and-movie screenings at this hotel that include props like Torrance’s typewriter and ax.

4. Caesar’s Palace

It was in Caesar’s Palace where much of The Hangover’s hilarious drama took place.

Caesar’s Palace, which is on the famed Las Vegas Strip, doesn’t need a movie to make it famous. The Hangover, starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis, was shot in this very location in 2009, and it played a major role in the film’s success. While filming at the ancient Roman–themed complex, “The Wolfpack” had a number of difficulties. The film was actually shot at the front desk, lobby, entry driveway and pools and elevators. At one point during filming, the actors and crew even made use of the movie’s climactic scene, in which the characters eventually locate their missing friend Doug. And it’s not just The Hangover: Rain Man, Iron Man, The Big Short, and Dreamgirls were all filmed in the hotel and casino as well.

5. Grand Budapest Hotel

Grand Budapest Hotel

In The Grand Budapest Hotel, Ralph Fiennes portrays Monsieur Gustave H., the hotel’s famed receptionist.

In movies where the name of the hotel or motel is included in the title, you can be sure it will have an impact. No such hotel existed when director Wes Anderson shot his 2014 comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel, but the film’s cinematography and set design have since won awards and praise. The film was shot in Görlitz, Germany, although the decor of the hotel was based on a department shop. The Bristol Hotel in Prague and the Gellert Hotel in Budapest, Hungary, are thought to have been the inspiration for the Grand Budapest Hotel.

6. Seminole Ritz Hotel

Some Like It Hot was filmed in San Diego’s Hotel Del Coronado.

An all-female band playing at the Seminole Ritz Hotel in Miami is the setting for Marylin Monroe’s 1958 film Some Like It Hot, in which she plays a perky blonde. The historic Hotel del Coronado in San Diego served as the backdrop for the filming, despite the fact that it was a fake establishment. A cold vanilla soufflé with meringue on top was supposedly Monroe’s favorite dessert while she was there.

7. Beverly Wilshire

Beverly Wilshire

This hotel was shown in Pretty Woman, but existed long before the film’s release.

The Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, which was featured prominently in the romantic comedy Pretty Woman in 1990, is now a Four Seasons property. Richard Gere and Julia Roberts’ love story was filmed there, as was some of the exterior filming for the Beaux-Arts-style structure. Despite the fact that the interior scenes were shot on a studio, the sets were based on the hotel’s current design. A “Pretty Woman for a Day” package is now available at the hotel, where guests may shop on Rodeo Drive with a stylist, have lunch with a personal chef, and more.

8. Bates Motel

Visitors to Universal Studios in Hollywood can still stay at the hotel that featured in the popular Universal Studios movie.

It’s a relief to know that the hotel from Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror thriller Psycho is just imaginary. There is a safe place for fans to go to the hotel set and the frightening Bates family home where a dark figure enters the room with a knife during one of the most iconic murder scenes in history. This can be found at Universal Studios Hollywood in Hollywood, California.