They may not be as hot as J. Lo or as cool as James Bond, but your top sales reps are still worthy of some serious star treatment. Here’s an idea: Make them feel like an Oscar winner by planning an incentive trip or sales meeting at one of these 10 top hotels and resorts, which have all played a starring role in popular movies. Read on to learn how you can stay where Jack Lemmon walked as a woman, where Julia Roberts turned tricks, and where Jennifer Lopez wielded her feather duster.
Pretty Woman (1990) Beverly Wilshire – Los Angeles
Guests still ask to book the Beverly Wilshire’s swanky presidential suite, featured in the blockbuster romantic comedy about a business tycoon (Richard Gere) and a hooker with a heart of gold (Julia Roberts). Most shots of the hotel were of the façade (and no movie scenes were actually filmed in the presidential suite), but the elevators are equipped with seats, just as they were in the film.
Make an Entrance: LAX is a 35-minute drive by private shuttle or airport taxi and limo services. The airport services Los Angeles with nonstops and connections to most U.S. cities.
Stay: In the heart of Beverly Hills, just steps away from Rodeo Drive, this newly-renovated historic hotel offers 395 rooms, including 137 suites. Some rooms open onto balconies showcasing the city skyline and Hollywood Hills. Two high-tech ballrooms (which seat up to 880 and 330 guests respectively) plus six more intimate function rooms provide a total square footage of over 32,500.
Eat: Guests won’t need to leave the hotel for dinner, as the famous CUT restaurant is on-site. Wolfgang Puck’s celebrated cuisine includes classic steaks, along with entrees such as double-thick Kurobuta pork chops, Kobe beef short-ribs, and pan-roasted Maine lobster. Prices range from $31-$160. Although there is no private dining room, the restaurant can be rented out for special events
Play: Take incentive tours on a walking tour along the three-blocks-long Rodeo Drive, beginning at Wilshire Boulevard on the south and running north to Santa Monica Boulevard. They’re likely to bump elbows with the rich and famous in this, the most popular shopping district in America. They can window-shop in the boutiques of the most celebrated clothing designers, such as Armani, Gucci, Chanel and Christian Dior, and dream about the jewelry at Cartier and Tiffany. Head onto Santa Monica Blvd. and look for the woman’s clothing store named Boulmiche Boutique; that’s where everyone’s favorite “pretty woman” was snubbed in the film.
Some Like It Hot (1959) Hotel Del Coronado –
San Diego, CA
The Hotel Del Coronado’s Victorian architecture provided a perfect backdrop for Some Like It Hot, the famous American comedy set during the Prohibition era. Stars Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis portray out-of-work musicians who join an all-girls band while trying to escape the mob. There they meet a ukulele-strumming singer (Marilyn Monroe). The exterior scenes were filmed at the Del, and the two front entrances and the rickety rockers on the hotel’s porch were the real thing. During her stay, Monroe favored the hotel’s pool, plus the chef’s cold soufflé vanilla pudding with egg-white decoration.
Make an Entrance: The Del Coronado is a 15-minute drive from San Diego International Airport with connections and nonstops from most cities via most major and secondary airlines. First-class transportation services are provided by Presidential Limousine, and airport shuttles are handled by Del Express at (888) 726-4504.
Stay: The hotel offers 679 recently remodeled rooms in three distinct areas: the Victorian Building (a National Historic Landmark), the Ocean Towers & California Cabanas, and the Beach Village, which has added 78 new cottages and villas. The Del just completed a $2 million renovation of all of its interior meeting space, including the spectacular ballroom overlooking much of the 28 oceanfront acres. The resort provides 65,000 square feet of event space.
Eat: Try the Del’s signature restaurant, 1500 Ocean. The menu, ranging from $17-$40 per entree, includes such items as seared diver scallops with baby vegetables, duck comfit, and grilled angus filet mignon with braised Romano beans and marble potatoes. Private dining is available in two dining rooms: The Wine Room accommodates up to 20 and offers retractable cabana flaps for additional privacy; The Ocean View Room, which can seat 30, features French doors that open into an expansive outdoor terrace. For groups of 12 or more, a four-course sample tasting menu is offered for $85 per person without wine, or $125 with wine.
Play: Work with the hotels meetings team to plan one of the many theme parties offered, such as a Coronado Beach Party, Fiesta Fantastica, Victorian Elegance, or Hollywood South, where famous look-alikes will mingle among guests.
Maid in Manhattan (2002) The Roosevelt Hotel – New York City
In Maid in Manhattan, Marisa Ventura (Jennifer Lopez) is a struggling single mother working as a hotel housekeeper. One day, hotel guest and senatorial candidate Christopher Marshall (Ralph Fiennes) meets Marisa and mistakes her for a wealthy socialite, and, of course, they fall in love. The Roosevelt Hotel is shown at the end of the film, when Marshall is making a speech to Ventura after discovering that she works there. When visiting the hotel, guests are often excited to learn that it has a long history with the movie industry.
Make an Entrance: Most airlines fly into all three airports: LaGuardia, which is 8 1/2 miles from the hotel; JFK International, 16 miles; and Newark Liberty International, 18 miles.
Stay: The historic mid-town hotel, named after President Theodore Roosevelt, was built in 1924, completed a $65 million renovation in 1997, and renovated 1,015 rooms (including 52 suites) in 2003. For meetings, the hotel offers 30,000 square feet of flexible space, including two ballrooms and 17 additional rooms ranging in size from 300-1,100 square feet.
Eat: Guests can enjoy the ambience at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse, located only a short walk away in New York’s landmark Helmsley Building. Bobby Van’s was named Gourmet magazine’s Favorite Steakhouse in Manhattan, and guests can sink their teeth into the famous beef starting at $47. The restaurant offers two seatings for private groups up to 25 people.
Play: The Roosevelt’s activities vary by season, but its greatest offering is its location, minutes away from Times Square and the Broadway theatre district, Fifth Avenue shopping and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.
Somewhere in Time (1979) Grand Hotel – Mackinac Island, MI
Somewhere in Time, a romantic film starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, was filmed around the dining room and grounds of Grand Hotel…among real guests, at the height of the season, with the hotel fully booked. Guests will enjoy using the same great lawn and pool where 70 cast members had an on-screen picnic, after which many ended up in the pool (fully clothed), including Reeve and Seymour.
Make an Entrance: Mackinac Island is served by the Pellston, Michigan airport via Northwest Air link in Detroit. Taxi services for the 12-mile trip from Pellston to the hotel are offered by Mackinaw Shuttle and Wolverine States. Ferry service is available from other Michigan cities. Once at the island, which has no cars, horse and carriage and bicycles are the favored modes of transportation.
Stay: Grand Hotel has 385 rooms, and no two are identical. The two-story Woodfill Conference Center includes a theatre with stage and projection booth, and features banquet facilities for up to 500. It is complemented by the spacious Brighton Pavilion and convenient breakout rooms for a total of more than 20,000 square feet of meeting space.
Eat: Breakfast and dinner are included in the hotel’s room rate and are served in the Main Dining Room. To complement the meal, the hotel provides a well-stocked cellar of domestic and imported wines. Groups can select a banquet or private dining room in lieu of service in the Main Dining Room. There is no additional charge for most menus, but special entrées carry a surcharge. Cookouts can be scheduled in the Grand Hotel Tea Garden and after-hours at the Fort Mackinac Tea Room.
Play: If possible, schedule a meeting during their annual “Somewhere in Time Weekend,” when a tour and movie scene re-enactment take place. If you’re not lucky enough to catch that weekend, guests can usually find 22 themed packages focusing on arts, antiques, wine and ballroom dance.
Never Say Never Again (1983) British Colonial Hilton – Nassau, Bahamas
Never Say Never Again was a remake of Thunderball (1965), both starring Sean Connery as James Bond. Guests at the Hilton can reserve the “Double-O” suite, order a martini shaken, not stirred, and settle into a room filled with Bond memorabilia, books and movies.
Make an Entrance: Nassau’s Lynden Pindling International airport is a 25-minute, $25 taxi ride from the Hilton with flights from major southern and east coast cities via most major airlines, plus Caribbean connections with Bahamas Air.
Stay: The hotel offers 288 luxuriously appointed guest rooms with ocean or island views. One-bedroom suites include a separate living area with sofa bed, and the two junior suites and the Prime Minister Suite are equipped with Jacuzzi tubs and a private rooftop terrace overlooking the harbor. This site provides 10,000 square feet of flexible meeting space for up to 400 people and a modern business center.
Eat: Anthony’s Grill on Paradise Island is considered among the best restaurants in the area. It serves authentic Caribbean food, including lobster, spicy jerk chicken, and ribs with coconut-mango sauce. Prices are approximately $12 for a main course, dress is casual, and groups are accommodated.
Play: The 300-foot long private white sand beach, furnished with lounge chairs and thatched sunshades overlooking the harbor, offers a tranquil setting for an ocean swim or day in the sun. Kayaks and snorkeling gear are complimentary. Look into a trip offering, such as snorkeling at Stuart Cove, boating, and island exploring. Within 20 minutes of the hotel, guests can find golf, tennis, scuba diving, casinos and nightlife.
Cinderella Man (2005) The Fairmont Royal York – Toronto, Canada
Cinderella Man, an uplifting depression-era story about the ups and downs of boxer James Braddock, stars Russell Crowe, Renee Zellweger and Paul Giamatti. Many outdoor scenes for the movie were filmed in front of The Fairmont, and in order to recreate the 1930s setting, the hotel awnings (along with street lights and signs) were removed. Countless films have been shot at The Fairmont – so many that the hotel employs a film concierge to handle contracts, fulfill crew requests, and oversee the filming while the crew is on property.
Make an Entrance: It’s a 21-minute drive from Lester B. Pearson International Airport to the Fairmont via airport taxis or limos. Pearson connects with most U.S. cities via major and subsidiary carriers.
Stay: The Fairmont has 1,365 guest rooms equipped with high-speed internet access and in-room movies. The hotel is ideal for holding business meetings, multimedia conferences, product launches and conventions, as it can host events for up to 1,670 attendees. There are 32 versatile meeting and function rooms as well as four hospitality suites and a VIP Boardroom for a grand total of about 70,000 square feet.
Eat: 360 Restaurant at the CN Tower is one of Toronto’s finest, combining great food with a revolving view of the city. It offers market-fresh cuisine featuring regional ingredients, and can seat a group of up to 12 people (open concept). Required main courses start at $35 for lunch or dinner, and go up to $50 for lunch and $115 for dinner. The CN Tower, the tallest completed freestanding land structure in the world, is a 15-minute walk from the hotel.
Play: The Fairmont offers a “Shop With Chef Tour,” where groups will spend Saturday morning with its chef, exploring local produce at the St. Lawrence Market and learning the history of this local landmark. That can be followed by a one-hour walking tour with local historian Bruce Bell. Whether on the tour or walking alone, discover such sites as Greektown (where several scenes from My Big Fat Greek Wedding were filmed); Yorkville, the former hippie hangout of some of Canada’s finest musicians; and nearby Chinatown.
How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998) Round Hill – Montego Bay, Jamaica
When Angela Bassett stripped down to a bikini in How Stella Got Her Groove Back, more than 100 crew members were watching. Guests at the resort were leaning out of their windows, holding glasses of free champagne given by the resort as an apology for being “forced” to witness the event. Even though today’s guests aren’t likely to run into the movie star, they can dive into the same pool she enjoyed.
Make an Entrance: Round Hill is a 24-minute drive from Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport with nonstops and connections via six U.S. carriers and Air Jamaica. Transportation to the hotel is by private shuttle service or airport taxis and limos.
Stay: Round Hill dominates a tranquil 110-acre peninsula just outside Montego Bay, with flower-filled gardens and a reef-encased beach. It has 36 ocean view rooms and 74 suites, in two- to five-bedroom villas, most with private pool. The resort is the right size for board meetings, corporate get-togethers, retreats, sales conferences and international fashion shoot groups. Round Hill can host from two to 120 people, and offers three event venues of about 5,000 square feet, plus the Seaside Terrace and the beach.
Eat: Guests can enjoy breakfast cooked to order and served in bed or overlooking the sea. Lunches are a casual affair, with a la carte items served on the terrace or barbeque items served on the beach. Dinner is offered with a view of the sea in the Georgian Dining Room or on the seaside terrace overlooking Round Hill Bay. International cuisine is highlighted by the many Jamaican specialties. Entrées start around $45. The Georgian room can accommodate up to 200 people.
Play: Guests can laze away on the hotel’s private beach, indulge in a massage, or enjoy the tennis courts, fitness center, jogging and walking paths, and Wellness Center. The private beach offers a water sports center, PADI scuba diving, and boats for charter. Theme parties include the Beach Party on Mondays, Caribbean Curry buffet on Wednesdays and Jamaica Night on Fridays. Nightly entertainment includes jazz, reggae and Calypso bands and a floor show.
Ocean’s 11 (2001) Bellagio -
Las Vegas
In Ocean’s 11, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his crew (Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle and Carl Reiner) plot to rob the underground vault at the Bellagio. There’s not really a vault, but guests can see the Picasso restaurant where Ocean and his ex-wife Tess (Julia Roberts) exchange words. During filming, fans scurried to view Roberts wherever she showed up in many areas of the hotel.
Make an Entrance: Located on the strip about three miles from Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport, Bellagio is serviced by 35 domestic and international airlines. Transportation to the hotel can be by rented cars, shuttles, limo service and taxis.
Stay: Bellagio offers opulence, musical fountains overlooking an eight-acre lake and 3,933 rooms and suites. The meeting venues include a grand ballroom of 45,000 square feet, the grand outdoor patio of 6,082, plus additional flexible-space ballrooms and meeting rooms totaling more than 72,500 square feet.
Eat: The hotel’s famed French restaurant, Le Cirque, features menu items such as paupiette of sea bass with crispy potatoes and braised leeks, organic roasted chicken with summer black truffle, and beef tenderloin with sautéed foie gras. A three-course meal can be had for $98; it is also offered to private groups in the sister restaurant (Circo), which has two rooms that accommodate 50 and 30 guests.
Play: Take incentive winners to “O” Cirque du Soleil, where an international cast of acrobats, synchronized swimmers, divers, and characters perform in, on, and above water. The unique show performs twice nightly, Wednesdays through Sundays, and tickets range from $93.50-$150. Group rates are available. Gourmets should be sure to visit the first exhibition kitchen of its kind in Vegas, the Tuscany Kitchen, which affords an ideal setting for small groups to learn culinary secrets from the Bellagio’s award-winning chefs.
The Shining (TV miniseries, 1997) The Stanley Hotel – Estes Park, Colorado
This hotel inspired Stephen King’s novel The Shining, which tells the story of a fragmented family attempting to put their lives back together by caretaking a remote mountain hotel in the off-season. The Stanley Hotel is said to be haunted by ghosts (many on the fourth floor), but King chose to place them in his guestroom, number 217, where he did most of his writing. While the 1976 movie The Shining was filmed at Timberline Lodge in Mt. Hood, Oregon, The Stanley was the site of filming for the 1997 miniseries starring Steven Weber and Rebecca De Mornay.
Make an Entrance: The hotel is 72 miles from Denver’s Stapleton International Airport, which is served by most airline carriers. Estes Park Shuttle offers a two-hour trip from airport to the hotel, and limo services are also available.
Stay: The Stanley Hotel sits 7,500 feet above sea level in a spectacular mountain-view location, six miles from Rocky Mountain National Park, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The hotel has 138 rooms that have undergone multi-million dollar renovations, plus over 16,000 square feet of unique meeting and event space equipped with modern day amenities.
Eat: Enjoy relaxed and luxurious dining at the hotel’s Cascade Restaurant, which features both continental and regional Colorado fare. Try the rosemary elk tenderloin or go for the Pacific salmon, with prices ranging from $18-$32 per entre. Private group dining is offered in one of the banquet rooms, such as the music room, which will accommodate up to 70.
Play: Guests will want to join resident historian Billy Ward and his team to experience the 1900s history – see room 217 where The Shining began; visit The Stanley’s most haunted rooms and places, and tour the underground tunnel. And be sure to take a day-trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, where guests can view the brief sunrise alpenglow on a peak, explore the Park and glimpse wary wild creatures in the brush throughout the day, and finish with the grandeur of a mountain sunset.
Plaza Suite (1971) The Plaza –
New York City
The film version of the Neil Simon play is made up of three separate acts, all set in the same hotel suite in The Plaza. Walter Matthau portrays a triple role, first as a man whose wife (Maureen Stapleton) wants to mend their failing marriage; secondly as a film producer who wants his former flame (Barbara Harris) to see him for what he is; and in the third, he and his wife (Lee Grant) attempt to coax their daughter out of the bathroom before her wedding. Several other films have been set at the historic hotel, including The Way We Were, The Great Gatsby, Crocodile Dundee and Scent of a Woman.
Make an Entrance: The Plaza’s Central Park location is readily accessible from JFK, Newark and Liberty airports with connections and nonstops from all U.S. cities via most major airlines. Choose city subway service from JFK, city train service from Newark, or airport taxi or limo services from all three airports.
Stay: The Plaza has just completed a $400 million transformation to reflect a new and contemporary spirit. The hotel offers 282 rooms, including 102 suites. The Grand Ballroom provides 21,000 square feet of meeting space, and seven meeting rooms (all equipped with conferencing equipment) each accommodate 10-150 people; the seven rooms can be opened to create one large area for 450 guests.
Eat: Take attendees on a quick cab or bus ride to the nearby Montparnasse restaurant, café and bar. The awning at the entry, the wooden floors, the double table cloths and ceiling fans transport guests to 1930s Paris. The authentic French cuisine is priced from $40-$60, and the entire restaurant can be rented out for groups of up to 140 guests.
Play: In addition to taking advantage of all that Manhattan has to offer, attendees can indulge in a famous Plaza tradition—Palm Court Afternoon Tea. The Plaza blends an innovative menu with a formal tea service, incorporating Russian, French and English styles. Guests can choose between menus with a charge of $60 or $100; both include an assortment of sandwiches, breads, pastries and berries, accompanied by premium teas, all served in fine Bernardaud Limogue china.
Denis Jensen is a Pennsylvania-based freelance writer.