The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont

Chateau Marmont has a long history in Hollywood. Its original design as stand-alone apartments that were converted to a hotel and bungalows provided the ideal location for extended stays, and many celebrities came to value its privacy and low-key ambience. Former film critic Levy (Rat Pack Confidential) tells the history of the hotel in six significant parts, following it throughout the decades as it passed through the hands of both adoring and indifferent owners. Throughout Chateau Marmont's evolution, Sunset Boulevard below also underwent many changes, from a small strip in the 1920s surrounded by undeveloped hills to its current incarnation as a tourist destination. Levy shows how these changes in culture and clientele created a lasting impact and effectively describes the various imprints people left on the hotel, as movies were filmed and song were written there, and people chose to spend the last moments of their lives on the property.