The pink palace revisited

Once upon a time there was a land where fairy tales and bedtime stories were big business. It was a land inhabited by kings and queens, princes and princesses, and agents taking fifteen percent. The land was called Hollywood.

Although Hollywood was where these fabled people worked, it wasn't where they played. Instead they all went to a beautiful pink palace on acres and acres of lush land. Here they were pampered and coddled with extravagant suites and bungalows, a swimming pool always heated to between 70 and 72 degrees, tennis courts equipped with champion pros, and perfectly mixed large drinks.

This heavenly place for casual conversation, lurid lovemaking, and million-dollar wheeling and dealing was called the Beverly Hills Hotel. In an up-to-the-minute look at what has happened to the Beverly Hills Hotel in recent times, Sandra Lee Stuart and John Prince give you an insider's peek behind the scenes of one of the most famous hotels in the world.

Virtually every star and wannabe has scooped avocado dip in the legendary Polo Lounge. Paramount Pictures was sold over drinks to Gulf & Western at its tables. Clark Gable was talked into acting in The Misfits by Arthur Miller over a tropical cocktail. The hotel's owners have included actresses Irene Dunne and Loretta Young, as well as Hernando Courtright, Ivan Boesky, and Marvin Davis. Today this Taj Mahal of hotels is the toy of the Sultan of Brunei who has closed it to completely refurbish it.

The Pink Palace Revisited is a romp-of-a-read about the happenings that made the Beverly Hills Hotel one of the spots to be seen or, as the circumstances may dictate, not to be seen.