Old Hollywood chic meets modern luxury

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She goes by many names: the Pink Palace, Los Angeles Landmark, Playground to the Stars, Hollywood Hot Spot. She's a grand and stately lady, all 203 rooms of her, all 21 unique bungalows and 12 lushly landscaped acres of towering palms. She's a party girl, too.

She dates to 1912, when, for a then-whopping $500,000, she opened exactly halfway between Los Angeles and the Pacific Ocean.

She's the Beverly Hills Hotel and Bungalows, at an address so exclusive that for years it was self-described simply as "on Sunset Boulevard."

Today, 100 million makeover dollars later and with a ritzy new spa, she's looking finer than ever: The signature banana-leaf wallpaper is still here; the cozy, countered coffee shop still looks like a movie set; and the Polo Lounge is still populated by stars and music executives working deals over power breakfasts and lunches.

If these walls could talk, they'd tell how:

• In the '40s, Howard Hughes took up residence in the bungalows and lived here off and on for the next 30 years.

m The legendary pool and Cabana Club became the setting for Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall in 1957's "Designing Women."

• Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand stayed in Bungalows 20 and 21 while filming "Let's Make Love."

• Elizabeth Taylor spent five of her honeymoons at the bungalows.

• Charlie Chaplin checked in when he returned to Hollywood in 1972, after a prolonged absence, to accept a special Oscar.