Ambassador Hotel History
Prime celebrity hotel and night spot
The Ambassador Hotel was designed by architect Marion Hunt, opened to the public on January 1, 1921. It was styled in Mediterranean, tile floors, Italian stone fireplaces and semi-tropical courtyard the Ambassador enchanted guests for over six decades.
By the late 1940s renovations were made by architect Paul Williams, and was also the home to the Cocoanut Grove nightclub. It was a premier night spot for decades, it hosted six Oscar ceremonies, catered to every United States President from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon. Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis, Nat King Cole, Barbra Streisand, Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, and The Supremes were just a few of the celebrities who either attended and entertained at the Coconut Grove.
The hotel was the site of the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968. The Ambassador Hotel closed to guests in 1987, after the surrounding area was declining along with the hotel.
In 2001, the Los Angeles Unified School District )LAUSD) purchased the property with the intent of constructing three new schools. After subsequent litigations to preserve the hotel as a historic site a settlement allowed the Ambassador Hotel to be demolished in 2005.