The Alexandria Hotel, named after the property owner, Harry Alexander, was the most elegant hotel in Los Angeles before the construction of the Biltmore Hotel in 1923. Some of the most illustrious guests of this hotel located in the heart of LA included President Theodore Roosevelt, King Edward VIII of England, boxer Jack Dempsey, opera star Enrico Caruso, and film stars Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. The site was developed in 1906 by the Bilicke-Rowan Fireproof Building Company, with a cost of almost 2 million dollars, a substantial sum for that time.
Designed by John Parkinson and located at 501 South Spring Street, the hotel features a modest facade of pressed brick and Beaux Arts terracotta, distinguished by large griffin sculptures.
Originally, the majestic entrance lobby had enormous marble columns that reached two stories from the lobby to the gold leaf ceiling.
The lobby was dramatically remodeled in the late 1960s when a mezzanine was added, reducing the lobby’s height by half. The hotel’s gem is the event space now known as the Palm Court, a room with a spectacular stained glass ceiling that has been declared a Cultural Historic Monument of Los Angeles. Bilicke and Rowan sold the hotel in 1919, and after a succession of owners, the hotel went bankrupt and closed in 1932. The Alexandria reopened in 1937 and has had many different owners in the subsequent years.
With the revitalization of DTLA, the hotel was renovated in 1969-70 in a neo-Victorian style, and in 2005, it was converted into a rental apartment building.
The hotel has been the location for countless film shoots. Its ornate public halls, marble stairs, and decadent grandeur have made it a favorite for movies, music videos, TV commercials, and fashion shoots. In David Fincher’s ‘Se7en’ (1995), a classic, it served as the residence of the killer, John Doe, for an extensive chase sequence throughout much of the hotel. Other films shot at Alexandria include ‘A Midnight Romance’ (1919), ‘Dreamgirls’ (2006), ‘Water for Elephants’ (2011), ‘Spider-Man 3’ (2007), and ‘Domino’ (2005).
