Hotels in Films..

Hotels aren't just establishments that cater to the lodging needs of all sorts of people from every background and every profession. They aren't just buildings nestled in the heart of sprawling cities, inviting weary travelers to take a moment's rest within its luxurious halls and rooms. Hotels, in some cases, are also stars-as they appear in many different movies, playing central or supporting roles that help unravel the film's story.

Ang Lee, the award-winning Taiwanese-American director known for such lauded films as Brokeback Mountain and Lust, Caution, directed his first Taiwan-made film with a hotel playing a prominent role in the background of the story. The Grand Hotel in Taipei acts as an important setting in Eat Drink Man Woman, which was released in 1994. The story revolves around a cook in the hotel, which interestingly actually has 6 restaurants. Aside from the relationships stemming from each of the cook's 3 daughters, the story also showcases Chinese gourmet cuisine and the processes and artistry of making Chinese food within the hotel's restaurants.

The 1969 British film The Italian Job, which was remade in 2003, featured the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London as the setting for one of its most memorable scenes. The hotel's breathtaking views were witness to that "Hiya, Charlie" scene where Charlie Croker, played by actor Michael Caine, meets the widow of his fellow thief and she contracts him into doing the titular heist.

Hotels aren't always depicted as places of light, as can be evidenced in the 1996 British film Trainspotting, considered among the country's top films of all time. We see the group of heroin addicts make a drug deal in the Royal Eagle Hotel, found in the Bayswater area of London.

As far as hotels go, perhaps one of the most recognizable is the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, found in the lofty neighborhood of Beverly Hills, California. The hotel was among the filming locations for Pretty Woman, a dark-drama-turned-romantic-comedy released in 1990. In the film, Julia Roberts stunned the Beverly Wilshire crowd with her lycra outfit. It was also in one of the hotel's rooms that Roberts lounged with Richard Gere-in the bathtub.

The list goes on-Oregon's Timberland Lodge was the place where Jack Nicholson stayed in The Shining, Japan's Park Hyatt Hotel featured quite prominently in Lost in Translation starring Bill Murray and beautiful Scarlett Johansson, and who can forget the Vertigo Hotel, which was still called Empire Hotel before the Alfred Hitchcock film Vertigo spurred the name change.

Hotels are indeed witnesses to many memorable scenes in many movies that people hold dear. Whether they act as the backdrop for the events that unfold, or serve to highlight the mood and atmosphere of a particular theme or scene in the movie, hotels have proven that they are vital elements to many films. Additionally, these hotels that happen to star in movies also become icons and can use their film credentials in promoting the hotel and getting people to go inside its doors.