Ambassador Hotel (Los Angeles)

Ambassador Hotel
Entrance gate of the Ambassador Hotel in 1959
Ambassador Hotel Location within the Los Angeles metropolitan area Show map of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Ambassador Hotel Ambassador Hotel (California) Show map of California Ambassador Hotel Ambassador Hotel (the United States) Show map of the United States
General information
Location	3400 Wilshire Boulevard Los Angeles, California United States
Coordinates	34°03′35″N 118°17′50″W / 34.05972°N 118.29722°W / 34.05972; -118.29722
Opening	January 1, 1921
Closed	1989
Demolished	2005–2006
Cost	$5 million[1]
Owner	Schine family
Management	Ambassador Hotel Corporation (1921) Schine Family
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Myron Hunt (1921) Paul Williams (1949)
Other information
Number of rooms	1,000

The Ambassador Hotel was a hotel in Los Angeles, California. Designed by architect Myron Hunt, the Ambassador Hotel formally opened to the public on January 1, 1921.^[2] Later renovations by architect Paul Williams were made to the hotel in the late 1940s. It was also home to the Cocoanut Grove nightclub, a premier Los Angeles night spot for decades; host to six Oscar ceremonies and to every United States President from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon.^[3]

Prominent figures such as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Sammy Davis, Nat King Cole, Lena Horne, Barbra Streisand, Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, Yma Sumac, Ray Charles, and The Supremes were some of the many entertainers who attended and performed at the Cocoanut Grove.

The hotel was the site of the assassination of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 5, 1968. Due to the decline of the hotel and the surrounding area, the Ambassador Hotel was closed to guests in 1989. In 2001, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) purchased the property with the intent of constructing three new schools within the area. After subsequent litigations to preserve the hotel as a historic site, a settlement allowed the Ambassador Hotel to be demolished in 2005, completed by early 2006.