All that glitters …..is not Hollywood

A day at the baseball was good enough but it was made better by a stay at the W Hotel by Marriot on Hollywood boulevard . Or at least it should of . When I pulled old black Betty (2006 Nissan Pathfinder ) into Valet parking we quickly got an idea of the company staying here . A , Rolls Royce ,Lamborghini and an assortment of luxury vehicles waited to be parked . Add to that barely clothed women pushing through the waft of an intoxicating incense of ganja and you got the picture of some Hollywood style rap event might be going down . Leroy was quick to remark that the girl walking past “was nearly naked “ . Like as if I didn’t notice .

As far as hotels go this joint looked pretty plush . The foyer , bar and restrooms were all polished stone , touch sensitive light . The joint had rockstar vibe , oh and that strange incense of sweet ganja seemed to be the hotel signature scent . The elevators , both in the morning and evening and just all the time smelt of …you know that funky smell I’m talking about . It became a running joke . “ Maybe we can take a can of that special spray home with us that these guys use .” The sounds of music ,voices shouting and barely dressed girls alerted us to the pool deck on the top floor . The hotel was hosting back to back pool parties . Ben , myself and the boys stayed in our rooms whilst Megan and Emma went up for a look and yes confirmed that there was plenty on show in the pool area . It would continue into the night . Leroy said he’d heard two girls say it was a lesbian rave event . We laughed it off . Turns out he was right . A night of broken sleep ensued, punctured by screams and shrills and banging and even what seemed like gun shots . The hotel was beautiful, the acoustics horrible . By morning I reckoned I’d squeezed in 4-5 hours of broken sleep . It was only when Emma rolled back the blinds that we saw how humerus the situation was . We had left our window open . We were on the 11th floor . The pool deck was on the 12 th . No wonder it felt like a disco was on top of us . It was .

The Hollywood strip , the walk of fame , the stars . A lot have been here and to those that haven’t … keep your expectations low . Covid has hurt bad . It’s a bit of a ghost town once you move past Graumans Chinese theatre . Hollywood in its physical state really represents the Hollywood dream …..it’s out of reach and not as glamorous as it seems . LA has been hit hard with homeless encampments during the pandemic . The desperate state of the underprivileged has seeped into the tourist panorama . Venice , Santa Monica ,Hollywood …the foreground has inhabitants we don’t want to own up to . It’s probably our worst fear . Hollywood has never been nice in my time here and it’s a lot worse now . Would I recommend tourists see it ? Of course. The reality of Hollywood is that it is grimy , desperate , tacky and quite unremarkable. The stars on the pavement … yeah they hold your attention for just a bit . The hawkers selling their fake CDs are still to be avoided but there’s less of them now . Spider-Man , Freddy Krueger , Batman and co are still on the sidewalk soliciting photos but once again there’s less of them . Day tour busses line the streets but business is lean . Times are tough in Tinseltown . International and interstate tourists are not here . Vagrants , the mentally unstable , the homeless ..they’re here . Maybe they always were but with crowds down their no longer inconspicuous. The smell of urine , weed and last nights liquor linger in the mid morning shadows . Hollywood never looked so ugly . The low self esteem, the lack of pride in this town is totally illuminated in Hollywood. This place badly needs a reinvention .

As an observer and someone that doesn’t mind looking into corners and alleys and off-shoot shops I could still find some value . Gentrification may just be in its infancy in Hollywood. Maybe the hardcore skate , fashion and weed empire is the 1st cog in the wheel that will drag Hollywood out of the self pity pool that it is mired in . At the moment Hollywood is a reality ….it was never meant to be that way . This is where dreams are made of ……..Isn’t it ?