The VIP Hollywood penthouse where guests do yoga on the helipad

In a big city like Los Angeles, it can be hard for Hollywood celebrities to find a bit of privacy, but there’s a hotel with a 20th storey bolthole that offers just that.

You won't find the penthouse of the Loews Hollywood Hotel on any booking site, but in the right circles it is known as a place to escape on Oscars night.

Paparazzi and punters alike got a glimpse inside when posted a video to TikTok ahead of the ceremony titled “the rehearsal nobody saw”.

She played her song Hold My Hand, from the Top Gun: Maverick soundtrack, on the room’s grand piano. It got 5.5 million plays, but it wasn’t the first time that an A-lister has featured the room.

Back in 2009, singer Britney Spears filmed part of the video clip for the song Everytime in the penthouse.

In the video, she and her partner trash the room a little before she is depicted in the luxurious sized bathtub as she .

This reporter got to walk around the penthouse while it was unoccupied and the 336-square-metre room is more expansive than most residential apartments.

There’s a lounge, dining area and bar in the main room. The bedroom is separate and has a walk-in wardrobe, and a bathroom with a walk-in shower in addition to the famous bathtub.

In the middle of the room there’s a staircase that leads straight to a helipad so guests can arrive without ever having needed to visit the lobby.

That helipad has sparked a bit of controversy, and not because of aircraft noise complaints. Our guide tells us that for a time the hotel allowed guests to have private yoga sessions with an instructor on the pad.

However, security and health and safety staff put a stop to that. Something about guests doing the downward dog in a landing zone may not have fit protocol.

The Studio King Suite I stayed in was also massive by Kiwi traveller standards at 57sqm. It had a generous work desk, a three-piece lounge suite, and a separate powder room and bathroom.

On my four-night stay, I noticed while sitting in the lobby bar that the hotel is popular with concert-goers visiting the nearby Hollywood Bowl. One evening, a throng of Kiss fans came through wearing makeup, platform shoes, spiky shoulders and the like.

I’m told that on Oscars night, after a winner accepts their award statue on stage, they are escorted outside the Dolby Theatre, which adjoins Loews, through a passage referred to as the ‘Winner’s Walk’, and have their photo taken.

Vanity Fair did a this year as she got ready ahead of the Oscars at the hotel.

Loews also has VIPs covered on the food front, having partnered catering, chef to the stars. It’s understood that Lady Gaga’s dog also made the most of the catering.

Loews is , and has a chef that cooks meals including salmon for cats and chicken for dogs, served in a branded bowl.

Rooms at Loews Hollywood Hotel from NZ$436. See:

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