An in-house photo studio is a bright idea for West Hollywood’s Sunset Marquis

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

As anyone who has seen the framed photos lining the walls of the Sunset Marquis’ lobby, bar and breezeway, the West Hollywood hotel has a long history as a location for fashion and music photo shoots, with famed photographers like David LaChapelle, Patrick Demarchelier, Bob Gruen, Ellen von Unwerth and Jim Marshall among those who have used it as a backdrop. (In fact, the shot used on the cover of Todd Oldham’s recently published biography of Joan Jett was shot in one of the rooms).

The hotel has decided to capitalize on that and has turned one of the property’s 10 original villas into an on-site, turn-key photography studio, which just opened its doors.

Part of a recent $25-million renovation of the property, which lurks just below Sunset Boulevard on Alta Loma Road, the photo studio includes 500 square feet of shooting space with 14-foot ceilings, a make-up room and a dressing room.

And it’s even better if you think your models might give you a Linda Evangelista-level diva act -- she’s the supermodel who famously quipped she wouldn’t wake up for less than $10,000 -- since the room includes a custom-made, over-size day bed.

It’ll run you $700 a day (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), but the prospect of being able to chauffeur celebrity talent from one room at the hotel to another -- instead of through the crap shoot of Los Angeles traffic seems well worth it.
-- Adam Tschorn