The Beverly Rodeo Hotel opened in 1962. It was designed by noted mid-century modern architect William Krisel[2] and owned by Seymour Owens & Herb Kronish. Its Cafe Rodeo quickly became one of the most popular and glamorous restaurants in the city.[3] The hotel was part of Hyatt Hotels for a time in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was known as the Beverly Rodeo Hyatt House. In February 1995, Shinko Hotels, a Japanese company, sold the Beverly Rodeo Hotel for $12 million[4] to Summit Management Group,[5] run by Australian-born businessman Efrem Harkham,[6] who renamed it the Summit Hotel Rodeo Drive. Harkham completely remodeled the property in 2000[7] at a cost of $15, renaming it the Luxe Rodeo Drive Hotel,[3] part of Luxe Hotels, a chain of three hotels in Los Angeles County.[8] The 2000 renovation moved the famed Cafe Rodeo from its original location directly on Rodeo Drive to deeper inside the hotel, allowing the original space to be leased as luxury shops.[9]
The hotel had 88 rooms, designed by Vicente Wolf, a Cuban-born interior designer from New York City.[1] The hotel was also home to a restaurant called On Rodeo Bistro & Lounge.[10][11] The chef is David Padilla.[11]
The hotel hosted many philanthropic events, including the annual Apple Ball for the Beverly Hills Education Foundation.[12] The hotel partnered with the Guittard Chocolate Company to create a cake in the shape of the Beverly Hills City Hall for the centennial block party, which took place on April 27, 2014.[13]
On December 1, 2014, Beverly Hills Police Department officers fired gunshots in the hotel lobby at a suspect shortly after a robbery at the Bank of America branch on Beverly Drive.[14][15][16][17] As a result, traffic on Rodeo Drive was shut down for the rest of the day.[18]
The hotel was home to a monthly art exhibit starting in March 2015.[19] The first exhibit featured Karen Lee Fisher, an artist from Beverly Hills.[19]
The hotel closed temporarily in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its permanent closure was announced in September 2020.[20]
The Harkham family sold the hotel in December 2021[21] to luxury goods company LVMH for $200 million.[22] The sale resulted in a 2023 lawsuit filed by Benjamin Harkam against Efrem and his son Aron.[23]
