Los Angeles Hotel: The Ambassador Hotel was a landmark hotel in Los Angeles, California and location of the Cocoanut Grove. It was the place where presidential candidate, United States Senator and former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy was shot on the morning of June 5, 1968.
The hotel was a frequent site of movie, music video and television filming, having served as a location for such films as That Thing You Do!, The Graduate, Hoffa, Beaches, True Romance, Scream 2, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Catch Me If You Can, Crazy, The Mask, Without You I'm Nothing, Crazy in Alabama, S.W.A.T., The Best Man, Angel (TV series), and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Emilio Estevez's movie Bobby managed to film there in late 2005, even as the adjoining wing was being demolished. The Ambassador Hotel's Cocoanut Grove also played host to rock legend Roy Orbison and several rock performers in the 1987 TV special Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night. The Cocoanut Grove was recreated in the 2004 film The Aviator, but was not filmed on the hotel property. Several scenes from Disney's made-for-TV movie Tower of Terror were also filmed at the hotel.
The Cocoanut Grove nightclub has been renovated a number of times before, destroying much of its architectural integrity, and it was promised that it would undergo yet another major transformation before emerging as the auditorium for the new school. Also promised was preservation of the attached ground floor coffee shop, designed by noted architect, Paul Williams.
Due to recent discoveries of the structural integrity, however, the LAUSD is now planning to demolish most of the Grove, although the hotel entrance, coffee shop, and east wall of the Grove will be retained.