Ambassador Hotel

Los Angeles, United States

No longer standing

Demolished or destroyed.

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The Ambassador Hotel was a luxury hotel in Los Angeles designed by architect Myron Hunt and opened on January 1, 1921, exemplifying Mediterranean Revival architecture. The hotel became one of the city's most prominent cultural institutions, housing the celebrated Cocoanut Grove nightclub and hosting six Academy Award ceremonies. It welcomed every U.S. president from Herbert Hoover to Richard Nixon and attracted prominent entertainment figures throughout its operation. The hotel gained tragic historical significance as the site of Senator Robert F. Kennedy's shooting on June 5, 1968. Later renovations by architect Paul Williams were undertaken in the late 1940s. Following decades of decline in its neighborhood, the hotel closed to guests in 1989. The Los Angeles Unified School District purchased the property in 2001 for school development; after legal proceedings over its historic preservation, demolition began in 2005 and was completed in early 2006.