The Charlie’s English Cottages Are a Hollywood Hotel

"Arriving at The Charlie in Los Angeles to stay in the Marilyn suite, I found a uniquely Hollywood hideaway: a collection of Tudor cottages encircling an English garden that Charlie Chaplin built in the 1920s as an homage to his native country. The untraditional layout—14 suites across nine cottages named for famous former guests like Betty, Marlene, Clark, Valentino, and Marilyn—won me over, as did the practical touches: every suite has a full kitchen and washer-dryer, many are two stories, most have private patios, and some occupy entire freestanding cottages. My Marilyn suite felt like a two-bedroom Hollywood bungalow restored to Golden Age glamour and tastefully updated; the private patio was perfect for morning coffee and evening cocktails, screened by foliage that included a kumquat and an orange tree, while grapes, apples, and figs grow elsewhere on the quiet, serene grounds with a residential vibe that’s great for short stays and even better for long-term lodgers. Inside, subtle period details—a leaded stained-glass window, a vintage sconce, a winding wood staircase with a wrought-iron railing—framed a first floor with a full kitchen, large living and dining room, and a half bath tucked beneath the stairs; upstairs, a full bath with a two-person shower, a smaller bedroom that suited my young daughter, and a master bedroom set the scene for a night when, despite not believing in ghosts, my mind flirted with the house’s eerie energy before I reminded myself it was just playing tricks." - Mark Fedeli