9 Famous Movie Hotels That Actually Exist

We take a look at some of the famous movie hotels that actually exist, and compare them to how they appeared in the film.

1. Dirty Dancing

The fictional Kellerman’s Resort is actually Virginia’s Mountain Lake Hotel. They regularly hold Dirty Dancing Weekends, where you can watch a special showing of the movie in the resort’s ballroom, before going on a movie scene tour – you can even book private or group dance lessons!

Trivia: Unfortunately the famous lake where the lift scene was filmed has since dried up.

2. No Country For Old Men

The motel gunfight scene in No Country for Old Men takes place in real-life Desert Sands Motel, New Mexico (one of the oldest motels in Albuquerque). In the film, they added “El Paso” to the sign to make it fit in with the story.

Trivia: Numerous witnesses claim that the Desert Sands Motel is haunted, with room 109 being the sited as one of the most haunted places in New Mexico.

3. Hot Fuzz

London cop Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) stays at the real Swan Hotel in Wells, Somerset in the comedy film Hot Fuzz. There is a Wells Walking Tour of all the film locations which are open to the public.

Trivia: Many of the cast actually stayed in The Swan Hotel during filming.

4. The Shining

Although almost entirely shot at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, England, the exterior of the fictitious ‘Overlook Hotel’ is actually the Timberline Lodge, Oregon.

However, the interior shots were actually based on the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Park, California.

Trivia: It’s sometimes claimed that the film was made at the Stanley Hotel, Colorado. This is, in fact, the hotel Stephen King visited in 1973, and which inspired the original story.

5. Dumb and Dumber

Speaking of the Stanley Hotel, it was used as a filming location for scenes in 1994 American movie Dumb and Dumber. Known in the film as the “Danbury Hotel”, main characters Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Jeff Daniels) shot the bar scene and staircase shot at this location.

Trivia: It is claimed that Room 217 of The Stanley Hotel is haunted by a “happy Ghost” (a previous chief housekeeper).

6. Home Alone 2

The Plaza Hotel leaves a big impression in Home Alone 2, and is a real hotel in New York.

Trivia: The Plaza Hotel has featured in many movies including Bride Wars, Sleepless in Seattle, Crocodile Dundee and North by Northwest.

7. Skyfall

In the opening scene of Skyfall, Bond (Daniel Craig) is seen swimming in this hotel’s rooftop swimming pool. This hotel is the Four Season Hotel in Canary Wharf, London.

Trivia: The racy shower scene was also filmed here, in room 712.

8. 1408

The ‘Dolphin Hotel’ in film 1408 doesn’t actually exist, but the hotel exteriors you see are those of the Roosevelt Hotel, New York.

Trivia: In it's standard edition, the DVD runtime is exactly 104 min and 8 sec, referring directly to the movie title.

9. Ocean's Eleven

The hotel that features in Oceans Eleven is actually the real and famous Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

Trivia: During the scene where the gang is watching the Bellagio fountains, the lake that the fountains perform in was actually drained on one side and a rail/bar was constructed there so that there would be room for each person to walk away, rather than turn and walk straight into the street.