Movie stars, moguls, and more: Famous hotel residents and what it would cost to live like one

This Queen Anne-style landmark that first opened as an apartment cooperative in 1883 is haunted by some of the last century's greatest artists, musicians, thinkers, and writers. Legendary residents include Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Dylan Thomas, Stanley Kubrick, Jimi Hendrix, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, Patti Smith, Arthur Miller, and countless others. Featured in more than 30 songs (like Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel" and Nico's "Chelsea Girls"), and the subject of numerous books and a documentary, the Chelsea Hotel holds particular appeal for historians, art lovers, locals, and travelers wishing to get closer to the ghosts of greatness.

Built in 1902, the Washington Square Hotel used to be the Hotel Earle, a rundown residential hotel in Greenwich Village offering cheap shelter for famous writers and musicians during their struggling years. Long-term guests have included Bo Diddley (who loved room 107), Bob Dylan (who lived in room 305), and Dylan Thomas. Rates were around $3 to $5 a night in the 1960s (or $22 to $37 in today's dollars) and $10 to $15 in the 1970s ($56 to $84 in today's dollars); that's when the bohemian Village was home to beatnik coffee houses, not today's luxury residences. Today, the low-key, B&B-style property attracts NYU parents and tourists.

Perched on a hill overlooking L.A.'s Sunset Boulevard, the Chateau Marmont has been a bastion of Old Hollywood -- and a way of life for many a celebrity -- since it opened in 1929. Roman Polanski lived here after directing Rosemary's Baby in 1968 -- the year before his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate, was murdered. In 1982, John Belushi moved into a Bungalow 3, where he later overdosed on heroin. Other permanent residents have included Greta Garbo, Robert De Niro, Keanu Reeves, Josh Hartnett and Johnny Depp.

Quiet, luxurious, and steeped in Hollywood history, the Fairmont Miramar is one of Santa Monica's best hotels. Thanks to its secluded bungalows and head-high hedges that shield it from the street, it has long been a coastal retreat for Los Angeles' entertainment-industry heavyweights. Blonde bombshell Jean Harlowe rented one of the bungalows in the early 1930s, actress Jean Simmons lived in a bungalow for seven months, and Faye Dunaway kept a permanent suite here in the 1970's.

Although this small, elegant New York City hotel is better known for its literary pedigree -- this is the home of the infamous Round Table -- it has a colorful Hollywood history as well. Douglas Fairbanks lived in the hotel from 1907 to 1915, and other movie-industry residents included Audrey Hepburn, Billy Wilder, and Sir Laurence Olivier.

Built in midtown Manhattan 1926, and named for one of the finest French restaurants of the era, the Elysee became a long-term residence for movie stars, authors, and musicians. Marlon Brando had a suite, now named "Sayonara" after his role in Teahouse of the August Moon. In 1983, writer Tennessee Williams died in the Sunset suite, having written much of his late material while living in the hotel. World-renowned pianist Vladimir Horowitz moved a Steinway baby grand piano into the hotel when he took up temporary residence. Upon checkout, he famously shrugged at the hotel's manager and said, "Keep it." (The piano remains in the Presidential suite to this day.)

The St. Regis is one of D.C.'s most luxurious hotels -- and it has been since its opened its doors in 1926 as the Carlton Hotel. Back then, room rates started at $5 a night, and suites started at $15 a night -- worth about $61 and $184 in today's dollars. Howard Hughes kept a permanent suite at the Carlton during World War II, and let soldiers stay in it free of charge whenever the hotel was full.

With 12 acres of lush grounds, this historic hotel -- opened in 1912 -- is a serene, luxurious escape five minutes from Rodeo Drive. Eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes kept four permanent bungalows at the hotel (two were decoys) where he lived on and off through the '40s, '50s, and '60s, and during his residency made the kind of demanding requests you'd expect from an eccentric billionaire -- pineapple upside-down cakes at 3 a.m., and roast beef sandwiches left at the trunk of the tree in his garden (so he wouldn't have to interact with anyone). Marilyn Monroe and Yves Montand lived in bungalows 20 and 21 during the filming of Let's Make Love at the end of the 1950's (and the two were reportedly taking the film's title to heart).


*Prices listed are rough approximations for one year based on nightly rates. When calculating the prices, we averaged each month to ensure seasonal fluctuations were reflected. We used the prices for base-level rooms, except in cases where the hotel provided us with specific extended stay rate information: The Chateau Marmont's price is for a junior suite, and the Fairmont Miramar's price is for the Palisades suite. (The next step up, the Palisides ocean suite, would be $129,600). Not every hotel listed actually allows extended stays of one year: At the Washington Square Hotel, the maximum stay is two weeks, and at the Hotel Chelsea, the maximum stay is 24 days.