Rat Pack Haunts: Hotels Where The Cool Kids Hung Out

The SLS opened at the end of the summer following a $415 million renovation of the former Sahara Resort & Casino, which was a favorite spot of not only the Rat Pack but also The Beatles. Designed by acclaimed French designer Philippe Starck, in collaboration with Gensler Architects, the current hotel mixes elements of the property's past with strikingly modern decor. The casino area isn't huge but all the typical gaming options are available, and there’s a wide array of restaurants to fit anyone's budget -- including the trendy Bazaar Meat by José Andrés. Three nightclubs and a gorgeous outdoor pool area lure a younger crowd.

A Miami icon since 1954, the 1,504-roomFontainebleau is a sprawling art deco complex, built by legendary architect Morris Lapidus, that stretches over several city blocks. In its heyday, it was the hangout of the Rat Pack, and many members performed there, but it had fallen from the headlines until its $1 billion facelift in 2008. Nowadays, the Fontainebleau's 1,504 new rooms, nine pools, phenomenal spa, and gorgeous design are hard to top.

The "pink palace," as this impeccably restored 1912 hotel is known, is as old as Beverly Hills itself. Charlie Chaplin, John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and Liz Taylor were guests. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and the rest of the Rat Pack caroused at its Polo Lounge, which is still a celebrity haunt. The hotel made its movie debut in 1957's Designing Woman starring Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall (an honorary Rat Pack member who supposedly dubbed the group with its moniker when she saw her husband, Bogart, and his motley crew of friends after a night of drinking). Marilyn Monroe, a Rat Pack "mascot," lived in bungalow 20 from 1958 to 1960 while filming Lets Make Love.

Opened in 1936 by a known mobster of the Purple Gang, the Colony Palms began attracting members of the Rat Pack in the late 50s, when the hotel changed hands and the new owners welcomed friends and guests such as Frank Sinatra. Nowadays, this chic Palm Springs getaway embraces a retro “Casablanca” theme, with Moroccan-inspired decor and a Mediterranean restaurant.

Today, this luxe hotel overlooking the eponymous park hosts celebrities regularly; it is one of Lady Gaga’s favorite places for a cocktail, and other famed musicians such as Sting and Madonna have been spotted here on several occasions. But a celebrity clientele is nothing new. Since the Gramercy Park Hotel opened in 1925, it has been popular among stars – and the Rat Pack’s Bogart married his first wife on the hotel’s rooftop terrace a year after its opening. JFK lived in the hotel for several months (so maybe Monroe made an appearance?), and Babe Ruth was also a regular.

Originally built in 1882, the luxe, history-laden 160-room Grand Hotel Vesuvio is Naples' only seafront five-star hotel. Its classic elegance and old-school attention to detail make it easy for visitors to sense they are walking the same halls that Humphrey Bogart, Grace Kelly, Rita Hayworth, and Enrico Caruso once did. Breathtaking views of Mount Vesuvius and the Isle of Capri, and neighboring Castel dell'Ovo, give guests a sense of the real Italy, with the ancient past and modern civilization existing side by side.