From Puerto Vallarta to Capri, how to summer like an Old Hollywood star

Decades before Instagram was invented, the world's biggest A listers enjoyed lavish vacations at these glamorous spots 
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Lauren Keary3 June 2019

Whether you want to spend the day sunbathing outside Elizabeth Taylor’s Puerto Vallarta bedroom, jet-set across Europe like Grace Kelly or hotel hop like Marilyn Monroe, the days of Old Hollywood summers don’t have to be a thing of the past.

From Big Sur to Seville, Hollywood’s A-listers have been setting up permanent vacation homes and staying in lavish hotel suites for countless summers past to present.

Though today, summering is catered to finding the ideal destination for the perfect vacation selfie, here's how Old Hollywood movie stars got some R&R - no Instagram filters necessary.

Palm Springs

What is now the home of major music festivals like Coachella and Stagecoach was once more of a second Hollywood. Over the years, hundreds of celebrities have snapped up holiday homes in Palm Springs - with Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner among the most recent.

For his book Palm Springs Confidential: Playground of the Stars!, Howard Johns explored 500 famous Palm Springs houses from Hollywood past, including the homes of Bob Hope, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra and Suzanne Somers.

Frank Sinatra by the pool of his Palm Springs home
The LIFE Picture Collection/Gett

Probably one of the most famous Palm Springs socialites was Marilyn Monroe, whose career took off after she was photographed at the Racquet Club. The Palm Springs hotel was founded in 1934 by actors Charles Farrell and Ralph Bellamy and became a home away from home for many stars.

“For decades, the movie stars and moguls who became members of the Racquet Club brought a ‘celebrity status’ to Palm Springs,” city documents say. The resort contributed, “to the worldwide reputation of Palm Springs as a glamorous and exclusive resort destination.”

Marylin Monroe being photographed in Palm Springs
Getty Images

Bruno Bernard’s photos of Monroe poolside at the Racquet Club put her in the sights of Johnny Hyde, one of the heads of the William Morris Agency. After Hyde and Monroe got involved romantically and Monroe won a role in The Asphault Jungle, her acting career took off.

Pool at Parker Palm Springs (Parker Palm Springs)
Parker Palm Beach

The Racquet Club is sadly no longer, but you can always hit the Palm Springs Hotel, The Riviera Palm Springs and Parker Palm Springs.

Italy

Audrey Hepburn in Rome
Getty Images

Italy was a firm favourite for Hollywood stars in search of a glamorous escape. Audrey Hepburn caused a stir in Rome when she traveled there to film Roman Holiday shortly after World War II. She was known as the beautiful woman who traveled around the Italian capital by Vespa, being photographed by freelance photographers... now known as paparazzi. A famous photo of Hepburn captured her leaving Hotel Hassler with her dog.

The Hassler Roma
Hassler Roma

Hassler Roma is a five-star luxury hotel in the heart of Rome you can still stay at today.

One of Hepburn’s favorite Italian getaways was Capri, an island off the coast of Italy also loved by Rita Hayworth and Grace Kelly, who gave up her Hollywood career to become a Princess of Monaco.

Rita Hayworth shopping in Capri
Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

In 1956, Kelly plopped a whopping 80 suitcases (and her dog) on a boat to sail from New York to Monaco to marry Prince Rainier, who she had met at the Cannes Film Festival in 1955. Settled into her new European empire, she started jet-setting across Europe with her prince, landing in places like Seville, Venice and Mallorca, but one of Kelly's favorite places to get away from it all was Capri.

During the Roman era, Capri residents built villas across the island, which added to the natural beauty of its white seaside cliffs and green mountaintops. Home of the Caprese salad, the food on Capri is just as good as its visual allure and the spa treatments and speedboat rides around the island are the perfect way to fill a day.

Grand Hotel Quisisana
Grand Hotel Quisisana

Back in the day, stars would often stay at the Grand Hotel Quisisana (where photographers lurked outside) but for the ultimate luxury experience today you can book in at the Hotel Caesar Augustus or Capri Palace.

Mexico

Elizabeth Taylor and family in Mexico
Getty Images

While they famously fell in love in Italy (their relationship was 'revealed' when the pair were photographed kissing on a yacht off the coast of Ischia in 1962, in a break during filming of Cleopatra) Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton made Mexico one of their regular holiday spots.

Burton purchased Casa Kimberly in Puerto Vallarta for Taylor in 1963, then bought the house across the street for himself and connected the two with a bridge dubbed “Puente del Amor.”

Casa Kimberly in Mexico
Casa Kimberly

The pair loved Puerto Vallarta, and the Pacific coastal Mexican town is still a popular escape for California-dwellers. You can now sleep in Taylor’s old Casa Kimberly bedroom for $650 per night.

Havana

Pixabay

For a vacation that truly feels like you're stepping back in time, head to Cuba. The island is filled with mid-century cars, pastel-colored buildings and cobblestone roads.

The atmosphere is as similar as it could be to the time when Frank Sinatra strolled its cobbled roads. The singer frequented the infamous Sloppy Joe's - where the sloppy joe sandwich was supposedly first created - which shut down in 1965 under Fidel Castro's orders, reopening in 2013.

Sloppy Joe's in Havana, Cuba
Getty Images

To relive its glory days, snag a seat there and order a sloppy joe - they're served authentically, overflowing with tomato-and-green-olive-spiced ground beef.

Hawaii

The importance of the right shirt
Getty Images

Though he most notably traveled there to film Blue Hawaii, Elvis Presley also spent a lot of time relaxing on the islands, vacationing on Oahu at the Hilton Rainbow Tower, which you can still stay at today.

The Hilton Rainbow Tower in Hawaii
Hilton Rainbow Tower

Presley also spent time on the west side of the island in Kailua tossing a football with some friends. His love for the Aloha State even brought him to redecorate his den at Graceland. After adding the lush, green, island feel to the room, the den became known as the "Jungle Room", where the King would record a lot of his music.

Lancaster sun care was born in the Riviera in 1946 where the brand is still housed to this day.

Lancaster Sun Care is the proud sponsor of Ladies Day at Chesterton’s Polo in the Park. For a special discount on tickets to this year's event, book here using code LANCASTERPOLO.

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