Hidden behind dense vegetation on a quiet residential street within the exclusive estate community of Bel Air, .8mi above the UCLA campus, this 103-room luxury hotel complex (1946) comprises a gracious group of one- and two-story pink Mission-style buildings. Soon after its opening, the Bel-Air quickly established a devoted following among major Hollywood stars, who were drawn to its casual comfort and privacy. The 11-acre gardens surrounding the hotel are lushly landscaped with native sycamores and California live oaks, as well as floss silk trees, redwoods, Arizona cypresses, Japanese maples, palms, peaches, apricots, figs, ferns, bougainvillea, roses, camellias and azaleas-all carefully tended, yet left in a natural-looking state to create the illusion of a subtropical paradise. Nearby Stone Canyon reservoir feeds a small stream, miniature falls and pond that is home to a family of swans.