A Legend Reopens in Beverly Hills

Chauffeurs polished gleaming white limousines and girls in velvet dresses skipped through the lawn as the Beverly Hills Hotel’s famed Polo Lounge reopened Sunday afternoon to an adoring elite.

Booked solid three months in advance, the swank restaurant with chunky green pillars and crisp pink tablecloths attracted a fair share of sweat-shirt-clad gawkers as well as scores of more elegant diners when it opened for breakfast after two years of renovations.

“We’re now accepting reservations for Tuesday,” the host told visitor after visitor. “Please call back tomorrow morning.”

Unwilling to put off dining in the Pink Palace, the reservation-less masses swept downstairs to the deliberately retro--and frantically busy--Fountain Coffee Shop. There, anyone who outlasted the crowd earned a perch at the curving Formica countertop and a chance to indulge in a heaping order of Dutch apple pancakes.

The fare at the lushly carpeted Polo Lounge was a bit more upscale. The concierge recommended the smoked duck cabbage egg roll appetizer for $14. As for the entree, she confided suavely, “We do phenomenal things with beef and bass.”

For the Polo Lounge opening, a dozen spotless limousines and polished Lincolns lined the curving driveway leading up to a plush, red carpet. But hotel staff, dressed in dark green, double-breasted suits with gold braid trim, also allowed more casual visitors to enter and admire.

“We’ve had a lot of foot traffic this morning and this afternoon,” one staff member said. “I expect we will continue to have a lot of traffic until we close again.”

In contrast to the relaxed atmosphere at Sunday’s restaurant openings, the hotel’s official debut Saturday evening featured tight security.

Guests at the $1,000-a-plate gala swept through the guarded driveway in limousines, most barely seeming to notice several dozen protesters waving placards near the landmark hotel sign. The protesters complained that the hotel took advantage of the two-year renovation period to get rid of its union.