Hollywood Boulevard has long been a disappointment to British tourists, who might have imagined glamour and glitz but instead found a seedy, rubbish-strewn and dangerous area. In fact, so low had its fortunes sank that the average length of visit was 20 minutes - just time enough to see the Walk of Fame and the hand and footprints outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre.
But all that is about to change, as the area, like many a Hollywood star, has undergone a facelift, in time for next Sunday's 74th Academy Awards ceremony. The Kodak Theatre, the Oscars' new home, is huge, magnificent - comfy red velvet inside and bleached stone outside - and is at the heart of the Hollywood redevelopment. It also includes a large Marriott hotel, cineplexes and a shopping mall. In other words, lots of reasons for tourists to stay longer than 20 minutes.
'We think that tourists, particularly families, will stay for two, three or even four days in this area now', says Tom Santora of Marriott International, one of the prime movers in a redevelopment programme costing tens of millions of dollars. 'We just need to convince people it's safe and a nice place to stay.'
The area's decline into drugs, crime and vandalism in the Seventies and Eighties was painful to see, particularly for cineastes searching out the Hollywood history in which it is steeped. The great Art Deco cinemas - the Egyptian, El Capitan and the Pantages - were either dark or falling apart, while other buildings with movie associations were being knocked down to make way for yet another parking lot. Even the Walk of Fame and the hand and footprints looked dirty and uncared-for.
The clean-up began in the late Nineties when local business people did a survey that came up with that shocking 20-minute statistic. Galvanised into action, their opportunity to get something done with a public/private partnership started falling into place. Almost a whole block (where the Chinese Theatre stands) was razed to make way for the complex, while leases on shops selling pornography, peephole clubs and brothels were bought up and their occupants told to sling their hook. In addition, the city council agreed to run one of the two new LA subway lines to Hollywood Boulevard.
But it's no good having a train station that no one wants to stop at, and the clincher to this package was persuading the American Academy of Cinematic Arts to give its awards a permanent location in the new Kodak Theatre. So Oscar is coming home after years of being bumped around various venues - the first ceremony in 1929 happened two blocks down the road at the Roosevelt Hotel, a rococo marvel that has also just undergone an extensive refurbishment.
If you want lots of people to stay two or three days, they have to have a place to sleep. Other than the Roosevelt, the only sizeable hotel was the Holiday Inn (now the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel), with its famous revolving rooftop restaurant. Not big enough? No problem - they have just gutted it and extended it, doubling the capacity to 640 rooms, more than half of them with a view of the Hollywood sign. Talking of which, you should make your first entrance to the complex from Hollywood Boulevard at Babylon Court, an outdoor plaza linking various elements within, and which mimics the sets in D.W. Griffith's 1916 film Intolerance . The 40ft-high archway frames the Hollywood sign in a magnificent - and moving - coup de thétre.
The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel's decor is mid-century modern - bold colours, glass and metal - which Americans first saw in films and television during the Fifties. Catering is by Wolfgang Puck (who throws one of the most famous post-Oscars parties), there's a rooftop pool and, of course, every room is already sold for Oscars night, when the hotel will be celebrity central. The old restaurant is now a three-bedroom suite with a 270-degree view. That will set you back at least $3,500 (£2,550) a night, but regular rooms are from $169. Every detail has been considered. Because many stars will be staying there for film premieres and theatre first nights, a secluded walkway links it with the Kodak. But you can bet your bottom dollar that some stars will find a reason to take a limo from the hotel round the block to the Kodak Theatre next Sunday.
The El Capitan, Egyptian and Pantages have all been lovingly renovated and are within a five-minute walk, and the last is now home to the long-running Broadway hit The Lion King . And Musso and Frank's Grill, one of the great Hollywood steak houses where many a contract was thrashed out over a three-bottle lunch before Hollywood discovered AA meetings, still does the driest dry Martini in town.
Two state-of-the-art subway stations now link the area to two other tourist attractions - Universal Studios and downtown LA. The subway is a boon for British drivers nervous of American freeways and those who find the rigid bans on street parking a hassle. The northbound trains go to Universal and the Hollywood Bowl and southbound trains go downtown. There you can visit the modern gothic Union Station, Little Tokyo, the LA Museum of Contemporary and Modern Art, and, for Oscars completists, two former homes of the awards, the beautifully OTT Biltmore Hotel and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Get your walking shoes on, though, as these are several blocks apart.
Back at Hollywood & Highland (as the new development is called), you've been there for two days, done Universal, downtown and the theatres, so it must be time to go shopping. There is everything from Gap to Louis Vuitton among the 130 stores, but for me the most endearing element of this makeover is that the row of naff shops on the other side of the street selling cheap T-shirts and tourist knick-knacks have not been bought out.
Unlike Times Square in New York, the area hasn't been Disneyfied. As Tom Santora of Marriott says: 'We were very clear from the outset we didn't want that to happen. Sure those shops are tacky, but people love buying stuff in them.
'It was right that the crime was tackled in Times Square and here, but to remove the neighbourhood's characters would be to sanitise all that's fun out of it. It's Hollywood - people expect to come across a few weirdos.'
Where to lurk in the lobby for autographs
The Standard
8300 Sunset Boulevard
(00 1 323 650 9090)
Among the backers are a bevy of Hollywood starlets, it is frequently used as a filming location and it's a favourite meeting place for stars, so lots of famous faces. They're either on the way to the lounge, with its minimalist decor - Baleri egg seats and oh-so retro shag pile carpet - or to the pool.
Chateau Marmont
8221 Sunset Boulevard
(00 1 323 656 1010)
Where wannabe rock idols like Keanu Reeves and Leonardo DiCaprio hang out. The public lobby/bar area, though beautifully gothic in decor, is not the best star-spotting place: most famous guests get in through the underground car park. However, there is usually filming in the grounds. Music industry people hang out in the achingly hip Bar Marmont next door.
Beverly Hilton
9876 Wilshire Boulevard
(00 1 310 274 7777)
Home to the Golden Globes awards each February and a Hollywood institution, this beautiful white landmark is slap bang in the shopaholics' nirvana Beverly Hills. Industry people dine in the South Seas-kitsch Trader Vic's restaurant, but the best star-spotting is done by the pool.
Mondrian
8440 Sunset Boulevard
(00 1 323 650 8999)
Ian Schrager and Philippe Starck's hippest hotel, where industry movers and shakers like to party. The Sky Bar, fiendishly difficult to get into, is - unlike most of Hollywood's hip bars - absolutely worth it. Spectacular views over the city and coast, and an almost hallucinatory atmosphere created by hundreds of candles and a Middle Eastern open-room design that lets warm LA breezes waft over you.
Roosevelt
7000 Hollywood Boulevard
(00 1 323 466 7000)
Long-time poor relation of Hollywood hotels despite its grand 1927 beginnings, this will come into its own again as it is only a few paces (a short limo ride really) to the new home of the Oscars. The huge lobby bar with comfy sofas and wing-back chairs is a good place to park yourself.
Beverly Laurel Motor Hotel
8018 Beverly Boulevard
(00 1 323 651 2441)
Hugely popular with musicians and young actors. Eat at Swingers, the hotel's 24-hour diner and you can say you saw so-and-so when he or she was hanging out, meeting agents and waiting for their big break. (Or even serving you breakfast.)
