When celebrities and hotels make the news together, it's generally for sex scandals or penthouse parties. But we've got different ideas for our favorite headline-grabbers: Teaming up with hotels to create epic suites, shops and even room service menus. From a fantasy family safari courtesy of Brangelina to a high-stakes poker room from Leonardo DiCaprio, Jetsetter.com dreams up a slew of star-powered hotel match-ups.
Kim Kardashian and Kanye West
Shangri-La Paris Pop-Up
Designer collaborations, Instagram domination, apps, albums, TV shows. It's only a matter of time before the masters of fame extend their brand into the hotel world. And with the pair's fashion world cred -- from palling around with Karl Lagerfeld and Balmain's Olivier Rousteing to their own respective fashion lines -- they've got the design chops to put their mark on the City of Lights.
We'd love to see them take a cue from legendary concept store Colette and create a pop-up shop at the Shangri-La Paris, selling everything from a curated selection of limited edition albums to Kanye's Yeezy kicks to pieces from the Kardashian clan's Dash boutiques and one-offs from the pair's favorite designer friends. Upstairs, they could add their style to the over-the-top La Suite, a four-bedroom spread with straight on views of the Eiffel Tower. We're picturing custom decks so Kanye can spin for impromptu fetes, his-and-hers boudoirs to house all of the couple's impulse buys and, of course, massive portraits of the couple. Belfie mirror optional.
Clint Eastwood
Montana Ranch
The octogenarian actor/director is on a roll thanks to the roaring success of his latest film, American Sniper, and we think his next legacy-securing move should be opening a luxury ranch in Montana. Eastwood already has the hotel chops (he owns the historic Mission Ranch and The Homestead in Carmel, Calif.), and we'd want to see him apply those skills to the rugged world that made him a legend. There would be the requisite antlers/cowhides/crackling wood fires found in mega-luxe escapes like Dunton Hot Springs. But it would also be a fully working ranch, allowing city slickers on vacay to ride with wranglers, learn cattle roping and skeet-shooting. After a long day on the range, guests would eat at roughly hewn wood tables beside bonfires before watching classic westerns under the stars at the outdoor cinema.
Drew Barrymore
Art Gallery at The Standard Downtown LA
The child star-turned-mega-successful actor/producer is no stranger to legendary hotels: not only has she stayed in countless iconic properties, her grandfather, actor John Barrymore, was a regular at The Lambs Club, designer Stanford White's legendary New York gathering place (now The Chatwal Hotel). We'd nominate Drew for a more contemporary icon, The Standard Downtown L.A., where she could do an art takeover with photographs from her new coffee table art book Find It in Everything. Art is a family affair, as well: her husband Will Kopelman is an art consultant to collectors from London to San Francisco. We'd love to see the couple collaborate on a pop-up gallery off the lobby and commission artist friends to produce pieces for the hotel's in-room video installations.
Russell Crowe
Blue Hotel Sydney Room Service
This New Zealand-born/Australia-raised leading man has hospitality in his blood: his parents were film set caterers and his father once managed a hotel. Given that the Gladiator star also has a home in Sydney's beautiful Woolloomooloo, we'd thrill to see him turn his talents to overseeing a restaurant at the 1910 Blue Hotel, a landmark overlooking Sydney Harbour. Taking into account Crowe's reputation for being, well, a control freak, we'd also let him take over the room service menu. The kitchen would turn out Aussie-inspired dishes like grilled wallaby fillets, Moreton Bay Bugs (a type of shellfish that's much more delectable than it sounds) and steamed barramundi, while the wine cellar would feature the actor's favorite vintages from Down Under. But Crowe would understand that guests aren't always in the mood for high-brow fare: that's why he'd make sure the room service menu included late-night bites like classic Aussie meat pies with mushy peas from the legendary food cart Harry's Cafe de Wheels, located just up the road.
Leonardo Dicaprio
Cosmopolitan Las Vegas Poker Room
We adore Leo's sensitive side -- his philanthropy, his environmental activism, his chivalry amid Titanic shipwrecks -- but let's face it, the boy knows how to party. He's also a serious gambler, playing in an underground poker ring with buddies Ben Affleck and Tobey Maguire for years. So it only makes sense that Leo get into the game at a decadent Sin City spot like the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. We'd like to see him preside over an ultra-exclusive, high-stakes poker room and private club at the sybaritic hotel. The VIP room would be an update of Rat Pack style -- mid-century modern furniture, a bar stocked with top-shelf liquor, a cigar room -- and there would be a no cell phone or camera policy. After all, what happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
Namibia Safari Lodge
The traveling Jolie-Pitts look like a mini UN. With children born in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Namibia, Vietnam and France, we wouldn't want to play favorites. But they seem to have a special place in their hearts for Namibia, where fourth child Shiloh was born and where they camped out for Christmas in 2011. We'd love to see them open a low-key, family friendly lodge on the country's dramatic Skeleton Coast. Given Brangelina's interest in architecture, we can imagine a design-forward safari lodge with futuristic tents, hand-made African textiles and artwork by the little ones alongside ethically sourced food and wine--like rosé from Pitt and Jolie's Miraval Estate in Provence. Families could bond over game drives and village visits and give back by assisting with orphaned baby animals and helping rangers release animals back into the wild--all activities the Jolie-Pitt children enjoyed while last in Namibia. The kicker: All proceeds would go to one of the couple's favorite African charities.
Kate Moss
English Country Estate
We've long swooned over this supermodel's ability to look effortlessly chic mucking about in the mud of Glastonbury in her wellies. So we could picture her opening up a country lodge near the estate where she and husband Jamie Hince live in the bucolic, posh Cotswolds of England. We're thinking design along the lines of Babington House, the Somerset stunner from the Soho House team, with its clubby rustic decor and London it-crowd guests. There would be loads of room for mini-jetsetters (like Moss's daughter Lila) to run wild and enjoy outdoorsy activities like horse riding, while the grown-ups could lounge around indoors, working their way through the extensive champagne cellar, jamming in the music room or on-site recording studio or getting pampered at the spa, before gathering for hearty English country suppers (with produce from the grounds, natch).
Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow
Italian Castle Hotel
They may be an odd couple -- she the fitness-obsessed raw food devotee, he the affable, lardo-lover with a passion for Crocs -- but these celebrity friends share a deep passion for travel and cooking. Plus they've already collaborated together on a culinary road trip from Madrid to Galicia for the 2008 PBS series Spain...On the Road Again. We'd drool over Paltrow's aesthetic combined with Batali's joie de vivre for a converted castle in Italy. The look? Frette linens, wood-burning fireplaces and soaking tubs with a design that splits the difference between stately and serene (thanks to Paltrow's go-to designer Windsor Smith). The food would offer devil-angel options, one devoted to upscale comfort food a la Batali, the other an exercise in mindful eating -- raw and vegan menus--more suited to Gwyneth's svelte set. There would also be a spa, of course, offering of-the-moment treatments and services, like the infrared saunas and reiki she champions on her newsletter Goop.
Sofia Coppola
Tokyo Boutique Hotel
It's a daunting task to bring a sense of dreamy intimacy to the frenetic, neon-happy Tokyo. But we think the Lost in Translation director is up to the task. Coppola's family is already in the hotel business (Dad Francis Ford Coppola owns a collection of plush resorts from Belize to Matera, Italy), and the auteur knows a thing or two about style. The house decor would be in keeping with the spare, minimalism inherent in both her filmmaking and her much-admired fashion sense with stripped-back furnishings (perhaps pal Marc Jacobs could design the fabrics) mixed with soft, organic elements. The bathrooms would feature under-the-radar cult Japanese beauty brand Missha, and there would be a low-lit bar with a secret karaoke room serving up pink cans of the>Blanc de Blanc bubbly dad Francis created for his daughter.
Ryan Gosling
Upstate New York Farmstay
The brooding star of Drive and Blue Valentine isn't just a pretty face: he's also a passionate animal rights activist, co-owner of Moroccan-style Beverly Hills eatery Tagine, and likes to get his hands dirty, as he reportedly did making Adirondack chairs on set for The Notebook (He also directs, sings in a band and is a doting new father, but hey, who's keeping track?). We can totally see Gosling playing host at a low-key upstate New York farmstay. We're visualizing adorable farm animals -- perhaps a petting zoo for kids -- and a chicken coop for fresh eggs, plus an organic kitchen garden and an orchard. There would be horses for trail rides and of course some of those hand-hewn Adirondack chairs on the lawn, where guests can watch the sunset, artisanal cocktail in hand. Hey girl, wanna stay the night?
Cameron Diaz
Sayulita Surf Lodge
We've always been big fans of Diaz's combo of take-no-prisoners attitude and hippie-chick charm, a perfect match for a fun, eco-friendly surf lodge in Sayulita, Mexico's boho-cool Pacific Coast beach town. Diaz fans from way back might recall the star's MTV show Trippin', in which she and celeb friends traveled around the world backpacker-style, discovering under-the-radar destinations and highlighting conservation and cultural sensitivity. Take that same sensibility and apply it to a super-cool lodge with touches like hammocks woven by local women's collectives, hand-hewn furniture and Aztec-inspired textiles. Throw in some hand-crafted margaritas, an open-air yoga pavilion, surf lessons with hunky local instructors and a boutique stocking everything from fair trade accessories to barely-there bikinis and you've got a sure-fire winner.
Wes Anderson
Belmond Grand Hotel Europe
If there's one thing cult director Wes Anderson knows how to do it's set a scene. So we'd love to see him bring his fantastical world to St. Petersburg's Grand Hotel Europe. Its past reads a bit like an Anderson film -- a gilded palace where Rasputin once boozed and Tchaikovsky bedded his betrothed turned Soviet lodgings, where comrades burned the priceless furniture for firewood. Anderson could lend a whimsical touch to the presidential suite with its library, music room and sauna. We could also envision a subterranean bar, accessible by secret staircase in the floor of the stage of the hotel's L'Europe restaurant. Here, ballerinas from the nearby Mariinsky, local musicians and unsavory characters would swill bottles of icy vodka and throw impromptu, boozy performances. Now if only we could convince Ralph Fiennes to man the concierge desk...
Channing Tatum
Guyana Survival Camp
As you might guess from his abs, Tatum is more into rugged adventuring than high-threadcount pampering. Case in point? His badass survival skills on Bear Grylls' new TV series Running Wild. Tatum reportedly had a blast while on set in a remote part of Guyana, so he'd be the man to put muscle behind a wilderness adventure camp in the South American country. Traditional hotel rooms feel too wimpy for this venture: we picture safari-style canvas tents with just enough luxuries (private chefs to grill the fish or game that guests catch; solar showers; plenty of top-shelf liquor) to keep the well-heeled adventure traveler happy. But guests would also have the option of a 48-hour survival experience, following guides into the rainforest to learn to forage, create shelters and maybe bust some Magic Mike moves.
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi
California B&B
We can't picture a more perfect couple to host a B&B than Ellen and P. Think spontaneous dance parties, good-natured pranks and free-flowing wine happy hours. DeGeneres is a huge design nerd (their 26-acre property in Santa Monica's Hidden Valley was recently featured in Elle Decor). We'd expect this dream Cali B&B to have a similar aesthetic: think Danish leather armchairs, 18th century Spanish antiques, and swoon-worthy pieces from 20th century masters like Arne Jacobsen and Jean Prouvé. Given De Rossi's love of horses, there would also be an equestrian element, with stables and trail rides through the mountains. Yes, we want to go to there.