The Hangover is one of the naughty’s most popular comedy films and somehow made Vegas even more desirable of a location than it already was. The film was one of the things that started our love affair with the City and we have loved over the years hunting out the various filming locations in the City. So this post is dedicated to sharing them with you.
If you are looking for The Hangover, Las Vegas Filming Locations out guide is very in-depth, we like to think if you have ever wondered “where did they film that Hangover Scene?” we will have it covered. There is one single scene that has alluded us until now, but the rest we have nailed down. You will be surprised by some, disappointed by others, and delighted to finally find the more nuanced locations. So if you are a die-hard Hangover Fan, or just looking for some cool selfie spots in Vegas this guide has you covered.
We have included Maps to all the locations along with references and the Minutes in the Movie the Scene occurs. We even give a running commentary of how the characters are getting along as we go. So sit back and reminisce on one of the funniest films of the last 20 or so years! Warning there may be some spoilers but really if you are hunting for locations from a less than recent cult comedy we assume you have probably seen it.
Where Was the Hangover Filmed?
The Wikipedia Entry states:
the Hangover was mostly filmed on location at Caesars Palace, including the front desk, lobby, entrance drive, pools, corridors, elevators, and roof,
Wikipedia
So there you have it, the Film was shot mostly in Vegas at the Casino. If you want to know where to head to see the films locations off you go…
…Oh you want a bit more detail than that? ah right, well here we go, prepeare your self for a minute by minute detailed analysys of EVERY SINGLE Las Vegas Scene from the Film! We reaveal where every shot was taken and where possible how ou can find and visit them.
Be Warned, there is a lot of Las VEgas trickery going on and not every scene is as it might appear. Infact, the Wiki quite above stating it was mostly filmed in Las Vegas is grossly misleading! Let dive into it!
Los Angeles
The opening scenes are all shot in LA and mostly on set. Tbh there is little for you to hunt down and these scenes are mostly scene-setting, and not really worth checking out. We tend to focus on the VEgas stuff as this is what the film is centered around, As is our site and expertise.
Alan’s Family home is 415 South Grand Avenue in Pasadena
The School that Phil teaches at is Daniel Webster School, 2101
But you know that’s a private residence and really you shouldn’t be driving around checking out schools (or Chuck E Cheese’s) so best leave these alone.
Interstate-15 – 0:09:26
The Wolfpack head from Los Angeles into Vegas on the I-15 which is pretty much the correct highway you would choose. At least if the fastest least scenic route was your objective, which for an evening in Vegas we would assume is correct.
The Route heads in via Barstow, Baker, and Primm but really expect a whole lot of empty desert.
The Geography is mostly spot-on as the early scenes show the Mercedes heading through suburban Los Angeles, before heading out into the Desert heading to the Gas Station at Jean. They are a little off-course when Alan attempts to cause a collision with the HGV as they are heading East on the 210 at junction 71. We would have turned north on the I-15 at 64a but I guess we are getting Picky.
Tbh the interstate section only makes sense if you don’t don’y know it, there is alot og hollwood shinanigans going on with road switching and time rewiding mid coverstation and things like that, but that’s just hollywood.
Gas Station – 0:11:03
The Gas Station scene where Alan verbally attacks an old man, and Stu reveals his wife’s cruise line misdemeanors is actually a real gas Station just off the I-15 in Jean, well it was. The Gas Station in question has now been demolished. replaced with a bigger fancier station across the street.
Google Maps still shows the old station and from what we can tell you can still drive down to the old food mark where the indoors scene took place, but as the old shell station (Rebranded to Gas and Gulp for the film) is now no more there is little point hunuting this out, unless you need fuel obviousy.
Road in – 0:13:40
The First time we see Vegas is a long shot as the Mercedes arrives in the City, starting a Vegas B-Roll montage to the Kayne West Track Can’t Tell Me Nothing.
Surprisingly for Hollywood, the geography here is Spot on and this is exactly where the gang would have entered the City. The Shot show Exit 27 and when we look on Google Maps we get the exact Shot from the Film, there is a little lens compression used to make the Vegas Skyline seem a little closer and more impressive, but the shot is right where it’s meant to be.
You can definitely get better views of the Las Vegas Skyline though if you know where to look.
Caesars Palace – 0:00:00- 0:00:00
Just to confirm any scnene shot in Ceasars Palace was indeed shot in the Real hotel. The Foyer, the Lobby, the Hallway were shot in Casars.
The Film shows the pack arriving at room number 2452, which is room number 52 floor 24 in the Augustus Tower. This room is not a Villa, in fact, the Villas are all, as you would expect, Ground Level giving outdoor terrace space. The Room in question would be a suite, although there are no 4 bedroom suites in Caesars, the max is the 3 Bedrooms so Alan and Phil might have to share after all. A little creative license is used and only one Bedroom is ever shown.
But which is the actual room/suite used in the hangover? and can you book it? Well the bad news here is it’s a SoundStage at Warner Brothers in Burbank LA. So no you can’t book it. Why did they use a soundstage and not a real Suite, well for some reason Caesars didn’t want the team to destroy one of their multi-million dollar suites, along with all sorts of fire code violations and the issue of getting a Tiger into the Building.
We have to admit all in all it’s pretty swanky for a set with lots of real marble and lush fixtures and fittings. It really looks the part. The Suite is based around the forum towers Emporer suite, now the Forum Tower Duplex Suites (two-bedroom) so these are the closest you can get to the rooms In the Movie.
For actual props from the Movie, you can check out the Warner Bros Studio Tour at Hollywood which has loads of cool Hangover Props including THE Piano, Stuffed Giraffe, and Tigerskin rug, there is also the model of Marshals mansion from the 3rd movie.
Rooftop
The Rooftop is indeed the real Rooftop of the Caesars hotel, this is actually the Forum Tower Roof despite the act they are staying in the Augustus Tower which is where all the hall and elevator shots are taken. The Forum Tower is the only flat roof with expansive Views of the City which is why it was filmed there.
Now, we don’t know if it was possible to sneak up onto the roof before the Movie was made, but we are damn sure it’s an easy way to get a ride in a police car now! So we strongly advise not even trying. To get that sensation head up to one of Las Vega’s mega Rooftop Bars and order some Jager Shots, Rohypnol strongly not advised
Hangover Scene
As we stated earlier the actual interior scenes were all shot on a Burbank Soundstage. So the whole destroyed room smoking TV and Tiger bathroom scenes were all a Hollywood creation.
Breakfast – Garden of the Gods – 00:29:00
Ok, this is obviously set at the Caesars Palace pool Deck, which is rather pretentiously called the Garden of the Gods. However, the setup used in the film is far from anything that has ever been used at Caesars. They are on a raised walkway between Temple Pool and the Neptune Pool. Apart from the fact, there is no restaurant or tables set up here, even if they were they would be right in the way as this is the walkway between the two main pool decks. This is simply Hollywood trickery to get the best scene
So you are not going to be able to sit in the exact spot, but you can eat by the pool. Dining is lounger-based, there are no tables and chairs set up like in the movie and the menu is pretty limited to bar snacks. But they have a good drinks menu, although it’s pretty pricey that’s par for the course at Vegas.
Rivera sidewalk – 00:33:00
After the Pool Scene, the trio realizes they need to head to the hospital, so it’s back out front to the real Caesars Valet service. Here you can see the Statue the Mattress was impaled upon, but how Doug got it onto that from any of the Rooftops is beyond us.
Still, the Stolen Cop Car arrives and they head off towards the Hospital. On the way, they hit traffic and mount a pavement. This is shot outside the Riviera Hotel. Unfortunately, this hotel is gone, as we explain below. The Pavement is still there if you HAVE to check it out, but we don’t recommend driving on it and there are unlikely any amazing racks to look at now the casino has gone.
Hospital – 00:34:18
It is almost certain any interior scenes were shot in Burbank on a sound stage and regardless we don’t advise rocking up to a hospital just to get in some movie filming locations ticked off.
The Brief outdoor shot of the hospital Valley Presbyterian Hospital, in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, and was probably just B-roll they had lying around.
At the Hospital they get a tip off from the doctor to head to the Best Little Chapel.
Best Little chapel – 00:37:00
This one is dead easy to find its At the corner of get a map and f$$$ off!
While there are several chapels in Vegas that would have fitted the bill perfectly, for some reason Holywood just loves faking things and the Best Little Chapel does not exist!
A facade was put onto the front of the Hostel Cat in one of the sleazier parts of the north Strip. We certainly wouldn’t advise staying there and in fact, would caution even stopping to get out for a look.
Again the interior shots were all done on a soundstage back at WB Studios. So you can visit the outdoor venue and the location the Chapel is based on, but you cannot visit the interior, or get married at the actual Chapel.
There are several budget wedding chapels in the immediate area including the Little White Wedding Chapel so it’s strange they went with the fake chapel. The Little White Wedding Chapel is Vegas’s most famous Chapel, featuring a Drive-thru Ceremony and has been the location of hundreds of Celeb weddings including Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, Britney Spears and Jason Alexander, and many more along with thousands of more low key couplings.
Jades Apartment Building -00:43:00
Map – Room 825
The Celebrant (Eddie) gives the crew the address of Carlos’s mother and Stu’s new wife, Jade, and they head off to her apartment building. This is a low-rent Motel at the south end of the strip called Wild Wild West Gambling Hall.
This is one of the better locations to visit, mainly as it’s still there as it was depicted i nthe movie, and, more importanty, there is an In-N-Out Burger there too.
Feel free to check into the Motel (Days Inn) if it means that much to you, although we are not sure if room 825 exists or not. As much as we want to say this was filmed in the room, it was once again a setback in LA. The giveaway is when the cops burst in, there is no detail in the background and if the real interiors were uses then you would be able to see the strip and this would have been included.
There would ahve to have been quite a bit of remodelling anyway as these are Motel Rooms not Domestic Apartments.
Police station – 00:46:00
The Next location is the Police Station, there are no exterior shots here and this is a dead giveaway to this being a set. Besides, you don’t really want to end up inside the police station on your trip whatever the reason.
If you want to Fake it the LVPD has a large visible police station just up from the Welcome To Las Vegas Sign that you can grab a selfie in front of and claim it’s the Police Station from the hangover, 99.9% of people would never know.
Impound – 00:52:30
After cutting the Deal and Each getting Tazered the Wolf Pack heads to the Police impound to pick up Alan’s Fathers Mercedes.
This Impound lot was a tough find but we are got there. The Scene definitely looks authentic Vegas, and there are hundreds of junkyards filled with broken automobiles that would easily fit the bill up in the north of Vegas. So we scoured the (google) earth for the right one, it was pretty unique and identifiable.
As ever though trust Hollywood to complicated things. The actual Site is in Sun Valley Los Angeles and is an iconic Hollywood junkyard used in the shooting of several Movies. Or at least we should say was. The Site shut down in 2015 and while still serves as Car breakers the location is very different.
Aadlen Brothers Auto Wrecking (also called U-Pick) was filled with iconic movie props and beaten cars and really was worth checking out for its Movie history. They even had the last Bruce Shark from Jaws, but alas time waits for no man, and the Yard is now closed and its exhibits sold off to the highest bidder. It’s now a sterile yard filled with dull modern cars awaiting dismantling. While most of the identifying features such as the pointy metal thing (if anyone knows what that is please let us know) are gone you can still see the Cement towers in the distance to confirm the location.
You can Find Bruce at the Acadamy Museum, but there is no Hangover history there. Anyway, the boys get the Mercedes back in pristine condition and head off looking for clues. Suddenly they arrive at an empty parking lot outside Luxor Hotel.
Parking Lot Opposite Luxor – 00:54:30
This is one that exists and is still in all its glory, however, its glory is an empty Parking lot/waste ground. hey-ho it’s easy to find and grab a selfie. It’s right next to the airport and has great views of Mandalay Bay and The Luxor.
The only issue is it can be used as an overflow parking lot should there be something going on in the adjacent lot which is used for concerts and American Ninja Warrior.
After the Altercation with Chow, they head back to caesars for a regroup, where the meat Tyson. So after knocking out Alan and Knocking out the Tiger the Wolf Pack head for Tyson’s pad. And they go via the infamous Airport tunnel where the large pussy cat wakes up!
Airport Tunnel – 1:04:00
Now if you ever find yourself in the Airport Tunnel in Las Vegas, you are probably being scammed by the Taxi Driver who is longhauling you to your hotel. It’s a well-known trick. However if you find yourself in the Airport Tunnel used in the Hangover, they have really done a number on you. As once again Hollywood has pulled a fast one.
The Scene is not shot in Las Vegas but on Sherman Way as it passes underneath the Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles. Can Hollywood not film anything whee it’s meant to be!
This is one of those facts we would rather have not known really and just take the real Airport tunnel as the location as after all that is where it was MEANT to be. you can clearly see the real tunnel does not match up to the film and the Van Nuys on Does.
Finally the Trio push the Mercedes out the Tunnel to Tysons house.
Tysons House Las Vegas – 1:05:12
We all know Mike Tyson lives in Las Vegas, he has a multi $million mansion in the Gated Henderson Suburb so all this makes sense. Of course Hollywood didn’t film the scene there at all. Probably this time at Mike Bequest.
However, there are many other Las Vegas Mansions that could be used. But Alas once again the location crew went with LA.
You may see a lot of articles claiming the Mike Tyson Hangover Mansion is up for sale, but these are wrong, at least if they are referring to any location in Las Vegas, it’s simply Mike Tyson’s house that is up for sale, not the one used in the Hangover.
This is located at 22634 La Quilla Drive, California high up in the hills above the San Fernando Valley, it’s in a gated community so is not visitable. It’s hard to get any images of it, but the Google Maps Satalight matches up perfectly with the Scenes in the film, including the pool where Alan urinates. The scene where they load in the Tiger also gives away the address as it is clearly written on the gate post.
The interior scenes are less clear, while the scene where Tysons entourage lets the wolf pack in is clearly the house, as the glass doors match, as does the view out into the garden. A notable absence from that scene is Mike himself and when they all have a sit down to review the CCTV it appears to be a different set. The conspicuous amount of Mike memorabilia lying around leads us to the predictable conclusion, this is a sound stage.
It’s certainly not Mike Tyson real house in Vegas.
Crash Scene – 1:08:30
Ok, the Geography gets screwy here as we go from “Henderson” right to the North Side of Los Angeles, but these guys are pretty much screw-ups so maybe they got lost. Anyway, they decide not to speak about anything on their 20-mile drive across town and open up a conversation right outside Atomic Liqueurs.
This is the oldest free-standing Bar in Las Vegas, opened right back in 1921, the “sleazy” bar on East Freemont street has been a tourist hotspot for the last few decades due to its history and the Film has only added to this. The Fremont 9 Motel has been built next door so the area has changed somewhat, but the Iconic Atomic Liquors signage is still all present and correct.
Rivera – 0:13:30
The Next few scenes are all Vegas Gold. These were all shot in location in the real Rivera CAsino, the only catch is…they blew it up!
The Location of the Rivera is now a parking lot and not much to visit, so nothing really to see here. This is a shame as the Rivera really was one of Las VEgas’s most iconic Casinos. Many Blockbusters have featured the Casino and it was the real-world location of the Tangiers casino, run by Robert De Niro’s Character in the legendary Casino. Along with scenes in Diamonds are Forever, Oceans 11 (1960), ConAir, Austin Powers, 21 Jason Bourne, and Vegas Vacation…Oh and the Hangover.
One film oddly not shot here was Rain Man. This is weird as the entire scene is a homage to the quirky cruise and Hoffman epic. However Rain Man was shot over at Caesar’s palace, where the majority of the Hangover takes place, it’s odd it moves over to the Rivera for the gambling scenes? Maybe Caesars just didn’t want the cameras on the floor…or wanted too much to allow it!
Anyway, you could recreate the scene on any Las Vegas Black Jack table, and while counting cards is a real thing, it’s a long way from what people imagine, it really only marginally outs the odds back in the player’s favor, it’s not a way to take down a casino.
Of course, if you are really hardcore you could go and play BlackJack on your own in the parking lot where the Rivera once stood, not that we recond that!
Big Rock Mojave Desert at Dawn – 1:17:00
Chow has ordered the Pack to return his “Purse” and money back to him at Big Rock Mojave Desert. Big Rock does not exist and simply looking for a big rock in the desert is a bit of a needle in a haystack task. Maybe he meant Giant Rock in Mojave desert? That’s a real place, but it’s not where the Wolf Pack ends up. and besides, it’s 4 hours and 200+ Miles outside of Vegas, not the 30 miles suggested by the film
Jean/Roach Dry Lakebed is the location the film actually takes us to. A very common Filming location just outside of Jean. So you can bag the old Gas And Gulp station we mentioned above too!
Phone Call Location ?
If there was one spot we know we were going to struggle with it was this one. The Phonecall is a remote, none descript section of a deserted desert highway. Despite much searching we could not find anything concrete enough to confirm it’s location.
The big issue is, as we have seen so often, the Mojave looks pretty similar, and while it would make sense to film this arounf Jean, and it certainly looks like it’s filmed in that area. Hollywood rarely malkes sense and this couls have been shot anywere in a 500 mile area, thats a lot of small back roads to hunt
Of course if you recognise it be sure to let us know.
Benches Outside Caesars – 1:26:20
The Final Vegas scene is one that is easy to find and grab that perfect selfie. The benches where Stu and Jade discuss things are still there ann you two can sit down and discuss your future with yur new hooker wife or doctor husband…or whoever else you may be there with.
The Wolf Pack now rush bck to LA dow nthe I-15 and enjoy a peacful and relaxing Wedding, or smething.
The Last Few Vegas locations are the Snapshots Photo’s that appear o nthe camera, but we will leave identifing the locations of those to someone else entirely!
Hangover 3 Locations
Looking for hangover 3 Filming Locations? Well, we have you covered there too so head on over to our Hangover 3 Filming Locations Post for all of the Las Vegas locations featured in The Hangover 3, it’s a much shorter list than the original!
Have Your Say
We think we got all of the good Vegas locations and saved you hunting out the ones you can’t, won’t, or shouldn’t bother hunting out. Let us know if we missed one, or if you think we are wrong about anything, it happens. If you went to check any of them out let us know and if you have any other Vegas (or other Cities) Movies you want us to find the locations for just let us know
There’s definitely 4 bed suites at Caesar’s. I work there lol
Well, they certainly do not advertise them!