Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International

I met a few friends here for Sunday brunch. It’s a place we have been wanting to try for quite some time & I’m glad we got to experience it! The building is the beautiful, historic Château Elysse & If you live or have visited the Hollywood area you know Scientologists are wonderful with preserving & taking care of historic buildings. The Celebrity Centre is no exception & I thank them for their foresight & care! Brunch was quite tasty… especially for 18 $ per person. Delicious pancakes, bacon, sausages, eggs, fruit, salad, etc. atmosphere is calm & relaxing and the servers let you take your time… there is no rush to push you out the door. Our server, Isaiah, was outstanding in every aspect. Knowledgable, friendly, helpful & kind. I recommend asking for him if you get a chance! I will definitely be back again for brunch as well as to try other things the Centre has to offer!

Great place, so perfect for having dinner in a quite atmosphere. Great food and service. Imagine heaven on the earth.

Beautiful building. Great food. Friendly people. I like coming here for brunch. It’s very relaxing.

In all honesty, I never thought I’d be writing a review on the church of Scientology (much less a positive one), but alas here I am. Everyone has their own idea of what Scientology is, but no one really knows. For context, I’ll just lay out how I ended up here.
I’m at the central casting office EARLY AS F**K to get registered. About a half hour before the central casting people came out, I see this woman going down the line passing out flyers. At first I thought she worked for central but then I heard her say to a guy in front of me «Yeah it’s at 7 tonight, you should come.». So I knew it wasn’t a central thing. When she gets to me, she looks me up and down and points at me and says «You need to come to this!» Almost as if I like met the requirements for what she was looking for. Idk it was weird, but in a good way???
Anyways, now I’m thinking she’s casting for something so I look at the flyer and its Scientology. I chuckled a bit and put it in my pocket, kinda feeling like an idiot. It also dawned on me that OF COURSE they would be there to feast upon these starving, young, impressionable actors. But then I started to think «I don’t know shit about Scientology other than what ‘Going Clear’ says.» And I got curious and decided to go to that lecture at 7. The woman came back to me in the line and said she could actually take me their right then and there. So off we went.
When we got there, it was just as beautiful as everyone says. Only difference being that everyone was SUPER nice! It kinda boggles my mind that people had bad FIRST visits with them. They were literally the nicest people I’ve ever met. I must’ve shaken at least 20 different peoples hands and it all felt authentic. They accommodated me very thoroughly. They made me feel like I was a celebrity or something, it was pretty bizarre. But nice. They definitely are VERY sales-​y but I expected no less. I haven’t committed to anything and they were fine with that and it was just a great overall experience and it’s really hard to fathom these people being anything less than cordial.
I am supposed to go to there seminar/​lecture tonight at 7pm, not sure if I’m actually going but if I do I’ll update this review. But as of now, it is nowhere near the nightmare some are making it out to be, rather the opposite. And dammit that Sunday Brunch just sounds delightful!

A very cool place. It’s about the most positive place one could spend their time in Hollywood.
It’s very beautiful, and truly classy. And offers all positive ways to help someone improve their life. The classes and workshops I took here helped me.
I would say it’s worth at least checking out for yourself.

The Purification Rundown change my life! Never wanted to touch a drug in my life again, feeling as clear as ever and have booked so much after it

I used to live one block away from this Scientology cult building (I lived on Tamarind Ave) and the Scientologists used to continually harass me because I would refuse to let them brainwash me, and every time, they became angry with me. It got to the point where I couldn’t even leave my apartment without them harassing me in my own neighborhood, so I moved away.

I went to the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International (that’s the longest Unilocal title for any review that I’ve ever done) in Los Angeles, CA (Hollywood) on 3÷28÷2015. It was my 1^st time there. It was one of the stops on the Esotouric Tour called Hollywood! (with an asterisk) which I took that day. The building was originally called Château Élysee and was built by the widow of Thomas Ince. It is beautifully restored building and has beautiful grounds. They have a restaurant inside called the Renaissance. Someday I’ll have to come back and try their Sunday Brunch.

Absolutely gorgeous building, with very kind staff! Great for artsy and musical people! Really a pleasure to be there.

Wow, wow, wow. I was really impressed with this place. Not at all what I expected. This place is like a castle! Very aesthetic, and the staff are extremely friendly and obviously know what they are doing. Definitely stop by here if you go to LA, it’s worth it.

I knew something didn’t feel right when I received a flyer that said «FREE ACTING CLASS» in big letters and the person handing me the flyer was dropping big names (Tom Cruise, Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Lee, Marisol Nichols). I was actually informed that Tom Cruise was going to be there. So I gave my contact number to hear more info on it. What was I thinking? Nothing comes free in life, especially going to a class that Tom Cruise is at.
Looking at the flyer more closely, the map on the back is located to a church and also says «Learn how to walk into the room and nail the part using Scientology tools.» Since then, I’m constantly receiving phone calls as they are trying to get me to show up to a «class». I’m glad I looked over all the reviews before showing up. The disappointing reviews are quite accurate, they don’t take no for an answer. I can feel the pressure building as I am on the phone, I can’t imagine the sand trap experience it is to be there in person.
Overall, If you’re looking for an acting class… take an acting class. not scientology to improve your acting… Take acting classes and learn how to walk into the room and nail the part using Meisner, Stanislavski, etc.

I’ve been doing services and performing at Celebrity Centre for more than twenty years.
The location is beautiful and the staff are incredible. This is a great place to gain knowledge of yourself. It is also a great place to learn career-​advancing techniques and meet other like-​minded artists.

No tour of the building! The «tour» was just watching videos. Disappointed!
The video kept saying that Scientology is welcoming and anyone could «come on in,» but the experience was the opposite: extremely exclusive, and followed around everywhere. Very strange experience.

One of the nicest places I have ever been to. It is a true oasis of Los Angeles. If you are happy & like people then this is the place to go. The restaurant is excellent plus the grounds are aesthetic. I have been there over 40 times in the past 15 years. Eating food, taking an enhancement course, meeting great people are a few of the things to do, repeat and then do again.
Looking over the reviews it looks like you either love it or hate it. This is really great because the visitors who go there are warm and compassionate people. Those that are not really hate this kind of atmosphere. I am a registered nurse for over 30 years; I care for the premature babies. I know a good group and this is the same breed of cat.

Yes, I am a Scientologist, so if you think my review of Celebrity Center as it relates to Scientology will be slanted because of that, you are probably right.
Instead, I’d like to review the objective things such as the café, the restaurant and the premises:
The place is really nice inside and out and true to its original historic origins. The gardens that surround the Château are kept extremely well and I always thank my lucky stars for having a place like this to walk around and find some much needed peace whenever I stop by my church.
In 2008 I rented out the entire restaurant for my wedding and my guests were gushing about how nice everything was, and I didn’t even make table decorations or color coordinate! The lovely frescoes and decadent historic elegance of the place set a lovely backdrop. The buffet was out of this world and my custom made key lime flavored wedding cake was a crowd pleaser too. The lawns, as I mentioned earlier, are beautifully manicured with many quiet nooks in which to read or just relax.
The restaurant inside, called The Renaissance is manned by a French Maître di and chef who bring a bit of Europe to the table whenever I eat there. Ratatouille is amazing! Prices range from $ 9 for a vegetarian entrée to $ 45 for a large steak and its formal dining people! They have a Sunday brunch for about $ 12/​person that would impress the Queen, so keep this place in mind next time you take mom out.
The Rose Garden Café by the entrance has great pre-​made meals for students in a hurry, including vegan and gluten free options. Its a good place to sit and get some work done when needed.
All in all a great place with very friendly people. I’ve come with many non scientologist friends who were curious or were coming to a secular event and they loved being here. I’ve never had a negative experience here whatsoever so it makes me very doubtful of what other reviewers say.

These people are crazy! This Scientologist shows up just out side my place of work insisting that I come down to the Celebrity Center to take some course on acting. Which I have no interest in. He literally accosted me. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. Finally to get him to let me go I say fine. I give him my name and a false phone number because I was running late.
So about a month later I go down to take a different course which one of their salespeople had offered long before the insistent sales guy showing up to my place of work mentioned in the paragraph above.
This time, i.e. yesterday I had some free time so I decided to take the financial course. I drive way out of my way to get there. Go in and am immediately confronted by a security guard… ok kinda strange, but what ever. I go in asking for the financial course and have a little bit of static because they didn’t know what I was talking about. So finally they send me down to the girl who I had spoken to on the phone. I start to sign up, and there’s a weird form they want me to sign. I ask if they I can bring it back after half an hour. The girl says sure. I go to their café, grab a bit, have a brief and very pleasant conversation with the gentleman behind the counter. Things are going very well at this point. I start to eat my food and just as I’m finishing it, this very rude man approaches me, sits down at my table and starts to upsell me on some more courses. I got confused. He kept insisting that might want to think about other courses.
This is impossible. I was assured I could just come in and sign up for the financial course. But I guess not, I finally had to be rude with him. I decide that I need some more food to calm down a little more. I hadn’t eaten well the whole day and this little restaurant was the only haven in this place. So the girl shows up with a security guard and I get thrown out!
This is so bizarre! I don’t like this branch of the religion. It’s kinda crazy. They show up randomly, beg and insist that I come down to their church, then kick me out. This is nuts! Some of these guys have some real mental issues that they can’t solve.
The one on sunset near East Hollywood is pretty cool so maybe I’ll take the financial course some day. However, The Celebrity Centre is really weird. If they pull this stunt again. I’m going to talk to a lawyer and press charges or something. I’m tired of this game. I lost a night of sleep over this ordeal. This is the night before I’m going to see my family! Thanks jerks! I hope to goodness this christmas isn’t ruined.

If you’re in LA and you’re feeling adventurous, check out their brunch.
I’d like to think that one day a bunch of Scientologists were sitting around wondering «How can we get people to come here and learn about our religion?» with one guy saying «Well… everyone likes brunch. Who could turn down a good brunch?»
And there you have it, folks.

I looked into Scientology years ago, when we all thought it was the only way to get a sitcom. Took a personality test, read Dianetics and a couple other books, and was interested in their Purification Rundown (a sauna detox). I signed up for auditing, but due to work schedule was unable to do any auditing, so requested a refund. Big mistake.
It took weeks of call and letters, but I finally was told to come in and pick up my refund check. At that point, they took me into a room, closed the door, and before they’d give me the check, asked me to sign a form that said I was being EXCOMMUNICATED FROM THE CHURCH. What??? I asked how I could be excommunicated when I didn’t even know anything about the church yet. They literally said «If you do not wish to continue your classes then you are against the aims of the church and you will be excommunicated.»
My jaw dropped and I just began laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. I happily signed the form, grabbed my check, and thankfully made it out before they could turn me into a mindless lemming.
I have since learned the church views homosexuality as an immoral illness, an aberration, and sexual perversion. And as church author Ruth Minshull expressed in How to Choose Your People, homosexuals have no redeeming social value. The church also supported Prop 8. There is a huge chasm between the beauty of the outside of this church and the sinister practices inside.

Update: I went back here for Sunday brunch yesterday and frankly, found the food nearly inedible. Dried up omlette-​like things, a «meh» salad bar, greasy chicken and mushroom crepes, nasty lasagna and lousy service. (The maitre’d was friendly and helpful but the service was sloooow.) The restaurant is cute, the grounds are nice, but alas it just was not a good meal. Even at $ 13 (plus $ 3 for coffee and $ 9 for a mimosa) it so was not worth it. Weird– the last time I went it was decent, but it’s just fallen off a cliff since then.
BUT… what was really weird was what happened after the meal… my boyfriend and I wandered into the bookstore (next to the restaurant) to look around. Nobody else was in the bookstore except the two guys working behind the counter. So we were greeted, asked if we needed any help, and after a moment, invited to go on a tour. Fine, great customer service, it’s all good. I politely declined the tour, indicating that we just wanted to look around for a moment (and I’ve taken the tour before, besides) and that seemed to be fine. Lovely.
Then, after a moment more, as we’re just browsing the books and jewelry and whatnot, the dude behind the counter picks up the phone, calls someone and says «Hi, I have two guys here in the bookstore, they say they are just looking around and not interested in a tour…»
WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT ABOUT?! Um, you know we can hear you, right? Are you calling security? Are you going to throw a bag over our heads and kidnap us? We’re two L.A. homos in t-​shirts and shorts, it’s not like we look threatening in any way…
Hey Scientology, way to FREAK US OUT.
Needless to say we got the hell out of there immediately.
We definitely won’t be back.

Say what you will about the Scientologists, but they hurt no one and that’s a pretty good track record for a religious group. Well, actually they did shoot some guy down a few years ago who was wielding samurai swords and running towards the Celebrity Center… but that’s just one person harmed, and it was defense (
).
Anyways…
I’m a fan of the Celebrity Center because they keep my block safe. There are guards on duty ²⁴⁄₇ as well as multiple security cameras on and around my apartment complex.
The guards are friendly and I’m starting to know a few of them by name. I see them every morning and they always greet me!
However, they may invite you to brunch at the aptly named Renaissance Hotel which may or may not be a scam to get you to buy their books. And no alcohol, or so I hear.
And they may or may not hand you Scientologist conversion pamphlets after coming home from a night of sinning. Yes, they can tell.
All in all, more or less harmless to this non-​believer.