Santa Monica is my favorite Los Angeles City. Yes, because LA actually covers over 80 cities!
I stayed here at Beachfront West LA. We have stayed more than dozens of times in various boutique hotels scattered along the coast. Here are some my thoughts to help you decide the best place to stay in Santa Monica.
If you’ve never been to Santa Monica before, you’ll have everything you need for a stopover in Los Angeles. Not too far from LAX Airport, I shop at the Third Street Promenade on the sidewalk.
The food scene is delicious too, with amazing Pacific sunsets, and if you want to fantasize cocktails in a groovy bar, read the ocean views if possible My favourite bar here>
Recognize Santa Monica on the iconic pier with Ferris Wheel, Baba Gump Restaurant and the end of the Santa Monica Pier. This is the official end of Route 66 (for Forest Gump fans).
It’s actually a bit of a must. Play yourself along the pier, hire a bike or walk to the beach and take a 2km stretch along Venice Beach.
If you have A day in Santa Monicamy new site has a great little itinerary here The day that stumbles over America.
This is the best Hotel in Santa Monica, I loved staying:
Georgian Hotel
This historic Santa Monica hotel is located on Ocean Avenue and is a very short walk from the shop. It is one of the closest hotels to reach Santa Monica’s heart-warming riots, with spectacular views of the beach, pier and stunning sunsets.
But as you step inside, Art Deco decorations will allow the 1930 fan to spin into wide, shiny eyes and rings.
We stayed here a few nights on our honeymoon and really loved the roadside veranda for breakfast and a glass of wine. A place to see amazing people – when we weren’t staring into each other’s eyes, that’s it!
Regent Santa Monica Beach
Once Lowe’s was a multi-million dollar makeover, so we guarantee that this beachfront beauty will last for years to come. I stayed here a few years ago and the scenery didn’t change.
But the other day I jumped in to check out the new lobby space and dining options. The fresh flowers greet you at the main door set the tone of elegance throughout this first floor hospitality space.
The cafe at the front desk is a cafe for pastries and baked goods when you need a sweet July or a quick snack with coffee. However, I walked to Orla. Orla walked to the restaurant across several levels with floor-to-ceiling windows and views. It was breakfast so I ordered a bagel with rocks and latte. It was so generous, it beat me!
The cabanas in the pool are only for in-house guests, but I grabbed a sneaky photo for you!
Pier Side Santa Monica
Previously, the peerside of the Holiday Inn was a hidden gem of a hotel with a view. Located directly opposite Santa Monica Pier, the most amazing six-storey mural is painted on its west-facing side.
The first floor lobby restaurant and bar, Surfing Fox is a great place to take out drinks outside the street patio or a central bar or table. They also serve amazing lobster rolls and fries!
There is a small pool sandwiched between walls adjacent to the highway. But on a hot LA day, this is a nice rest. The room was spacious and the bed was very comfortable, but hello, I’m. It’s a huge walk-in, tiled shower with bench seats and rainforest and wall shower heads. It’s like a spa!
Instead of offering iron and boards, they thoughtfully added iron steamers for us, dressed in delicate clothes with wrinkled luggage. Crossing the road for shopping from Santa Monica or rooftop dining or for shopping two blocks from Third Street Promenade.
Beach Shutter
If you’re looking for a premium Santa Monica Beach Hotel, you won’t get more beachfront than shutters on the beach!
The sand is literally outside the main entrance and most rooms in the hotel are U-shaped, so most rooms have views across the pool to Santa Monica Beach and the pier.
It is designed to think that Cape Cod’s holiday home will be. Wooden shutters in the window (a nice touch), white wooden furniture in the room, comfortable chairs and beds are very high, you might need a stool from the closet (I did!), a bathroom that opens to the bedroom for a romantic moment. A bath with a view!
It is also within easy walking distance of shopping and entertainment at Third Street Promenade.
Shore Hotel
This hotel is located on Ocean Drive and only has a road between you and the cliffs above Sandy Santa Monica Beach below.
It’s all glass and sophisticated design. Very stylish, the pool is slapped forward, but hidden behind individual matte glass from the road. It also turns blue at night.
This hotel location is literally around the corner from Nordstrom and is only two blocks from the Third Street Promenade, with its pedestrian shopping streets, making it a great place to shop.
The place to eat here is a Mexican blue plated taco, just in front of a hotel on the street. The perfect place to throw yourself away in a bowl of margaritas and tortilla chips, and just people see.
Viceroy Santa Monica
This is the most modest building in town, as a former office building in the 1960s is blocked from the road by high hedges who want to hide the box-shaped hotel behind it.
The Viceroy Hotel looks boring, but when you step into the lobby designed by Kelly Wearstler, lined up the walls behind the reception, looking at the pool and cabanas, you say WOW at this boutique hotel.
Even if you’re not staying here, make sure you book for poolside drinks and dinner. If you are staying here, adore the room a little extra touch and spectacular views.
A little further away from Third Street for shopping than other hotels, but the active walks are not fixed!
Fairmont Miramar Hotel
Behind the 100-year-old fig tree, rumoured to have been planted instead of paying for a hotel room, is the elegant Fairmont Hotel.
There are two very different accommodations here. This garden villa walks through the lobby, wanders around the pool and garden, and walks through the hotel suites in the main building. I stay both and the level of luxury is luxurious.
The old meeting room, housed in a bungalow (on the left of my photo), has been transformed into a bungalow, one of the town’s most popular bars. See my post My favourite bar in Santa Monica.
Eden
Previously, when Shangri-La stayed, this Art Deco hotel (which actually streamlines modernity) was recently taken over by Eden and renamed it. Its fiery whiteness, captivated by the corners of Ocean Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, reminiscent of the ocean liner’s touch from the street.
Inside, the original 1939 features have been honorably renovated, with rooms offering amazing views of the ocean.
The rooftop bar has undergone a complete renovation and is open at the end of summer 2025. Stay tuned.
Please read my top Choose the best bars in Santa Monica There are some of these hotels as well as some great bars with views, fireplaces and craft beer…
If you have time, choose one of these quick road trips from this list Amazing 12-day day trip from LA!
