Santa Monica is my favourite Los Angeles city. Yes city, because LA actually encompasses over 80 cities!

I have stayed here in beachfront West LA, more than a dozen times at various boutique hotels dotted along the coast and here are my thoughts on a few of them to help you decide where is the best place to stay in Santa Monica.

If you haven’t been to Santa Monica before, it has everything a stopover in Los Angeles requires: it’s not too far from LAX airport, has shopping on the pedestrianised 3rd Street Promenade (and more in the surrounding streets).

Its food scene is also delicious, it has amazing Pacific Ocean sunsets and if you fancy a cocktail at a groovy bar, preferably with sea views have a read of my favorite bars here>

You’ll recognise Santa Monica by its iconic pier with a Ferris Wheel, a Bubba Gump restaurant, and the end of Santa Monica Pier is the official end of Route 66 – (for you Forrest Gump fans).There are lots of fun activities, cycle hire and touristy shops all the way along as it reaches over the wide sandy beach and into the ocean.

It’s a bit of a must-do actually: to promenade oneself along the pier, and even hire a bike or walk down onto the beach and stroll the 2km stretch along to Venice Beach, via all the buff bodies strutting their stuff on Muscle Beach!

If you only have 1 day in Santa Monica, I’ve got a great little itinerary here in my new site Day Tripping USA.

Here are the best Santa Monica hotels, that I have stayed in and LOVED:

The Georgian Hotel

This historic Santa Monica hotel sits right on Ocean Ave and is a very short stroll from the shops. It’s one of the closest hotels you can get to the buzz of Santa Monica’s heart with fabulous views of the beach, the pier and the stunning sunsets.

But step inside and the Art Deco decor will cause 1930 fans to have wide, shiny eyes and twirl in circles.

We stayed here for a couple nights on our honeymoon and really loved the roadside veranda for breakfast or a glass of wine. A great people-watching location – when we weren’t staring into each other’s eyes, that is!

Regent Santa Monica Beach

Formerly Loews, a multi-million dollar makeover has ensured this beach front beauty will last for many more years to come. I stayed here a few years ago and the views haven’t changed, looking over Muscle Beach across to the Santa Monica Pier.

But the other day I popped in to check out the new lobby space and dining options. The fresh flowers that greet you at the main doors set the tone for the elegance of this entire ground floor hospitality space.

Ther is a cafe at the front, Sweet July, for pastries and baked goods when you need a quick snack with your coffee. But I walked through to Orla, the restaurant over a couple of levels with floor to ceiling windows showing off that view. It was breakfast, so I ordered the bagel with lox and a latte. It was so generous, it beat me!

The pool cabanas are only for in-house guests, but I grabbed a sneaky pic for you!

Pierside Santa Monica

Formerly Holiday Inn, the Pierside is a hidden gem of a hotel in plain sight. It’s located directly opposite the Santa Monica Pier and has the most amazing six-story mural painted on its west-facing side.

The ground floor lobby restaurant and bar, The Surfing Fox, is a great spot for a drink outside on their streetfront patio, or inside at the central bar or take a table. They serve an amazing lobster roll and fries too!

There is a small pool, sandwiched against the wall bordering the freeway. However on hot LA day, this is a lovely respite. The rooms are spacious and the bed was super comfortable, but it was the shower that had me at hello. It’s a huge walk-in, tiled shower with a bench seat and rainforest or wall shower heads. It’s like a spa!

Instead of providing an iron and board, they have thoughtfully added an iron steamer, for those us with delicate clothes that have luggage crinkles. You are across the road from Santa Monica Place for shopping and rooftop dining, or two blocks from Third Street Promenade for more shopping.

Shutters on the Beach

If you’re looking for a premium Santa Monica Beach hotel, you can’t get any more beach front than Shutters on the Beach!

The sand is literally out the front door and because the hotel is U-shaped most of the rooms afford views across the pool to the sweeping Santa Monica Beach and the Pier, which is about 200m away.

It’s designed like I imagine a Cape Cod holiday home would be. Wooden shutters (nice touch) on your windows, white wooden furniture in your room, comfy chairs and beds that are so high you may need the stool from the closet to climb in (I did!) and a bathroom that opens onto the bedroom for romantic moments. A bath with a view!

You’re also within easy walking distance of the shopping and entertainment on Third Street Promenade.

Shore Hotel

This hotel is up on Ocean Drive with only the road between you and the clifftop above sandy Santa Monica beach below.

It’s all glass and sleek design. Very styly and a pool is smack in front but it’s hidden behind discrete frosted glass from the road. It also lights up blue at night.

This hotel location is fabulous for shopping as you’re literally around the corner from Nordstrom and only two blocks from Third Street Promenade with its pedestrianised shopping street.

The place to eat here is the Mexican Blue Plate Taco right in front of the hotel on the street. The perfect spot to plonk yourself with a margarita and bowl of tortilla chips and just people watch.

Viceroy Santa Monica

In a 1960’s former office building, which from the road is blocked by high hedges that seem to want to hide the box-shape hotel behind them, this is the most understated building in town.

The Viceroy Hotel looks dead boring, but step into the Kelly Wearstler designed lobby with its shabby-chic antiqued mirrors lining the wall behind reception that leads your eyes through to the pool and cabanas and you’ll say wow at this boutique hotel.

Even if you’re not staying here, come for a poolside drink or book for dinner. If you are staying here, you’ll adore the little extra touches in the rooms and the epic views.

It’s a bit further away from Third Street for shopping than the other hotels, but nothing a brisk walk won’t fix!

Fairmont Miramar Hotel

Behind the 100-year old fig tree, rumoured to have been planted in lieu of paying for the hotel room, is the elegant Fairmont Hotel.

There are two very different accommodation offerings here: the garden villas which you get to through the lobby and by walking around the pool and garden, and the hotel suites in the main building. I’ve stayed in both and the level of luxury is opulent.

The former boardroom, housed in the bungalow (on the left in my pic), has been transformed into one of the most popular bars in town, the Bungalow. See my post on my favourite bars in Santa Monica.

The Eden

Formerly Shangri La when I stayed, this art deco hotel (actually Streamline Moderne), has been recently taken over by Eden and renamed. Painted blazing white and situated enviably on the corner of Ocean Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard, it conjures up the feel of an ocean liner from the street.

Inside, the original 1939 features have been respectfully redecorated and the rooms provide amazing views of the ocean.

The rooftop bar is undergoing a full refurbishment and will be open at the end of summer 2025. Stay tuned.

Read my top picks for the Best Bars in Santa Monica featuring a couple of these hotels and some fabulous bars with views, fireplaces, craft beer…

If you have the time, pick one of these quick road trips from this list of 12 marvelous day trips from LA!SaveSave