The Best Hotels in Los Angeles

Pacific Coast: Santa Monica, LA’s Most Beautiful Hotels

Exploring Los Angeles means navigating between the raw energy of downtown and the much-needed respite of the coast. Settling into a luxury hotel in Santa Monica, overlooking the Pacific, is a rare treat filled with fresh air and light.

1. Santa Monica Proper Hotel | One of LA's most desirable design hotels

The style: A fusion of Spanish neo-colonial and West Coast futurism.

After making a splash in San Francisco, the Proper brand has set up shop in Santa Monica to deliver one of the most desirable design hotels in Los Angeles. And we love it! This 5-star boutique hotel in LA perfectly captures the spirit of contemporary Californian luxury. The project is an architectural tour de force: Howard Laks has grafted a curvilinear extension onto a 1920s colonial building. At the helm of the interior design, Kelly Wearstler—L.A.’s leading figure in California design—has created a world where neutral tones, organic materials, and cutting-edge furniture capture the coast’s dazzling light.

Here, you’re immersed in the atmosphere of asophisticated beach bar. The large floor-to-ceiling windows offer unique views of the city’s rooftops, while works by local artists remind you that you’re right in the heart of L.A.’s creative hub.

We love: The hotel’s Surya Spa in Santa Monica, a true sanctuary where you can treat yourself to day treatments and a customized retreat (ranging from 3 to 28 days) for a break from it all that even the hustle and bustle of Wilshire Boulevard can’t disturb.

Santa Monica Proper Hotel
267 rooms, rates starting at 582 euros per night
700 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica

2. The Georgian Hotel | The Turquoise Gem of Route 66

The Style: A revived icon straight out of a Wes Anderson film.

On Ocean Avenue, you can’t miss this turquoise facade that has overlooked the Pacific since 1933. A true LA legend, The Georgian ranks among the city’s most beautiful hotels with its old-Hollywood glamour and delightfully retro atmosphere. The Georgian has hosted a veritable pantheon of Hollywood legends, from Charlie Chaplin to Marilyn Monroe, including figures from the Prohibition era. Following a masterful renovation in 2023, this former haven for stars has been reborn with incredible panache.

Behind its doors, the atmosphere is delightfully reminiscent of *The Grand Budapest Hotel*: bellhops standing at attention and a lobby in pastel hues. The 84 guest rooms feature a retro Californian style, while the suites are equipped with turntables, Polaroid cameras, and Marshall speakers. In the basement, the legend continues in The Georgian Room, a piano bar designed like a true speakeasy where the echoes of clandestine parties from days gone by still linger.

We love: The magic button in the suites that lets you order—with vintage elegance—a bottle of champagne or an art book, delivered directly by the concierge.

The Georgian Hotel
84 rooms, rates starting at 413 euros per night
1415 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica

3. Shutters on the Beach | The Luxury Cottage Facing the Waves

The Style: Cape Cod as if it had hopped on a private jet to California.

It’s Santa Monica’s undisputed institution, often considered one of the best luxury hotels in LA, where you can live barefoot in cashmere. Some whisper that it’s the most comfortable hotel in the world, and you’d almost have to agree—the balance between Art Deco glamour and modernist nonchalance is simply perfect here. Here, they cultivate an effortless, slightly nonchalant elegance, where you can walk in with a designer sweater thrown over your shoulders after a surf session. Here, the nobility of materials like wood, cotton, and wool brilliantly replaces the rigid decorum of traditional luxury hotels.

The building, a true urban resort, achieves the architectural feat of orienting all its rooms toward the ocean. In the lobby, a monumental fireplace crackles between gigantic sofas, while the rooms feature a palette of soothing whites and blues that invite absolute tranquility. We love the jazzy vibe of the café, with its graphic hardwood floors and a lounge area that invites you to linger, lulled by live music and golden sunsets.

We love: Taking a dip in the hotel’s pool, where you feel suspended between the rows of palm trees and the vastness of the Pacific, before heading down to the beach for a custom-prepared picnic or a surf lesson.

Shutters on the Beach 
198 rooms, rates starting at 641 euros per night
1 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica

4. Huntley Santa Monica Beach | Glamorous Vertigo

The Style: A chic skyscraper with the vibe of an ultra-trendy boutique hotel.

With its spectacular rooftop and views of the Pacific, the Huntley stands out as one of the best hotels in LA for watching sunsets over Santa Monica. For a long time, this prime location (just a stone’s throw from the Third Street Promenade and the ocean) lay unused. Today, redesigned by Thomas Shoos, the property is infused with a masterfully executed retro-chic aesthetic. Here, the experience unfolds as much in the privacy of the guest rooms as in the buzz of the upper floors.

Although compact, the rooms offer top-tier comfort with Italian sheets as soft as a cloud and exceptional bath amenities. But the true luxury is the view, particularly from The Penthouse restaurant—with its coastal-inspired cuisine and artisanal cocktails—and the Shoos-designed suites, where the infinity tubs offer a unique vantage point to gaze out over the bay.

We love: The panoramic glass elevator that, as it whisks you up to the rooftop, offers a spectacular preview of the sunset over the Pacific.

Huntley Santa Monica
209 rooms, rates starting at 495 euros per night
1111 2nd St, Santa Monica

5. Oceana Santa Monica | The Ultra-Chic Residential Retreat

The Style: A private, ivy-covered villa that redefines the California oasis.

Following a spectacular renovation, the Oceana has established itself as one of Los Angeles’ most exclusive luxury hotels. A hidden gem perfect for those seeking a more discreet and residential 5-star hotel in LA. Following a $30 million renovation, this oasis designed by Anna Busta stands out as the most serene spot on Ocean Avenue. Here, there’s no noisy lobby—just the atmosphere of a private club where guests can wander among hand-tufted Nepalese rugs and modern artworks.

The suites are truly spacious master apartments, decorated in ocean blue and neutral tones. Here, you’ll enjoy tactile luxury: plush bathrobes by Frette, Bottega Veneta amenities, and—for the lucky few—a private balcony with breathtaking views of the Pacific. 

Yonder’s tip: Round out your stay with lunch or dinner at La Monique, the hotel’s new chic French brasserie. Inspired by Hollywood Regency glamour and European sophistication, this elegant spot features a French menu created by David Fricaud, a semi-finalist on “Top Chef France.”

We love: The open-air courtyard, a true secret garden where you can relax by a pool lined with lemon trees and lavender, far from prying eyes.

Oceana Santa Monica
70 rooms, rates starting at 733 euros per night
849 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica

6. Gjelina Hotel | Rose Avenue’s Best-Kept Secret

The Style: A boho-chic bed-and-breakfast designed by the local kings of cool.

With its boho-chic aesthetic and “slow living” vibe, the Gjelina Hotel is one of LA’s trendiest new hotels that’s already winning over the entire California creative scene. While some say Venice Beach has lost its way a bit, drowned in magic crystals and tourist shops, that’s a bit too quick to forget that the neighborhood remains the temple of a certain California way of life. With the Gjelina Hotel, set to open in late 2023, Fran Camaj has pulled off another masterstroke: a motel-style residence that turns its back on the robotic standards of the luxury hotel industry to embrace “slow design.”

Here, every object and every piece of vintage furniture seems to have a story. In fact, almost everything is for sale. Forget about uniformed staff and cookie-cutter decor. The rooms at this design hotel are all unique, furnished with vintage pieces, handcrafted ceramics, and bouquets of wildflowers arranged on massive tables. You’ll instantly feel like a local, especially in the suites, which—with their fully equipped kitchens and sweeping views of the surf—feel like private apartments where you’d happily unpack your bags for a month. 

We love: Since the hotel doesn’t have a restaurant, breakfast is served at the neighboring Gjusta, surrounded by neighborhood regulars. It’s one of the city’s best spots, where steaming coffee and haute-couture pastries await you.

Gjelina Hotel 
27 rooms, rates starting at 263 euros per night
15 Rose Avenue, Venice Beach, Los Angeles

7. Chateau Marmont | A Sanctuary of Legends

The Style: A Gothic mansion where mystery is the ultimate luxury.

It’s impossible to talk about the best hotels in Los Angeles without mentioning the legendary Chateau Marmont. More than just a luxury hotel in LA, it’s a true Hollywood legend. Stepping through its doors is like slipping into a fascinating limbo where the melancholy of Sofia Coppola’s films mingles with the glamour of cinema’s golden age. This homage to the Château d’Amboise remains, even today, the most glamorous confessional in Los Angeles. Here, privacy is a religion defended with almost sacred fervor by staff whose discretion is as precise as a surgeon’s.

Between the bungalows nestled in the garden—where the shadows of Jean Harlow or Greta Garbo still seem to linger in the early morning—and the suites with their irresistibly old-school charm, time stands still. People don’t come to the Marmont for cold modernity, but for the legendary buzz that seeps from the walls and that vaulted terrace where, as night falls, the paths of those on the rise cross with those who savor their decline with panache.

We love: Strolling by the pool, a spot charged with electric tension, where you find yourself peering into the penthouse windows just as Howard Hughes once did, searching for a familiar figure.

Château Marmont
63 rooms, rates starting at 917 euros per night
8221 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles

8. Nobu Ryokan | A Japanese-inspired retreat 

The Style: Zen minimalism elevated to a major art form, with your feet in the Malibu surf.

The Nobu Ryokan ranks among the most exclusive and beautiful luxury hotels in LA. A minimalist and ultra-exclusive retreat overlooking the ocean. If you’re looking for the glitz and bustle of terraces where people jostle to be seen, look elsewhere. The Nobu Ryokan is a destination you have to earn, tucked away behind an entrance so discreet that you’d almost forget it houses one of the most exclusive retreats on the planet. Here, on the legendary Pacific Coast Highway, a former 1950s motel has been transformed into an ultra-luxurious Japanese inn, where light wood, polished teak, and linen blend seamlessly with the azure horizon.

In these sixteen suites alone, time stands still. Life moves to the rhythm of the sliding partitions, which guests gladly leave open to let the sound of the surf at Carbon Beach fill the space. You swap the traditional bathrobe for a silk yukata, immerse yourself in a deep Japanese cedar bathtub beneath a glass ceiling that offers a glimpse of California’s dramatic sunsets, and let yourself be lulled by the tea ceremony orchestrated in your room upon arrival. 

We love: Enjoying breakfast every morning, delivered by staff who seem to have the gift of invisibility, to be savored without leaving your bed, before deciding—or not—to head down the private staircase that leads directly to the fine sand.

Nobu Ryokan
16 rooms, rates starting at 2,000 euros per night
22752 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu
Official website