To achieve this delightful design scheme when it reopened in 2023, many of the building’s original details were saved, including the ornate peepholes on the 84 guest room doors, bathroom tile, the massive rooftop nameplate and the trademark robin’s-egg blue and gold exterior while plenty of velvet, pastels, feathers and crown molding were employed.
New elements also add on-theme pizazz to the experience. There’s the smiling bellhop in a powdery blue retro uniform complete with pillbox hat and candy dishes overflowing with saltwater taffy. Bubbles are poured at check-in, which occurs in front of an old-school key rack, tassels hung from every hook. Playful Hugo Guinness prints adorn a library stocked with coffee table reads, books by Angeleno authors like Eve Babitz and Joan Didion, and board games and guitars you can borrow. Ever-changing motivational quotes are punched out and displayed on a vintage typewriter near the elevators. Even the public powder room wows with coral tile, botanical wallpaper featuring parrots and a tufted settee.
Just as it did when it debuted in 1933, “The First Lady” (so nicknamed because it was the tallest building in town when it was opened by lady hotelier Rosamond Borde) attracts celebrities and chic clientele, especially in the U-shaped lobby bar and the dimly lit Italian steakhouse tucked below street level. The rich and famous likely appreciate the strict no-phones policy as much as the dry-aged 42-ounce porterhouse. Guests might also spot a familiar face in an art gallery that doubles as a meeting space that regularly holds shows and salons. Actor Sharon Stone was one of the first creatives to exhibit there.
- The art deco sophistication, nostalgic appreciation, theatrical flair and the amenities that put the “fun” in functional continue upstairs in all 84 rooms. Rich colors like raw sienna, tranquil ivory, petal pink and too many blue hues to namecheck are expertly juxtaposed with floral prints and geometric patterns. Ornamental mirrors, brass Waterworks fixtures, plush area rugs and striped throw pillows are straight out of a French street market or an Anthropologie display.
- The 28 spacious corner suites are worth the splurge. Record players, carafes of water, dining tables and well-curated minibars with local snacks, premium spirits and a candle of the hotel’s signature scent make the spaces feel like a cozy apartment. But the panel of buttons that call champagne and caviar, dessert (do not sleep on the chocolate chip cookies) or a cart of books to your doorstep whenever the fancy strikes is a quick reminder that your slippered feet are firmly planted in a swanky hotel room.
- Soft robes fit both tall frames and plus-sized curves without sacrificing the personality that slays in social media posts.
- Both restaurants, which are serviced out of the same kitchen, skirt the stigma often associated with hotel dining. Sirena, the more casual option with indoor and outdoor seating, serves three meals a day emphasizing salads, pasta and seafood. The Georgian Room is darker, sexier and livelier with its voice-monitored secret entrance, crimson walls, photogenic but stiff drinks, a storied past that includes Dick Van Dyke’s first paying gig in vaudeville. Pianists are joined here by vocalists and other jazz instrumentalists for late-night weekend sessions.
- The water is never far from view, whether guests are staring contemplatively at the ocean out their room’s giant windows, dining on a short rib barbacoa breakfast burrito on Sirena’s covered terrace or taking the salty air in the cliff-top parkway that fronts the hotel at sunset. It’s a quick walk to the Santa Monica Pier, Third Street Promenade and beloved restaurants on Main Street.
- While the boutique hotel is not geared to children, there are some double-queen room configurations and The Georgian Room’s four-course prix-fixe Spaghetti Sundays, where the whole family is invited to feast of garlic bread, chicken and eggplant parm and meatballs made using the owner’s grandpa’s recipe.
- A palm tree-dotted swimming pool and adjoining “pool house” (currently the Writer’s Room meeting space/private dining room) are coming by early 2026.
- The gym is small but mighty with Pelotons, multipurpose machines and various strength training accessories. For a more private workout, find the top-end Alo yoga mat in your room’s closet and tune in to exercise classes on the TV.
- To take advantage of its proximity to the Pacific, the Santa Monica hotel can organize a day of yachting on an Italian-designed Riva yacht or set up a custom picnic with fringed umbrellas and beach chairs in the sand. There’s also a fleet of Priority bikes available to borrow for a coastal cruise along the 22-mile trail that stretches from Pacific Palisades to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.
- Curiosity is rewarded with Easter eggs hidden in plain sight. Take the time to look closer at art that reveals past notable guests. Find the phone where eavesdropping on conversations from a bygone era leads to clues that lead to treats.
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