Travel
Santa Monica Is Having a Five-Star Hotel Renaissance
The tony enclave west of LA fell out of favor with cool Angelenos, but a clutch of new hotel openings and buzzy renovations have restored its luster.
The Georgian
Photographer: Douglas Friedman
The Georgian, a striking art deco landmark on Santa Monica’s Ocean Avenue, is both an icon and a mystery. Most anyone who’s driven the famed boulevard lining the Pacific Coast west of Los Angeles will have noticed its vibrant seafoam façade and cheerful yellow trim, but few stepped inside.
Opened in the 1930s as a sexy bolthole for Hollywood’s brightest stars (think Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe), the building had lost its luster: After decades as a private hotel, it was turned into a nursing home.