The 11 Best Hotels in Santa Monica

Red-brick facade, wrought-iron balconies, mosaic tilework, and the Pacific about twenty feet away: Casa del Mar is a grand beachfront hotel in Santa Monica that has been drawing California's well-heeled to the sand since the Roaring Twenties. The eight-story property holds restaurants, a spa, and an outdoor pool overlooking the waves, plus a beach concierge who can sort you a surfboard. It holds a Michelin Key and a Forbes Four Star, in case the ocean view left any doubt.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star
2. Michelin Guide 1 Key
3. Time Out The 17 best hotels in Los Angeles

Shutters on the Beach is a luxury hotel sitting right on the Santa Monica sand, designed by Obama White House decorator Michael S. Smith in a style that mixes California ease with a little Northeast polish. Hockney and Oldenburg hang on the walls, fireplaces anchor the cozy corners, and the sea air follows you through the lobby. It holds a Forbes Four Star and a Michelin Key, and the crowd that books it tends to already know that.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star
2. Michelin Guide 1 Key
3. Time Out The 17 best hotels in Los Angeles

The Original Muscle Beach sits just out front, which tells you something about the neighborhood this hotel walked into. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the Pacific, the pool deck pulls everyone outside, and rooms come with marble soaking tubs and yoga mats in case you'd rather not think about the gymnasts next door. Michael Mina runs the Mediterranean restaurant. A Michelin Key and a Forbes Four Star.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Four Star
2. Michelin Guide 1 Key

Kelly Wearstler folded a 1920s Spanish Colonial building into a new construction on Wilshire, which is a neat trick and exactly the kind of thing you notice when you check in. The boutique hotel sits a few blocks from the beach, rooms running bright whites and sand-colored fabrics with vintage furniture doing its best to look casual about it. The rooftop bistro draws nightly crowds and Surya Spa has a following. Michelin awarded it one Key.

1. Michelin Guide 1 Key
2. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Recommended
3. The 50 The 50 Discovery

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Recommended
2. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

Ivy creeps up the facade of this all-suite boutique hotel one block from the Santa Monica Pier, where every room faces the Pacific and comes stocked with Frette linens, local art, and a minibar that takes itself seriously. The courtyard pool, ringed with lemon trees and James Perse loungers, is the kind of spot that makes you cancel afternoon plans. Sandpiper, the open-air restaurant, leans into California seasonal cooking.

1. Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Recommended
2. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide 1 Key

1. Michelin Guide 1 Key

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels

1. Michelin Guide Selected Hotels