L.A.’s Westside News

Indagare’s Simone Girner shares the latest from La La Land, specifically how a clutch of new openings is reinvigorating Santa Monica and Venice.

After years of little-to-no-news, the hotel scene in LA’s Westside is suddenly the talk-of-the-town. At the heart of the buzz is The Georgian, a Santa Monica icon (originally opened in 1933) that has been re-imagined as the ultimate Art Deco fantasy by the beach, complete with 84 whimsically designed guestrooms (including 28 suites) and a seriously buzzy lobby scene. Developed by Jon Blanchard and Nicolo Ruscioni, the creatives behind BLVD Hospitality often credited with helping revitalize DTLA with such properties as the Hoxton and Soho House, this new rendition of The Georgian is stylish but also smart. It’s the kind of hotel where you can imagine Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion and Sofia Coppola hosting the ultimate dinner party in the Georgian Room, the hotel’s glam speakeasy in the basement (reservations required).

Down the coast in Venice, meanwhile, the Gjelina Group has opened its first hotel—Vitorrja—in a two-story building on Rose Avenue, a block away from the boardwalk and with 26 rooms and apartments in the culinary group’s signature vintage-cool style. There’s no restaurant but stocked kitchenettes and, naturally, Gjelina and Gjusta just down the street.

Back in Santa Monica, at the classic Shutters on the Beach a full lobby refresh is in the works (to be completed in 2025), while the Kelly Wearstler–designed Santa Monica Proper and the residential Palihouse continue to draw more price-sensitive travelers who like to feel like residents part of the scene (the Proper’s rooftop Calabra is one of the best spots for an afternoon cocktails, even though Élephante is still going strong in the drinks-with-a-view category as well).