The Georgian Hotel

One of LA’s most legendary hotels (originally opened on Ocean Boulevard in 1933), The Georgian has been beautifully—and intelligently—re-imagined for travelers seeking a hotel with a sense of place and personality. Everything, from the eye-catching turquoise façade to the custom furniture in the 84 guestrooms (including 28 suites) exudes style, whimsy and an unabashed sense of fun. In its newest rendition, The Georgian has been resurrected as a Tinseltown It Girl that’s both cerebral and cool.

• The suites on the upper floors with prime ocean views and sizeable sitting rooms complete with full bars, record players and on-call buttons for “Dessert,” “Champagne,” or “Book Club”
• The vibe in the lobby bar, which toes the line between buzzy and discreet, from breakfast through late-night drinks
• The cozy Library full of titles about the City of Angels and decorated with works by British illustrator and artist Hugo Guinness
• The speakeasy-inspired Georgian Room, an Italian steakhouse that offers stiff drinks, great live music and a strict no-camera-phones policy

Checking in at The Georgian, one of Santa Monica’s most storied hotels that has been newly re-imagined as an unabashed Art Deco fantasy, should come with a warning label, because once you have seen a sunset from one of the upper floors of the eight-story hotel, it might forever spoil future ones, at least in L.A. As the glowing disc disappears into the Pacific in a razzle-dazzle of technicolor, it seems to wink directly at the iconic turquoise and gold-trimmed Georgian tower, which has sat in this choice location on Ocean Boulevard for more than nine decades.

The Georgian was opened in 1933 by the formidable Rosamond Borde, a feisty Californian hotelier who commissioned one of the time’s leading architects to create her vision of the ultimate stylish but discreet hideaway for Hollywood royalty (and indeed, the hotel’s early guests included everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Charlie Chaplin to the Kennedy clan). Between its glamorous first and now grand second act, the hotel loitered in disrepair until Jon Blanchard and Nicolo Ruscioni, of BLVD Hospitality, fell for the eight-story tower—iconic with its turquoise and gold-trimmed façade.

Infused with BLVD magic (the company is often credited with helping revitalize DTLA with such properties as the Hoxton and Soho House), The Georgian reopened in mid 2023 as the ultimate Art Deco fantasy—a boutique gem that is equal parts stylish, whimsical and cool. Interiors design firm Fettle clearly had a lot of fun reimagining the spaces,which feature Havana Deco floors, eye-catching fabrics in jewel tones (from blush-pink to deep purples), tasseled curtains and vases holding oversized feathers, and old-fashioned, gold-rimmed cocktail trolleys. But while everything has been decorated with a lot of old-Hollywood glamor, the design never takes away from the hotel’s focus on hospitality (the only detail firmly in the realm of movie-make-believe are the powder-blue bellhop uniforms that look straight out of Wes Anderson’s costume archive).

The 84 guest rooms are comfortable and chic, with custom Art Deco–inspired furnishings, scalloped headboards behind Bellino-dressed beds, Nespresso makers, Marshall speakers and—always a nice touch—a great book collection with titles about the city, curated by beloved Arcana Books (in nearby Culver City). This is a historic property, so all rooms come with different layouts and quirks (travelers who need massive bathrooms with separate showers and tubs should likely consider a different address).

To get the full experience of The Georgian, it is worth it to splurge on one of the 28 suites, which come with sizeable sitting rooms, a record player with a selection of albums curated by Ubiquity Records, and a panel of old-fashioned gilded buttons that can be pressed for “Champagne” “Dessert” or “Book Club”—the three Georgian essentials that perfectly sum up the ambience here. Suites also have fully stocked bars, in case there’s a hankering for a Negroni with your sunset.

In historic pedigree and Tinseltown vibes, The Georgian is in conversation with two other L.A. icons across town: Chateau Marmont, in the Hollywood Hills, and Sunset Tower, in West Hollywood. But while these two can feel a touch more masculine, The Georgian is clearly powered by women, as if the spirit of its feisty first hotelier persists. A large drawing of Virginia Woolf presides over the Library, a snug space on the ground floor where guests can come for reading, writing and board games. If this hotel had a modern-day patron saint, it would likely be Joan Didion, the quintessential cool girl, whose books are found in every room.

Besides the Library, ground-floor amenities include a Writer’s Room, which can host private dinners for up to twelve people, a small 24-hour gym (light-filled and with top-notch equipment), and an art gallery with rotating exhibitions. The lobby holds a petite bar with plush velvet-covered stools, as well as the restaurant, which also has seating on a plant-shaded terrace facing Ocean Boulevard. Menus are the kind Italian-Californian cuisine where everyone from picky to allergy-constricted eaters can easily find something delicious. (Breakfast is à la carte as well, and not included in the room rate.)

The Georgian Room, a speakeasy-inspired steakhouse in the basement, is only open Thursday through Sunday and requires a reservation. It is reached via a separate doorway with a buzzer, and phone-cameras are banned (a privacy sticker is placed across your phone before you enter). The U-shaped bar has been built around a gorgeous 1918 Steinway piano—all meals at the Georgian Room also come with a notable side of music and a roster of rotating singers (some of them also Hollywood royalty, like Albert Brooks’s daughter Claire).

These days, it is increasingly rare to find ambitious hospitality projects that eschew a safer crowd-pleasing concept in favor of a bold statement of personality and point of view. The Georgian has both of these—and then some. It is not right for everyone, but travelers who prefer hotels with a story (in this case many) and a distinct sense of place, will fall for the so-called “first lady” of Santa Monica, her turquoise, beautifully restored face forever turned toward the sea. Even the key cards you’re given at check in remind, in gilded lettering: “come for the sunset.”

Even if you’re not staying at The Georgian, make a reservation on Spaghetti Sunday, where a classic Italian meal is served in the Georgian Room—it’s a kitschy red-sauce Italian feast and a lot of fun for the family, especially if you have kids in tow and can’t come to the fabled speakeasy on another night.

Couples and friends traveling together, as well as solo travelers. While the Georgian welcomes children, the vibe is more adult. People who love hotels with a sense of history and place should be happy here. There is no spa on the premises and (currently) no pool, even though there is one in the works to open late 2024/early 2025.