Santa Monica Pier, with its glittering, solar-powered, neon Ferris wheel (the only one in the world), sits at the tail end of Route 66 like a prize for all those who made their way down it. A finger of Americana, poking out into the Pacific, which Charlie Chaplin was the first of many to use as a film location (in 1914); where, according to local lore, cartoonist Elzie Segar doodled Popeye into life from his studies of a retired sailor; and the place in the 1960s that Joan Baez, Charles Bukowski and other choreographers of California counterculture would adopt as their louche hangout.
As busy today as it’s ever been, the pier sits right outside my window at the newly opened Regent Santa Monica Beach, the latest manifestation of the hotel brand’s renaissance, and the first in the US since Richard Gere was last seen cavorting in the Regent Beverly Wilshire with Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.
This latest Regent opening is a $150m thorough redesign of the old Loews Hotel, opened in 1989, and what was previously run of the mill is suddenly running ahead of the crowd.
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Stay
The 347 Loews rooms have been transformed into 167 very spacious ones, the majority enjoying ocean views, culminating in the spectacular 3,200-sq-ft Santa Monica Suite.
Working within the footprint of the old 1980s structure and its atrium-style lobby will have proved challenging for award-winning NYC design studio, AvroKO. With “thinking sideways” as part of its mission statement, however, the brains at the studio have clearly thought their way around a few corners to deliver a sleek marble-lined contemporary property that impresses right from the threshold.
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Guests are drawn further and further in, until they come face to face with a sun-strafed ocean and the gymnastic exertions of Muscle Beach (the original one), which is located steps from the hotel. Calming shades of pastel blues and creams embrace a coastal design aesthetic for the rooms and interiors that is stylishly and elegantly deployed.
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Dine
The hotel hosts the first outpost outside of the Bay Area for Ayesha Curry’s Sweet July cafe concept, along with Orla, the latest opening from acclaimed West Coast chef Michael Mina. Occupying the oceanside half of the lobby area, with a bar at its center, and divided into different spaces including private dining and a terrace, this is a significant operation.
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Mina, whose impressive culinary trajectory has incorporated James Beard awards and Michelin stars, presides over more than 30 restaurants. Just two, however, are anchored in the Egyptian cuisine of his upbringing: the flagship Michael Mina restaurant, now relocated from San Francisco to Las Vegas, and the new Orla here.
Though he was only two years old when his parents left Egypt, the cuisine of Cairo remains embedded in Mina’s DNA. His skill has been to take the staples of Middle Eastern cooking and elevate them with creative embellishments into a singularly accomplished hybrid haute cuisine, with dishes like zucchini fritters topped with caviar or crispy falafel garnished with Urfa-dusted bigeye tuna. His repurposing of classic Arab dishes in this way is masterfully executed, with Orla destined to emerge as one of the most coveted fine dining destinations along the Southern California coastline.
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Relax
With waves rhythmically crashing in the distance and the laconic ebb and flow of beach life unfolding outside, simply stepping into the Regent is at once calming. Absorbing far-reaching views from its fourth-floor elevation, the pool deck area is the go-to location for outdoor R&R. The pool itself, due to planning constraints, retains its compact 1980s configuration. An extension would no doubt have been welcome, though beach butlers will happily escort guests toward lounge chairs waiting at the edge of the biggest outdoor ‘pool’ on the planet, aka the Pacific Ocean.
The preeminent wellness offering at the Regent is the 10,000-sq-ft Guerlain Wellness Spa, the first outpost on the West Coast, from one of France’s oldest (established in 1828) and most highly revered skincare and cosmetics houses, proffering world-class facials and massages. Already established in some of the most prestigious locations around the world, this new Guerlain spa exudes an air of refined opulence that’s almost certainly set to raise LA’s wellness bar.
Explore
Visits to the many attractions the sprawling metropolis has to offer are readily facilitated by the Regent staff. Most accessible is the nearby Getty Villa, while Santa Monica’s 3rd Street Promenade with its farmers market is just a stroll away. It may be that the most rewarding excursion isn’t found in the vastness of the city but by simply stepping onto the beach, where a never-ending swath of Angelinos busily buzz back and forth along the 22-mile biking and walking trail that runs right in front of the hotel
Santa Monica Suite from $18,000 per night. Contact santamonica@regenthotels.com, +1 800 935 4858, regenthotels.com
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