Viceroy Santa Monica

Editorial score of 8.7 of 10, the composite average of the three factors above (Rooms, Service, Location). Method at our methodology page. Affiliate disclosure: booking links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you, and never change our verdict.

Who is the Viceroy Santa Monica for?

Viceroy Santa Monica is for the traveller who wants the Santa Monica location without the on-the-sand price, and who values a good pool and a lively bar over marble grandeur. The 162 rooms occupy a property near the northern end of Ocean Avenue, up on the bluff beside Palisades Park, with the Pacific in the middle distance and the Santa Monica Pier a short walk away. A 2023 renovation refreshed the accommodation and the pool deck, so the hotel now reads as a confident coastal boutique rather than a tired one, with bright rooms, coastal art and a pool programme that draws a crowd on a warm afternoon. It understands Santa Monica better than most hotels in the bracket, which is the real reason to book it.

Set your expectations for a mid-tier boutique rather than a five-star resort and it delivers cleanly. Service is engaged and friendly rather than anticipatory, the concierge knows the neighbourhood well, and the Sugar Palm restaurant works as both a hotel dining room and a spot locals actually use. The honest trade-offs are real: the hotel sits above Ocean Avenue rather than on the beach, so the sand is a short walk down the bluff rather than out the front door, and the ocean views are partial from many rooms rather than full-frontal. If you want to step straight onto the sand, Shutters on the Beach a few blocks south is the alternative. For value in Santa Monica, the Viceroy is the correct choice.

What are the best rooms to request?

Request an ocean-view room on a higher floor, and if the plan involves the pool crowd, a room set away from the deck for quieter nights. The rooms are contemporary and well kept, bright and beach-chic after the 2023 renovation, with quality linens, coastal artwork, Bluetooth speakers and Natura Bissé bath products, and in the better categories a partial ocean or garden outlook that justifies the step up. The suites add a living-room separation that works for a couple who want space or a light-duty working stay. Entry rooms are comfortable and pleasant rather than dramatic, so book by view and floor rather than by square footage.

One honest caveat: this is a boutique on a busy stretch of Ocean Avenue, so lower rooms and those over the pool can catch weekend energy and street noise, and the ocean views are partial rather than the full-frontal panorama that a beachfront hotel promises. Ask for a higher, quieter room facing the water, and the trade-off shrinks. If a silent, cocooned room is the priority over location and value, this is not the hotel, but for a Santa Monica base it does the job well.

What is the dining and the bar scene like?

Dining and drinking centre on Sugar Palm, the hotel's indoor-outdoor restaurant and bar and the reason a lot of non-guests turn up. It runs a wraparound bar, a modern dining room, an outdoor terrace, a coffee bistro and poolside cabana service, which means it can carry you from a morning coffee through lunch to a proper dinner without ever feeling like a captive hotel kitchen. The cooking is California coastal, solid and unfussy rather than showy, and the room has the easy energy that Santa Monica does well. It is the sort of hotel bar that draws a local crowd, which is the best sign a hotel restaurant can give.

Does it have a pool?

Yes, and the pools are one of the hotel's strongest cards. There are two outdoor pools on the deck, refreshed in the 2023 renovation and fitted with private cabanas, and the layout serves two moods: a social pool that fills with weekend energy and a quieter one for guests who want the water without the scene. Cabana bookings and pool day passes are available, so the deck is a genuine daytime venue rather than a token amenity, and a fitness centre and garden terrace round out the wellness side. There is no full spa on site, so book treatments through the hotel or nearby if that matters to your stay.

Signature amenities

Above Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica

The location is the strongest single reason to book, and it rewards travellers who want to leave the car parked. Palisades Park runs along the bluff right outside, the beach path to Venice is a short walk or a quick bike ride down the hill, and the Third Street Promenade and the restaurants of Montana Avenue are both an easy stroll inland, so a whole day can happen on foot. The Santa Monica Pier sits just south, and the Expo Line light rail links the area to Downtown Los Angeles without the freeway. Valet parking is available if you do drive, and the hotel is roughly 25 minutes from LAX in moderate traffic, though that figure swings widely with the time of day. For a base that trades the on-the-sand address for genuine walkability and a lower rate, this stretch of Ocean Avenue is hard to beat.

The rooms, the pools, the terrace

Exterior

Guest room

Pool deck

Sugar Palm

How does Viceroy Santa Monica compare with other Los Angeles hotels?

Against the field, the Viceroy is the value play for staying in Santa Monica, and the choice comes down to how close to the sand you need to be and how much you want to spend. Shutters on the Beach, a few blocks south, sits directly on the sand and charges accordingly, the pick if the beach itself is the point. Hotel Bel-Air is the city's top hotel, a secluded garden estate up in the hills for a completely different, and far pricier, kind of stay. Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills is the modern Beverly Hills tower for shopping and proposals rather than the coast. The Viceroy's own trade-off is that it is above Ocean Avenue rather than on the beach, with partial rather than full ocean views, which is exactly why it costs less.

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