UPDATE: comprehensive renovation in 2019 and since January 2021 part of LXR Hotels & Resorts by Hilton

Good (relatively quiet) location, large rooms, great staff:

If you want to stay at a hotel at the beaches of Los Angeles, they do not make it easy for you. The place to be in Santa Monica is supposed to be either The Shutter’s or the Casa del Mar. Yet my husband, my teenage son and I preferred the Oceana to these two hotels because the location is nicer (a bit away from the bustle around the pier). And you get here large, well-appointed rooms which offer lots of value for money.

We had booked an Ocean View Suite with the possibility of an upgrade to a Signature Ocean View Suite. And we finally got the later one. There is a large living room and a smaller bedroom. The bathroom is adequately sized, and in addition there is a small balcony with a stunning view of the Pacific Ocean. The hotel has a tastefully equipped courtyard with a pool which actually is the heart of the place. The atmosphere here was pleasant, relaxed and cool.



When it came to food, there is a small, nicely furnished restaurant. We did not dine here but only had breakfast. As to this, I have to say that I was not especially fond of it. Although the buffet was well assembled and there were delicious hot dishes to order, I did not feel very comfortable. Maybe this was due to the great number of small children or due to the fact that you had to help yourself to hot drinks from the buffet. A reason could have also been a cleanliness issue. Sometimes the tables and the floor beneath were not that clean. This was often the case when they were previously used by families with small children. But this is the only negative point I can think of. Apart from this, the young female employees who were in charge of the breakfast service were very friendly and helpful. The same is true for all the team members we had contact with. The valet parking staff, in particular, was exceptionally amiable.

A plus is the fact that there are bicycles at your disposal (complimentary for a certain time). Worth mentioning is also that you get a welcome drink (a glass of Prosecco). This was a nice touch which we only experienced at Oceana on our trip through the Southwest of the USA.

Overall, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Oceana for a few unwinding days at the beaches of Los Angeles.

Date of stay: July 2011