HOTEL

In Santa Monica, an Art Deco Landmark Is Ready for an Encore

Fettle infuses the storied Georgian Hotel with a modern take on Tinseltown glamour.

The Georgian Hotel. All photography by Douglas Friedman

In 1933, Mrs. Rosamond Borde had a vision in turquoise: a sumptuous getaway for Hollywood greats, rising on the Santa Monica coastline. With the help of architect M. Eugene Durfee, the Georgian Hotel became a favorite for everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Marilyn Monroe. This April, the hotel returns for its second act, refreshed by BLVD Hospitality and ESI Ventures, who brought in design firm Fettle to infuse the property with a modern take on Tinseltown glamour. 

The original Art Deco peepholes still adorn the 56 rooms and 28 suites, furnished with beds dressed in Bellino, antique bar carts, and Marshall speakers. Inside the suites, guests can push a button for champagne delivery or a cart of rare books to peruse on pastel sofas. For those wishing to be seen reading, the library is stocked with a collection of novels from, among others, Christopher Isherwood, who lived nearby. 

Other appetites can be satiated at the central restaurant, where chef David Almany—who worked with chef Nancy Silverton for almost a decade—plates elevated Italian dishes to pair with Jerom Morris’s digestivi-focused cocktail menu and a wine list featuring legacy Italian producers hand-selected by the talented Kristin Olszewski. Or venture downstairs to Georgian Room, a restaurant and piano bar which closed in the 1970s after serving as a clubhouse for Carole Lombard and Clark Gable. The Georgian isn’t existing in the past, though—in a nod to today’s Hollywood royalty, its Gallery 33 artspace opened with “Shedding, a Prelude,” a debut show from living icon Sharon Stone.

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