Food & Drink
Restaurant
Rustic Canyon
Daily-changing menu driven by the Wednesday farmers market. Michelin-recognized. James Beard–nominated. Chef Jeremy Fox. 300-bottle wine list curated by Kathryn Coker.
Fine Dining
Mélisse
Two Michelin stars, 20+ years under chef Josiah Citrin. French-American tasting menu. Wed–Sat evenings. Reserve well ahead.
Boulangerie
Petitgrain Boulangerie
Eater LA's 38 Best Restaurants. Imported French butter, California grains. Lines form early. Sells out by 1pm. The bakery recommendation.
Tasting Menu
Seline
38-seat experience by James Beard–winner Dave Beran. Michelin Guide. 15–18 courses in a midnight-black room. Book weeks ahead.
French Bistro
Pasjoli
Reconcepted in 2025 as a relaxed neighbourhood bistro by Dave Beran. À la carte, convivial, and distinctly French without being heavy. The pressed duck — rolled to the table on a cart — is the move.
Italian
Felix Trattoria
Two-time James Beard–nominated chef Evan Funke making regional Italian pasta by hand in an open kitchen on Abbot Kinney. Watch cacio e pepe and squash blossoms come together from your seat. The best handmade pasta in the city.
Steakhouse
American Beauty
Venice's design-forward neighbourhood steakhouse. Chops grilled over almond wood, finished with salt and butter. Sour cream–stuffed hash browns. Chef Elisha Ben-Haim's vegetable dishes rival the meat.
Spanish Tapas
Xuntos
Chef Sandra Cordero's bi-level tapas bar in downtown Santa Monica. Gambas al ajillo, fried anchovies, razor clams in season. Four sleek rooms, each with a different energy. The kind of place that makes you stay for one more glass of Albariño.
Seafood
Dudley Market
Baja California chef Diego Hernandez transformed this Venice seafood spot in 2022. Fresh-caught fish, oysters on the half shell, natural wine. Mornings, Hooked serves Nicely Abel's exceptional coffee. Hi-Fi tunes in the evening.
Southeast Asian
Cobi's
Michelin Guide–listed. Nasi goreng, beef rendang, papaya salad, and peanut-infused African curry in a maximalist, flower-strewn Main Street dining room. Weekend fried chicken with Thai chiles is the move. The design alone is worth the visit.
Café & Bakery
Huckleberry Bakery & Café
The Rustic Canyon Family's morning institution. Farmers-market pastries, artisan coffee, gourmet provisions. A neighborhood cornerstone.
Thai
Holy Basil
Bangkok street food by chefs Deau & Joy — but the Santa Monica menu goes further than their original. Exclusive dishes: salted egg yolk calamari, boat noodle beef, dungeness crab fried rice. Lively, wok-fired, and perpetually packed.
Café
Goodboybob Coffee Roasters
Independent, roasting since 2006. Voted Santa Monica's most loved coffee shop. The local's daily ritual.
Deli · Est. 1925
Bay Cities Italian Deli
A Santa Monica institution for a century. The Godmother — prosciutto, mortadella, capicola, salami on a fresh-baked filone roll — is one of the great sandwiches in American food. Wed–Sun only. Order ahead.
Bar · Est. 1953
Father's Office
The original. Chef Sang Yoon's tiny Montana Avenue bar — where the Office Burger was born — has been pouring rare craft beers since 1953. No substitutions, no ketchup, no exceptions. The burger is worth it.
Design & Architecture
Landscape Architecture
Tongva Park
James Corner Field Operations (the High Line). Six acres of native planting and landform on the site of a former parking lot. A ULI Global Award finalist.
Park · Est. 1892
Palisades Park
A 26-acre blufftop promenade above the Pacific, established in 1892. At the western end of Wilshire — the hotel's own street — where Route 66 meets the ocean. One of the great urban park walks in California.
Architecture
The Gehry Residence
Frank Gehry's most important house — a Dutch Colonial bungalow wrapped in corrugated metal and chain-link. AIA 25-Year Award. Private. Viewable from the sidewalk.
Architecture
Horatio West Court
Irving Gill, 1919. Four concrete houses that predated the International Style by a decade. Richard Neutra published them in 1930. Santa Monica's first National Register landmark.
Architecture
Eames House (Case Study #8)
Reopened July 2025 after the Palisades Fire. Charles & Ray Eames's 1949 studio-home — National Historic Landmark. Studio now open to the public for the first time. Book ahead.
Architecture
Strick House
Oscar Niemeyer's only residential building in North America. Designed entirely by mail from Rio in 1963. Private — viewable from La Mesa Drive.
Culture
Gallery Complex
Bergamot Station
~20 galleries on a former Red Car trolley site. Peter Fetterman photography. Robert Berman. Craig Krull. The city has earmarked the site for redevelopment — its future is uncertain, which makes visiting now all the more urgent.
Cinema
Aero Theatre
1940 Streamline Moderne cinema built by Douglas Aircraft for factory workers. Now American Cinematheque — 35mm, 70mm, nitrate prints, filmmaker Q&As.
Artist Residency
18th Street Arts Center
The largest artist residency in Southern California, founded 1988. 400+ international artists. Free public events every first and third Tuesday.
Books & Records
Angel City Books & Records
Santa Monica's last independent bookshop with a vinyl section. No online sales. Used Hemingway beside jazz records. Owner-operated, analog, irreplaceable.
Heritage Site
Annenberg Community Beach House
On the site of Hearst's 1920s estate for Marion Davies, designed by Julia Morgan. Ornate pool, original tile, marble deck. Free docent tours and year-round gallery exhibitions.
Bookshop
Zibby's Bookshop
Books organized by mood and emotion rather than genre. Daily programming. The freshest literary arrival on Montana Avenue.
Wellness
Spa · In-House
Surya Spa
Ayurvedic sanctuary by Martha Soffer — one of America's most respected practitioners. Treatment oils herbalized nightly. Four-handed Abhyanga, Shirodhara, Panchakarma programs.
Infrared Hot Yoga
Sweat Yoga
Infrared-heated yoga in a dark room with no mirrors. The heat, the music, and the absence of your own reflection create something closer to meditation than exercise. Santa Monica's most serious hot yoga studio.
Lagree Reformer
Pilates Platinum
The hardest Pilates class in Santa Monica. Lagree-method reformer that leaves former college athletes shaking. Walk-in friendly. Free parking in the structure next door.
Heated Reformer
Tunnel Pilates
Contemporary heated reformer Pilates born in Venice Beach. Red-light infrared rooms, music-driven sessions rooted in biomechanics. Dark, atmospheric, physically demanding. The opposite of soft wellness.
Infrared Sauna + Red Light
Perspire Sauna Studio
Private infrared sauna suites with full-spectrum heat, medical-grade red light therapy, and SNØ cold showers. Walk-in recovery on Montana Avenue — no membership required.
Running
San Vicente Boulevard
The Westside's great running corridor — a wide grassy median planted with ~120 protected coral trees, soft underfoot, minimal traffic lights. Runs from the ocean through Brentwood. Where serious runners and casual walkers share the same path every morning.
Outdoor Training
The Santa Monica Stairs
Two sets of wooden stairways descending into Santa Monica Canyon at 4th Street and Adelaide Drive. A legendary local fitness circuit — the kind of place where trainers, surfers, and film directors all show up before 7am.
History & Context
Cultural Landmark
Birthplace of Skateboarding
Dogtown Coffee (2003 Main St) stands on the site of Jeff Ho's Zephyr Surf Shop — where Jay Adams, Tony Alva, and Stacy Peralta invented modern skateboarding. City-designated landmark, 2007.
Civil Rights History
Bay Street Beach Historic District
A 100-year-old African American seaside cultural landscape. National Register (2019). Nick Gabaldón — the first documented Black surfer — learned to ride waves here in the 1940s.
Art History
Diebenkorn's Ocean Park
Richard Diebenkorn created his 145-work Ocean Park series from a studio at Ashland & Main, 1966–1988. Sam Francis worked in the same building. The light is still there.
Architecture & Film
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium
Welton Becket's 1958 concrete masterwork. Hosted the Academy Awards 1961–1968. Sidney Poitier's historic win, the T.A.M.I. Show. Parabolic pylons visible from the street.
Shop
Destination Compound
Brentwood Country Mart
LA institution since 1948 beneath a red barn roof. Jenni Kayne, goop, James Perse, Dôen, Broken English Jewelry, and Diesel — a bookstore. Farmshop for lunch. Sweet Rose Creamery after. The best single shopping stop on the Westside.
Design & Homeware
OK the Store
The most design-credible shop on Main Street. Noguchi lamps, Heath ceramics, fine jewelry, and objects that would look right inside a Schindler or a Neutra home. Sister location in Tokyo at Ron Herman.
High Fashion
Maxfield Malibu
The Malibu outpost of LA's legendary multi-brand boutique. Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Rick Owens, and exclusive capsule drops in a gallery-like space at the Lumber Yard. The most rarefied shopping in Malibu.
Luxury Jewelry & Leather
Chrome Hearts
The Laurens' LA-born luxury house. Handmade sterling silver, leather, and eyewear — all produced at their Hollywood factory. The Malibu Country Mart location is quieter than West Hollywood. A cult brand with a celebrity clientele and zero advertising.
Heritage Americana
Double RL & Co.
Ralph Lauren's vintage-inspired line — rugged denim, hand-distressed leather, Native American jewelry, and workwear that looks like it was pulled from a 1970s ranch. The Malibu Country Mart store feels like a cabin. A world apart from the main label.
Kelly Wearstler's Picks
"The Proper Hotels hold a special place in my heart because they embody everything I love about Los Angeles. Each space tells the story of its neighborhood through a dialogue of custom furniture, curated art, and local design elements. They're layered, unexpected, and pure LA."
Design Destination
The Window
Kelly's most-cited design destination in LA — a showroom she calls "pure magic." Rare vintage mixed with contemporary pieces in a way that feels distinctly Los Angeles. Part shop, part gallery, entirely essential.
Shop & Gallery
Maxfield
Kelly lists Maxfield among her top LA boutiques — part fashion concept store, part art space. The kind of place that resists category. A Melrose institution with the curation of a private collection.
Restaurant
E. Baldi
Kelly's go-to for the mix of "sophisticated and relaxed — quintessentially LA." A family-run Italian in Beverly Hills where she goes for both business lunches and family dinners. The pasta is the draw; the warmth is what brings her back.
Design & Antiques
JF Chen
Kelly's go-to for antiques and objects — a legendary LA dealer spanning 20th-century design from California Modernism to French Art Deco to rare Asian antiques. The kind of sourcing destination that informs her interiors.
Find Us 700 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best neighborhood to stay in Santa Monica?
The Wilshire corridor — where Santa Monica Proper sits — gives you proximity to both the beach and the city's most concentrated design, dining, and cultural life, without the tourist density of the pier area. It's walkable to Michelin-starred restaurants, the Wednesday farmers market, Tongva Park, and the Metro E Line to downtown Los Angeles.
What are the best restaurants near Santa Monica Proper Hotel?
Within a five-minute walk: Rustic Canyon (Michelin-recognized, daily farmers market menu), Mélisse (two Michelin stars), Petitgrain Boulangerie (Eater LA's best bakery), and Huckleberry Café. A short bike ride reaches Seline (Michelin Guide, James Beard–winner Dave Beran's 15–18 course tasting menu) and Pasjoli — Dave Beran's relaxed French bistro on Main Street, reconcepted in 2025 with a lively à la carte menu and the best pressed duck in the city.
Is Santa Monica walkable from the hotel?
Yes. Santa Monica Proper has a Walk Score in the 90s. Tongva Park, the farmers market, and half a dozen restaurants are under ten minutes on foot. The hotel provides complimentary electric bikes for everything slightly farther — Main Street, Montana Avenue, Bergamot Station, and the ocean are all flat and bikeable in under twenty minutes. The Metro E Line station is an 8-minute walk south at 4th & Colorado.
What architecture should I see near Santa Monica Proper?
Start with Tongva Park (0.15 miles (3 min walk), James Corner Field Operations). Then Horatio West Court (Irving Gill, 1919 — a proto-modernist masterpiece), the Gehry Residence (chain-link and corrugated metal, viewable from the sidewalk), and the Edgemar Complex on Main Street. For a half-day excursion, the Eames House in Pacific Palisades has recently reopened after the Palisades Fire.
What is Bergamot Station and is it still open?
Bergamot Station (2525 Michigan Ave) is a complex of roughly twenty galleries on the site of a former Red Car trolley station — the most significant art destination in Santa Monica. As of early 2026, it remains fully operational but faces redevelopment pressure from the city. Visit now. It's accessible by Metro E Line (26th St/Bergamot stop) or a 6 miles (20-minute bike ride) from the hotel.
What wellness experiences are available near the hotel?
Surya Spa is inside the hotel itself — an Ayurvedic sanctuary by Martha Soffer, designed by Kelly Wearstler. Within walking distance: Bryan Kest's Power Yoga East (the first donation-based yoga studio in the West, established 1995), InsightLA for Vipassanā meditation, and Santa Monica Homeopathic Pharmacy, operating since 1944.
How do I get from Santa Monica Proper to Venice or West Hollywood?
Venice and Abbot Kinney Boulevard are a 5 miles (15-minute bike ride) south along the beach path. The Metro E Line stops one block from the hotel (Downtown Santa Monica station) and connects to Culver City and downtown LA in under an hour. West Hollywood is best by rideshare — approximately 25 minutes in light traffic.
