Shore Hotel

“top-notch”

A perfectly located hotel. No hesitation whatsoever to recommend this to other families/peeps. We're a family of four and we stayed a week. Easy walking distance to the beach, the Pier, the coastal bike trail, shops, restaurants, the terminus station 'Downtown Santa Monica'. Stable Wi-Fi con… more

A perfectly located hotel. No hesitation whatsoever to recommend this to other families/peeps. We're a family of four and we stayed a week. Easy walking distance to the beach, the Pier, the coastal bike trail, shops, restaurants, the terminus station 'Downtown Santa Monica'. Stable Wi-Fi connections. A few in our family are sensitive to noise but did not find Ocean Avenue noisy at all (thus being in a room close to a main road did not disturb sleep needs/patterns). Very comfortable beds (firm, deep mattresses) and linen. Exceptionally clean. We really enjoyed the coffee/tea options in the room. There was always an available housekeeper happy to top up coffee/tea supplies (when we needed to fight off jetlag). Some of the furniture inside and outside structures have had a few knocks from guests or maybe hoovers or whatnot over time and could perhaps be touched up a little but absolutely nothing that took away from the comfort of the room. The hotel bike amenities were reliable and uncomplicated to rent out - very sturdy and well maintained bikes with 'go-away' locks (proper size to discourage thefts). Although we never had a drink at the hotel bar it's a nice open (bright) setting in front of the reception area and to the other side you have wide open spaces with lots of comfy low down seating and opportunity to read the local newspaper or a book or simply hang out with younger kids. My hotel key-card wouldn't let me up in the lifts one day and I'd say that security is very tight as I was kept waiting until they were happy I was who I said I was. At that moment I found that situation really annoying but on reflection the staff were simply doing their jobs and keeping everyone safe. The hotel breakfast/brunch options were exceptional in terms of the quality of the options/dishes and presentation. Clearly a focussed and motivated kitchen and stiff competition for the other numerous local options. Staff always available to accommodate any extra food/drink dietary needs. Now on to the 'cherry on top': Adriano. Smiling just thinking of him. He definitely made the stay for all of us. He was like a very unexpected 'hug'. We needed a lot of guidance and tips (for local trips and others further away) and he delivered each time with long lists of tourist options and colour print outs and alternatives and countless directions and when the rain kept on coming down he surprised us with plates of cookies in the room in case we needed cheering-up (we didn't but appreciated the gesture and extra free calories)! A total legend and he always went the extra mile. More generally speaking there is a definite nice vibe about the place and it's possibly the strong team spirit as you see the staff joking and smiling and going about their business in a professional way. This naturally gives guests a good feeling and hope that staff are being looked after. We enjoyed nice exchanges and laughs with Lorena, Volkon, Joel and Tony. Tried and tested wonderful places to eat: Sweet Maple for breakfasts/brunches. Tar & Roses for an exquisite dinner you cannot forget in a hurry, The Cheesecake Factory for reliable meals and definitely more affordable. Bacio di Latte for excellent quality ice-cream and Orto for really genuine Italian food and bread to drool over. As an aside - the real reason for our trip to LA: when my son first started playing basketball (at a Frankfurt based club) he asked me “when will I turn the same colour as LeBron”. LeBron has been his hero ever since (he thought and hoped that if he trained harder, his skin colour would change and become darker). So to celebrate him turning 18 we made the ridiculously extravagant decision to travel to LA as a family in the hope that our son would get to see LeBron play on his 18th (he did and it was the highlight of 2026 for us all)!

less