Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel Review

Loews Santa Monica Beach offers a great value compared with the other upscale luxury hotels on the beach. This family-friendly and pet-friendly high-end hotel and has an unobstructed hilltop view of the ocean and the Santa Monica Pier. A stay at the Loews will be a memory that you will always treasure.

Loews' guests are given a warm Southern California welcome as they enter the 5-story tall atrium lobby with two rows of tall palm trees. Glass ceilings allow sunlight to enter while the fresh ocean breezes add to the seaside atmosphere. The chic and contemporary feel of the lobby permeates throughout the hotel. Papillion, the casual but elegant lobby bar serves wine, cocktails and tapas-style dishes. The Papillion Happy Hour is very popular. Guests may relax in the Fireside Lounge with its leather chairs by the fireplace overlooking the ocean. There is free Wi-Fi Internet access in the lobby as well as a grand piano with a regularly scheduled pianist to entertain you.

Loews, a relatively new hotel built in 1989 and was remodeled just a few years ago. The hotel features a large heated outdoor swimming pool and a Jacuzzi surrounded by a sundeck that provides spectacular ocean views from the hilltop. You can lounge at one of the many fire pits around the pool and order cocktails from the Papillion bar.

Loews has an in-house spa, the recently refurbished Ocean Spa and Fitness facility which has treatment rooms helping guests relax. Guests may also treat themselves to the lava shell massages, aroma-synergy massages with organic essential oils, and age-defying facials. The day spa has a sauna, steam rooms, eight treatment rooms, and a salon. Yoga and Pilates classes as well as personal training. For guests who want a work-out, a state-of-the-art fitness club is available with health and fitness counseling from experts. The hotel also has a 24-hour business center with computers and high-speed Internet access, printers, a fax machine and a photocopy machine.

For guests' dining needs, Loews showcases fresh ingredients from local farmers markets for the California cuisine served in the Ocean and Vine, the on-site restaurant. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served daily. The restaurant, with magnificent floor-to-ceiling windows, also offers ocean views. The restaurant featuring a stone fire pit surrounded by plush sofas. Guests may choose an indoor or outdoor table. Ocean and Vine also serves a wide array of wine.

The eight-storey Loews hotel has 342 guest rooms with many having spectacular ocean views. Since the hotel was built on a sloping hill above the beach, street access on Ocean Avenue is actually on the forth floor of the eight story high hotel with the bottom floor providing beach access. Each guest room has a contemporary feel with earthy colors reminiscent of life by the beach and some of the rooms have a small balcony. Each guest room comes with many amenities including flat panel TVs with premium television channels, pay movies, a video-game console and a CD player. The rooms also have blackout curtains, climate control, complimentary weekday newspaper, cribs available upon request, electronic magnetic keys, electronic check-out, in-room safe that is big enough for a laptop, Wi-Fi Internet access for a fee, a stocked minibar, a multi-line phone, a microwave upon request, premium bedding with goose-down duvets and pillows, 300-thread-count linens, hypo-allergenic bedding is available upon request, a refrigerator upon request, rollaway beds depending on the room, turndown service, and complimentary coffee. The bathroom is well appointed with a television, bathrobes, a bathroom scale, a telephone and Lather bath amenities.

There are gift shops and a newsstand. For business travelers, the Loews Santa Monica has a ballroom and conference rooms that can be configured for different events. It also provides the additional services such as ATM banking, complimentary newspapers in the lobby, concierge desk, multilingual staff, secure garage parking with valet service, safe-deposit box at the front desk, sauna, 24-hour security, tour assistance and wedding services.

The Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel offers good value for superb accommodations and service making this hotel great for vacationers or business travelers alike.