Santa Monica Proper

THE PROPERTY

Wilshire Boulevard at 7th Street sits ten minutes on foot from Santa Monica Beach and the Third Street Promenade, within Uber range of Venice, Brentwood, and West Hollywood. The hotel building occupies a position that Harvey understood in 1928 — the corner captures the coastal breeze and faces west toward the Pacific. The suspended bridge connecting the two wings is the architectural gesture that announces the hotel's intentions: two buildings from different centuries, linked by design rather than utility, both facing the same ocean.

LOBBY CULTURE

The lobby is Wearstler in her coastal register — vintage furniture sourced from shops across the globe, a custom reception desk she describes as faintly reminiscent of a beach shell, and a collection of local Californian artists whose work lines the ground floor gallery and library. Palma, the art-filled lobby lounge, handles all-day dining alongside a small-batch tequila and mezcal program and a natural wine list. An 11-foot stone arch anchors the lobby's sight line. The library nook with Cassina Soriana armchairs is the kind of designed pause that most hotels plan but few execute.

DESIGN NOTES

The original 1928 building rooms feature floral wallpaper, Roman blinds, and terracotta subway tiles — a homage to the Arts and Crafts heritage of the existing structure. The curvilinear extension rooms shift to a neutral palette of contemporary concrete and full-height windows, with a softer, more coastal energy. Both wings share Kelly Wearstler's signature stripe motif and the curved arc headboard she describes as echoing the California sunset at the horizon. Aesop amenities throughout. The suites have private terraces and custom-made headboards in scale with the architecture.

BAR & SHARED SPACES

Calabra on the rooftop is the only rooftop pool deck on the Westside — a Mediterranean-influenced restaurant and bar by chef Kaleo Adams, with open cabanas, locally sourced produce, boutique wines, and an ocean sunset view that justifies the booking difficulty. The Palma lounge handles breakfast and the mid-morning crowd in the lobby. Surya Spa is a flagship collaboration with Martha Soffer, an internationally recognized Ayurvedic doctor, offering age-old Indian wellness programs including massage, steam treatments, meditation, and Panchakarma. A Recovery Suite with cold plunge, infrared red light, and dry sauna operates alongside the Ammortal Chamber — combining infrared light, PEMF, and oxygen therapy — for guests who want the full program.

ROOMS THAT MATTER

The 262 rooms and suites divide between the two buildings in character as well as architecture. The original building suites with terraces are the strongest rooms in the hotel — floral wallpaper, terracotta tile, and a terrace facing the California sky. The extension suites are quieter and more minimal, with full-height windows and the curvilinear forms of the Howard Laks design. All rooms have Wearstler's arc headboard. The penthouse-level accommodations have the most direct relationship with the Calabra rooftop and the Pacific beyond.

THE VERDICT

The most complete wellness hotel in Los Angeles at a rate that makes it the best value in its category. The Surya Spa is serious. The Calabra rooftop is the best seat on the Westside. And Wearstler's interiors are her most site-specific work in California. Ten minutes from the beach. The Proper formula, at its highest register.

9.1

/ 10

Property

Santa Monica Proper

Brand

Proper Hospitality

Category

Design & Wellness

Rooms

262

Opened

2020

Address

700 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA

Design

Wellness

Los Angeles

Americas

Rooftop

Beach

Kelly Wearstler

Spa