Call it the beach suite wars. In Los Angeles, the beach hotels along Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica are gearing up for a once-in-a-generation run with a cascade of global events that will test just how luxurious a seaside stay can get. If you’ve got a few extra bitcoin sitting around, now might be a good time to use them.

It starts in May, when Stanley Clarke premieres the Santa Monica International Jazz Festival, headlined by Kamasi Washington in Tongva Park just opposite the Santa Monica Pier. This summer, the FIFA World Cup arrives in Los Angeles, bringing a Michelob Ultra Pitchside Club takeover to the Pier. In the fall, Goldenvoice, the force behind Coachella, will launch a major new beachfront music festival adjacent to the Pier, with plans to draw 35,000 fans annually through 2028.

An ESPN fan festival follows in 2027. And then comes the biggest event of all: the 2028 Summer Olympics, with the Annenberg Community Beach House transforming into Club France—the official hospitality hub for the French Olympic delegation.

Santa Monica Beach Hotels—The Sweetest Beach Suites In Los Angeles

You can almost feel the thread counts competing.

At Shutters on the Beach, the 1,300-square-foot Beach House Suite has oceanfront views, two fireplaces and multiple balconies right over the sand. Next door, Casa del Mar's top-floor Penthouse Suites, converted from 1920s racquetball courts, max out at 1,800 square feet with direct water views and hydrothermal spa tubs. Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows counters with Bungalow One, a three-bedroom, three-and-three-quarter-bath beach house of 2,500 square feet under palms by the pool.

And I haven’t even mentioned The Georgian, The Sandbourne, The Viceroy or Oceana Santa Monica, LXR Hotels & Resorts.

The Ultimate Beach Pad In Santa Monica

If there’s one standout on the suite front, it’s the Regent Santa Monica Beach. The hotel opened in late 2024 after a $150 million renovation that reduced the 340-room former Loews property to 167 rooms by combining them.

Today, entry-level accommodations start at 720 square feet and come standard with soaking tubs, rainfall showers, Dyson hairdryers, full-sized Perricone MD products and toilets with separate bidets. You can borrow an e-bike and zip over to Venice, and the hotel will launder and press your clothing gratis (well, three items) when you get back. The Regent earned a Michelin Key in its first year.

The 10,000-square-foot Guerlain spa has 12 treatment rooms (there’s a 120-minute skin glow-up experience done on a mattress filled with precious gems) and a post-massage champagne lounge. Michael Mina's Orla restaurant serves char-grilled branzino, and there’s a tableside gin cart with botanicals from the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

Overnight Beach Bliss: The Best Views, The Most Privacy

The big money is on the eighth floor. The Regent’s Santa Monica Suite stretches across 3,200 square feet, with unobstructed ocean and Pier views, separate living and dining spaces, a billiards table, a firepit balcony, soaking tub, rain shower, dual vanity and walk-in closet. I’ve lived in houses that are significantly smaller.

And while it’s not quite as sprawling at 1,920 square feet, the Malibu Sunset Suite might just be the ultimate winner here. The views to the Pier from the firepit balcony practically put you on the roller coaster. There are three vanities in the bathroom, a giant soaking tub that’s ready for the hotel’s bath butler service, a marbled kitchen and dining area and views in other directions straight down Pacific Coast Highway and to the Santa Monica Mountains beyond.

By 2028, this stretch of Ocean Avenue will be the most scrutinized piece of California coastline since Baywatch made L.A. beach life look easy-breezy. So, book early. The suite life at Santa Monica’s beach hotels feels like a splurge today but it will look like gold-medal foresight by the time the Olympic torch arrives.

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