Where’s the best place to stay in Los Angeles?
In a city so annoyingly spread out, being strategic about where to stay in L.A. is important. The city’s famously horrendous traffic isn’t something you’d want to contend with, and it can take over an hour to get from somewhere like Downtown L.A. to Venice. Getting around Los Angeles is not a nice time.
And so visiting L.A. is all about choosing the right pocket. Do you want the star-studded decadence of West Hollywood? Think great art and great food is enough to put up with Downtown’s grit and grime? Or do you want that typical California beachside vibe? Sticking to your side of this remarkably complex city is a must.
Why Santa Monica is the best place to stay in L.A
For most Aussie visitors, the answer of where to stay is invariably Santa Monica. The golden sands of L.A’s sunniest spot are impossible to resist. And for plenty of reasons. While many visitors would come here for the sand and surf, Santa Monica fires so brilliantly on all cylinders that you could hole up here for a few days and forget about the rest of the city.
Here’s why.
Santa Monica is close to the airport
If we’re not counting the freeway, Santa Monica is just 12km from LAX. You’re looking at a 20-minute drive to get back and forth, and since almost all flights from Australia arrive in L.A nice and early, you could easily get some beach time on the cards before it’s time to check in.
On my visit last year, I got to my accommodation, The Pierside, around 12pm. Check in wasn’t until 3pm, so I just dropped my bags off and headed for the sand. Getting onto the beach was a matter of crossing the palm-fringed Ocean Avenue, which is where the famous Santa Monica Pier starts.
It has L.A’s coolest tourist attraction
Unlike most of the USA’s iconic tourist attractions, such as Times Square and Fisherman’s Wharf, the Santa Monica Pier has a timeless charm that offsets any oversaturation. It’s not a one-and-done landmark for L.A regulars, with the 500-metre pier an important symbol of SoCal and an instant hit of its relaxed beachside lifestyle.
Whether it’s your first time or you’re a regular, the fast-acting cynicism that can set in when something is “too touristy” simply isn’t in the air for Santa Monica. Perhaps the salt dissolves any weariness; it feels impossible to not give yourself entirely to this city’s lust for life.
That’s why being able to simply walk on over to the Santa Monica Pier as soon as your Uber drops you off at your hotel is valuable. Even though LAX is no longer the transit nightmare it once was, dealing with that airport is still uniquely stressful. Being able to strip away the negativity and switch on over to Santa Monica’s unflappable mindset, in less than 30 minutes from clearing customs, is always going to be valuable.
Wellness was kind of born here
Santa Monica is suitably rigorous about wellbeing. Around ten years ago, the city created the Wellbeing Project and is regularly called out as one of the most idyllic places to live on the West Coast. None of this is surprising, since Santa Monica’s landscape perfectly lends itself to ideas of wellness and a healthy lifestyle.
You’ll find healthy food everywhere in Santa Monica. One of the biggest True Food Kitchens is located here and they do generously sized, affordable salads (don’t bother with their plant-based burgers), plus there’s a good spread of places to get acai and you’ll find some excellent breakfast options at The Pierside’s indoor-outdoor Surfing Fox restaurant.
Locals prefer the more active side of wellness than hiding away in a group fitness class (although there seems to be plenty of those as well). You’ll spot groups playing beach volleyball at almost every hour of the day, and jogging up and down Ocean Avenue is basically a rite of passage for anyone who visits L.A.
The bike lanes are also plentiful and a big part of Santa Monica’s layout so your hotel will most likely have some wheels you can borrow.
I’m guessing wellness was able to take hold here because Santa Monica regularly escapes the social issues that ring around the denser areas of L.A, like DTLA. That also means there’s a real sense of calm and safety for Santa Monica.
I’ve never personally had any problems in L.A., but I also can’t sweep anything under the rug. L.A. is nowhere near as dangerous as the media often portray it to be, but you should still always pay attention to your surroundings and walk with confidence wherever you are.
I have my guard up in most places around L.A, but I don’t in Santa Monica. That’s not to say there are no issues here, but there’s a notable sense of safety around the main streets that I don’t feel anywhere else, even in Venice.
It’s the gateway to the Palisades
The Pacific Palisades will take a long time to rebuild. This affluent neighbourhood, located in the hills past Santa Monica, shouldered the brunt of damage from the L.A fires of 2024 and much of the area was burnt down. But not all of it.
Staying in Santa Monica also means you’re a quick Uber ride from some of the many gems that are located around the Palisades.
Giorgio Baldi is a highlight; the modest Italian restaurant is a favourite amongst celebrities and you’re guaranteed to spot a few big names twirling their way through classic, full-flavoured pasta dishes.
My favourite place in the Palisades, however, is the Getty Villa. It’s more a home than a museum, built in 1974 in the image of Villa dei Papiri, a grand Italian residence that was one of the many structures destroyed by Mount Mount Vesuvius when it erupted in AD 79.
J Paul Getty’s ancient Greek and Roman art and artifacts are housed in modest gallery spaces designed as rooms. The homely approach is interesting, especially since these are such weathered, rare pieces from the collection.
Then you’ve got the Outer Peristyle, an immaculately preserved, beautifully symmetrical Roman garden framing a 220-foot-long reflecting pool. Bronze statues mirror those once found at Villa dei Papiri, mixing Roman and Greek architectural styles while small murals, mosaics and lanterns paper the outer edges. This hidden gem is the most beautiful site in all of Greater Los Angeles and feels unlike anything else in the city, including the more famous Getty Centre between Brentwood Heights and Bel Air.
The wine bars are spectacular
You don’t need to go up to the Napa to taste remarkable Californian wines.
Make your way along to Esters Wine Shop & Bar near the desirable Santa Monica Proper hotel. The hybrid wine shop and casual bar has an oversized selection of good quality wines by the glass so it’s a great way to pick through some highlights from the region. And go hungry. The charcuterie lasagna is delicious and the kitchen knows how to put together a superlative cheese board that pairs up well with all those buttery, well-rounded Cali whites.
Other top options include the gourmet Wally’s Wine & Spirits and trendy communal hub Bodega Wine Bar. Although most places would have a strong by-the-glass list, given it’s SoCal. The Surfing Fox at The Pierside is a good example, with its tight menu of comfort food pairing well with a list of Californian varietals.
You can walk to Venice
It takes about 10-15 minutes to walk from Santa Monica Pier to the main strip of Venice. The atmosphere is very much an extension, spilling out to the famed Venice Boardwalk with its seemingly endless procession of street performers and cyclists.
Since you’re staying in Santa Monica you can pop by the Original Muscle Beach, which dates back to the 1930s. Then you can walk down and see the more extravagant Venice Muscle Beach, the world’s most famous outdoor gym.
The colourful row of tiny shops near the basketball courts are worth a look. There’s a fish taco stall here that I always go to. Grab some takeaway and eat while watching locals shoot hoops or walk down to the skate park which is always buzzing well into sunset.
There’s a dynamic art scene (if you know where to look)
Most of the museums and art in L.A. is concentrated around DTLA, with institutions like The Broad, The Geffen, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Santa Monica’s most notable museum is the nearby Getty Villa in the Pacific Palisades that I mentioned above.
But there is an arts scene here. Quite a distinct one as well. It’s got that typical, outdoor-loving beach culture so you’ll find over 150 street murals around the city’s eight distinct neighbourhoods splashed with the bright colours of beach-city living. Mid-City and Wilshire Bvld generally have some of the better ones, but almost all of them reiterate the breezy and bright Santa Monica landscape.
As with any city that has a substantial spread of murals by local artists, these works mirror the type of artist that Santa Monica produces. Which is another way to quickly understand the local culture if you’ve only got a few days here. In general, I find that the best way to look at murals, in that they help you build up a sense of where you are.
You’ll find the interesting Bergamot Station Arts Complex between Mid-City and Pico Blvd. It’s the best example of adaptive reuse in Santa Monica, turning at old passenger railway station into bright, progressive multi-faceted sheds housing studios, galleries and non-profit art spaces. It’s since become both an incubator for artists as well as a fantastic way for visitors to see local art.
There are 18 galleries in total at Bergamot and I only had time to browse three. It seems almost everything here takes a contemporary approach, with many different styles and mediums on display to give guests a one-stop-shop when it comes to understanding the local arts scene.
Santa Monica has some of L.A’s best hotels
Shutters on the Beach is generally considered one of L.A’s grand dames and a symbol of luxurious living in Southern California. Similar acclaim has been blown the other direction with Casa Del Mar, but Shutters is generally the best-reviewed as far as the two neighbouring luxury hotels go.
Again, I stayed at The Pierside on my visit. It’s a nice, contemporary four-star hotel with oversized rooms and a perfect location directly opposite Santa Monica Pier. The building used to be a Best Western so I didn’t have the highest of expectations when I checked in but was pleasantly surprised by how modern and fresh it all looked. This is how you do a refurbishment.
Then there’s the bright blue Art-Deco brilliance of The Georgian. The building has the most recognisable facade on Ocean Avenue, wearing its age with pride and thriving off the back of a recent refurbishment. It’s only a matter of time before Wes Anderson uses this in one of his films.
The sunsets
There are plenty of great sunset spots around L.A, but just walkdown down the park at Ocean Avenue and looking out over the beach is truly something special. There’s a lot to be said about having one of the city’s best sunrise and sunset spots directly opposite your hotel.
The author flew to L.A. as a guest of Fiji Airways, which has daily flights to LAX via Nadi, and explored as a guest of Visit Santa Monica.
While you’re here, check out some of our more recent Los Angeles content:
- Here are some of the new openings that’ll change L.A ahead of the Olympics
- What the hell is L.A pizza?
- What should you do if you only have 24-hours in Downtown L.A?
- The Hoxton in L.A is a gem in the heart of it all
- This is why The Pierside is the perfect base in Santa Monica
