An international crowd has flocked to this trendy hotel ever since celebrity hotelier Andre Balazs (of Los Angeles's Chateau Marmont and SoHo's Mercer) opened it in the late 1990s. Each retro-style guest room has a sundeck that looks out over the parking lot to the water. The beachfront restaurant ($$-$$$$; reservations essential) provides the best sunset- and people-watching around. You can stick your toes in the sand during cocktail hour or dine on the open-air deck under Japanese lanterns. French bistro dishes, such as moules frites (mussels and fries) and fried calamari, are the things to get here, but choose an American finale and go for the chocolate sundae. Service can be slow in season, but you can stay all night, enjoying the world music that plays until the wee hours.
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