can anyone suggest a beach hotel in Santa Monica or Manhattan Beach? we are looking at the Loews and Marriott, really wish for a condo/townhouse beach rental but cannot find any.

Loews Santa Monica beach hotel is the nicest hotel in Santa Monica on the beach. There is another place called Shutters, but I still think Loews is nicer

I really love Casa Del Mar- it is right next to shutters- It's one of the oldest bulidings in So. Cal.
The pool is gorgeous too-

Hey Mindy...you may be right about the standard rooms being better at Loews (I haven't seen one), but the suites at Shutters are tough to beat. Great views, 2 sets of windows, big jacuzzi tubs with separate showers, very nice living room, nice furnishings. The catch? Very pricey relative to other nice hotels (such as those in Beverly Hills). But if you have to stay at SM Beach, those suites are tops.

Krista,

It looks like you will have several properties from which to choose.

We have stayed at the Hotel Oceana several times ( http://www.hoteloceana.com/welcome.htm)

The place is fabulous,,,very California....large Suites/apartments.


Unfortunately, since it's received so much publicity and has become so trendy......it has become somewhat pricey.

Though it is not a hotel, check out Channel Road Inn. It's a B&B located across the street from the beach. The staff treats you like family, the breakfast is wonderful and the antique-filled rooms are pretty. They provide bikes so you can bike along the beach. We had to catch a very early morning flight when we left and so nobody was awake when we left the inn. They had left a basket of breakfast foods for our trip. Nice touch.

Another vote for Casa del Mar. Gorgeous totally restored mansion on the beach. Very grand...

You mentioned a condo/townhouse- I was trying to think of the name and I finally remembered it!-- There's a group of condo type places directly across the street from Shutters and Casa Del Mar called Citrus suites- a group of people who I work with stayed there for about a month- you won't have an acean view but I remember them being completly adorable places- and there's a pool, security and ( I believe) maid service-
Good luck- I definitely recommend Citrus suites though-
Diana

Citrus Suites is ST corporate housing, it doesn't cater to very short stays/tourists -- there's a minimum 30 day stay. If you are staying a month or more, good idea, they have 3 in SM.

Oh really- I didn't realize that-
It seemed like such a working hotel-
it's a good thing you told me- I was going to recommend some family members to stay there when they visit