A STAY at the BEACH

Sometimes you have to stand back to see something right in front of your eyes, like the way this pretty city of 87,000 on Santa Monica Bay has emerged as a top tourist destination. That should surprise no one because Santa Monica’s attractions are obvious: a beautiful broad white beach, a recently renovated 1909 pier with a vintage carousel, the festive Third Street Promenade and now an unprecedented four luxury hotels right on the sand.

The most recent to open are historic Casa del Mar, which made its debut in October, and Le Merigot Santa Monica Beach Hotel, in a building completed in December. They join Casa del Mar’s well-known older sister Shutters on the Beach, and Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, which started the ritzy wave on the shore when it opened in 1989.

I can now boast to friends that I know all of them because I recently spent one night in each hotel to see how they stack up. In each, I booked a medium-priced double with partial ocean view (which seems to me the whole point of staying at the beach). I did not mention I was a reporter, and I tried to sample as many of the hotels’ amenities as possible, using health clubs and pools, chatting with concierges and valet parking attendants, and ordering room-service breakfasts. I also looked at other hotels near the ocean but not on the beach. (See story on Page L12.)

About 3 million people visit Santa Monica each year, including increasing numbers of Europeans, who have contributed to the city’s sophisticated veneer and seem undeterred by the homeless drifting along Ocean Avenue or the fear of crime. (In 1998 a German tourist was killed during a robbery behind Loews, and a local resident recently was mugged in the same neighborhood while walking from a beach parking lot to her apartment.) The shops, galleries and restaurants of the Third Street Promenade are part of the draw.

Nearly a third of out-of-towners are business travelers, mostly in the high-rolling entertainment, advertising and high-tech industries, according to the Santa Monica Convention & Visitors Bureau. They favor it for its proximity to LAX and started booking rooms in Santa Monica when many Hollywood production companies moved to the beach in the early ‘90s.

Many travelers also choose Santa Monica for its diversions, extending business trips for a little Southern California-style rest and recreation. So it’s sometimes hard to tell workers from frolickers, and hotels tend to be as full on weekends as during the week.

Room rates in Santa Monica average $175, says PKF Consulting, a hotel accounting firm. The foursome on the beach, however, are considerably pricier, as much as $575 a night, especially if you want a room with a full ocean view.

Choosing from Loews, Le Merigot, Shutters and Casa del Mar isn’t easy, because the members of this select beachfront club offer a high level of comfort and service. But as I discovered by trying them, there are differences, sometimes glaring, sometimes subtle. I have listed them in order of my preference.

Shutters on the Beach

I had stayed in Shutters on the Beach in years past, and it remains my favorite of the four. The rates are daunting (doubles from $330 to $525, with partial ocean view rooms like the one I occupied priced at $385), and the movers and shakers are so thick around the fireplaces in the lobby that it’s no wonder staff members have a little attitude.

Those fireplaces signify what Shutters, in a gray and white Victorian whirligig of a building at the foot of Pico Boulevard, wants to be: a beach house instead of a conventional hotel. In this it mostly succeeds, though I have a few caveats, including its proximity to an unlovely fenced storm drain on the beachfront (because of polluted runoff, it can be dangerous to swim nearby just after a storm); its expensive but undistinguished main restaurant, One Pico; its small exercise room; and its convoluted layout, with two buildings connected by a walkway over Appian Way.

Still, the rooms are divine nests, winning in every detail, from the Rainforest Essentials toiletries in the baths to the reading matter, a complimentary copy of Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” The magazine caddies are full of Vogue and Town & Country. The lights are on dimmers, and there are CDs and videos, homey framed pictures of people you do not know, fish prints on the walls, shells and other bric-a-brac. The overstuffed beds wrapped in soft duvets look dreamy made up in white sheets with baby blue piping.

But the baths are the coup de gra^ce, with separate chambers for the shower and toilet, two sinks in the vanity and double-size marble whirlpool tubs. There are candles, whimsical rubber ducks and whales, piles of fluffy white towels and a shuttered window that opens onto the sunset visible through the sliding glass door.

Casa del Mar

Casa del Mar, owned by the same company that runs Shutters, is only 4 months old, so it’s hard to say whether it will develop the same cachet as its next-door neighbor. Casa’s service, stylishness and in-room amenities differ from Shutters only in their newness. But Casa is not as warm and cuddly, largely because it occupies a grand Art Deco and Romanesque Revival brick building that looks more like Madison Avenue in New York than Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica.

Actually, it is truly Santa Monica. It was built in 1929 as an exclusive beach club. Because Casa del Mar is protected under landmark status, owners Edward and Thomas Slatkin could restore but not change the exterior. On the inside, they gave it an appropriately statuesque entrance with a double, curving marble staircase and a vast, clubby lobby.

In the lobby is a fancy restaurant, Oceanfront, with banquettes, chandeliers and beach views (where I had “roasted young chicken” for $19 that was as dry as an old hen). It also has a long seaward-facing bar called the Porch, where I had a much nicer martini. The pool is handsome but small, and the health club only slightly more inviting than the one at Shutters.

I had no complaints about my room, technically a non-ocean-view room for $335. (I could not get a partial view room for $385, and didn’t want to pay $495 to $575 for a full view.) I say “technically” because the windows, on a front corner, offered views of the Santa Monica Pier. It also had a huge burnished wood entryway, cheery yellow walls, and a cushy cloud of a bed. There was a video--”Eat, Drink, Man, Woman”--and a complimentary paperback of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s “The Little Prince,” urging guests, I guess, to indulge like an adult and think like a child.

Le Merigot

Given its competitors’ literary bent, can anyone doubt what inspired the designers of Le Merigot Santa Monica Beach Hotel, about a block north of Shutters, to put a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast” in the room?

Le Merigot is an interesting beachfront hybrid, with the sleek architectural lines of Loews and many of the soothing details of Casa and Shutters.

Because of a 1990 law limiting development, Le Merigot may be the last hotel built on the beach for some time. It opened officially on Jan. 1 and was still putting the last touches on its lower-level exercise room and spa when I checked in two weeks ago. But the small, elegant lobby looked perfectly finished, with a pocket bar and harp music, overstuffed couches and potted palms. Through its southwest-facing windows, the scene is all sand and surf, though directly opposite the hotel on Appian Way an apartment complex is going up, blocking the view.

My partial-view room on the third floor for $379 (city view rooms cost $299, and deluxe ocean view rooms are $459) had a heavily draped window looking to the sea, a gorgeous duvet-covered king bed and a lot of blond contemporary furniture pushed too close to the walls. Still, there was something of the feeling of the royal apartment about it because of the bed’s throne-like headboard and yellow-piped Frette luxury sheets. The standard-size bath was lined with rust and cream-colored marble, and the room had some surprising appurtenances: A TV Guide, hotel directory and the morning newspaper wore Coach-quality leather covers. The service was better than at the three counterparts. In-room breakfasts are promised in 15 minutes. Warm muffins, fresh-squeezed orange juice, pot of coffee and friendly server made it just in time and were morning manna for a sybarite, as were all the room service breakfasts I had during my research.

Loews

At Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, just north of Le Merigot, workmen were removing the fishpond from the four-story atrium lobby when I checked in, part of an $18-million renovation, including guest room redecoration, to be completed by year’s end.

Loews has 340 rooms in an E-shaped building decorated in seashell pink and green. Loews seems apart from the shore because it faces busy Ocean Avenue and is separated from the water by Appian Way. To reach the beach, you must take an elevator to the lower level, exit through the back door and walk through a little garden.

I was happy with my partial view room on the fifth floor at Loews (where rates for doubles range from $290 to $460). It had a balcony overlooking the pool, with the pier and Malibu’s jagged coastline in the distance. It was spacious but conventional with two queen beds, a TV console, glass-topped table, bamboo chair and sizable desk, color-coordinated in airy beiges and pastels that made me think of Miami.

A wall separated the room from the open vanity area, where there are double sinks with gold taps, marble counters and a mini-TV. The tub and toilet were in their own clean and polished chamber, but not as seductive as those at Casa and Shutters.

Loews attracts business and leisure travelers in fairly even numbers, but lacks the tone and buzz of some of its neighbors down the block. In the lobby you’re likely to see conventioneers and slightly pudgy people in sweatsuits signed up for a go at the new Pritikin Spa that shares the Loews extensive health club on the first floor.

The exercise facility is easily the largest and best equipped on the beach, with windows facing Ocean Avenue. Handy jogging maps are available at the concierge desk, and the outdoor heated pool is long enough for swimming laps.

I took home the free toiletries from each of these hotels and lined them up by my tub in order of my hotel preference. They remind me that the beach in Santa Monica is just a 20-minute drive from my home--and that I really like my job.

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Off-Beach Options

There are great places off the beach as well. Here are my favorites, in a variety of price ranges, excluding big chain hotels. (I have inspected these places, but I have not stayed in them.)

* Hotel Oceana, 849 Ocean Ave. (at Idaho Avenue), telephone (800) 777-0758 or (310) 393-0486, fax (310) 458- 1182, Internet https://www.hoteloceana.com, is a bright bauble of a hotel (with chic and cheerful interiors by designer Cheryl Rowley at the residential end of Ocean Avenue. Its three stories of studios and suites ($305 to $535) around a pool are especially good for long-term stays and guests with children. There is no restaurant, but kitchenettes are stocked with drinks, frozen pizzas and ice cream bars. A continental breakfast is included in the room rate, and room service lunches and dinners are delivered from the nearby Wolfgang Puck Cafe.

* The Fairmont Miramar Hotel, 101 Wilshire Blvd. (at Ocean Avenue), tel. (800) 866-5577 or (310) 576-7777, fax (310) 458-7912, Internet https://www.fairmont.com, is a local landmark that opened as a hotel in 1921. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts acquired the Miramar from Sheraton late last year and plans to spend $15 million renovating its 302 guest rooms. Doubles are $239 to $385.

* The Georgian Hotel, 1415 Ocean Ave. (at Santa Monica Boulevard), tel. (800) 538-8147 or (310) 395-9945, fax (310) 451- 3374, Internet https://www.georgianhotel.com, has 84 rooms and suites but no pool in a handsomely restored 1933 Art Deco building. Rooms are simple but comfortable (doubles $185 to $225 with continental breakfast); upper stories offer ocean views. About a quarter of the guests are European.

* Hotel Shangri-La, 1301 Ocean Ave. (between Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards), tel. (800) 345-7829 or (310) 394- 2791, fax (310) 451-3351, Internet https://www.shangrila-hotel.com, has 55 studios and suites ($145 to $310) in a white Streamline Moderne building. Furnishings are somewhat dowdy, and there is no pool, but the suites are roomy, and some have ocean views.

* The Channel Road Inn, 219 W. Channel Road, tel. (310) 459- 1920, fax (310) 454-9920, Internet https://www.channelroadinn.com, is a bed-and- breakfast with 14 cozy, nicely decorated rooms ($145 to $295 including breakfast) in a 1910 home in Santa Monica Canyon. It’s a 10-minute drive to the Third Street Promenade, but the beach is a block away and there’s a hot tub in the garden.

* The Hotel California, 1670 Ocean Ave. (next to Loews), tel. (800) 537-8483 or (310) 393- 2363, fax (310) 393-1063, Internet https://www.hotelca.com, is a funky but well-kept beach place with 26 sparely decorated wood-floored rooms ($125 to $325). Interior courtyard rooms are the quietest. There is no pool.

* Hotel Carmel, 201 Broadway (near 2nd Street), tel. (800) 445-8695 or (310) 451- 2469, fax (310) 393-4180, e-mail hotlcarmel@aol.com, has 110 serviceable rooms in the heart of Santa Monica ($120 to $135).

GUIDEBOOK

Staying in Style

Shutters on the Beach, 1 Pico Blvd., telephone (800) 334-9000 or (310) 458-0030, fax (310) 458- 4589, Internet https://www.shuttersonthebeach.com, has 198 rooms and suites, with doubles ranging from $330 (non-ocean view) to $525 (deluxe ocean view).

Casa del Mar, 1910 Ocean Front Walk, tel. (800) 898-6999 or (310) 581-5533, fax (310) 581- 5503, Internet https://www.hotelcasadelmar.com, has 129 rooms and suites; prices for doubles range from $335 (non-ocean- view) to $575 (oceanfront room).

Le Merigot Santa Monica Beach Hotel, 1740 Ocean Ave., tel. (800) 926-9524 or (310) 395- 9700, fax (310) 395-9200, has 175 rooms and suites; double room rates from $299 (superior city view) to $459 (ocean view deluxe, with balcony).

Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, 1700 Ocean Ave., tel. (800) 235-6397 or (310) 458-6700, fax (310) 458-6761, Internet https:// www.loewssantamonicabeach@ loewshotels.com, has 340 rooms and suites; doubles $290-$325 (superior) to $405-$460 (premium, with balcony).

For more information: The Santa Monica Convention & Visitors Bureau, 520 Broadway, Suite 250, Santa Monica, CA 90401, tel. (310) 319-6263, fax (310) 319-6273, Internet https:// www.santamonica.com.