Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows

British expat John P. Jones co-founded Santa Monica in 1875 after making his fortune in silver mining in 1840s California. Mr. Jones built his family a Victorian-style mansion on the hotel’s current coveted site overlooking the Pacific Ocean in 1889, naming it Miramar, or “ocean view” in Spanish. Mr. Jones’ wife, Georgina, put in the lovely rose garden and planted many trees around the new town, including the property’s signature Moreton Bay fig tree, now nearly 100 feet high with an enchanting 130-foot canopy. Not surprisingly, the graceful fig with its huge trunk and gnarled roots is a favorite spot for engagements, weddings and snapshots. The landmark property became a hotel in 1921. Once dubbed the “Hollywood Hideaway” for the high-profile VIPs, politicians and starlets who flocked to the hotel—John F. Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo (a resident for four years), to name a few.

It all happens here! There’s no need to leave the resort, unless you want to, of course. The Miramar is the hub of Santa Monica. Eat field-to-fork at FIG and sip cocktails Baja-style at The Bungalow. Take a barre class or get a massage at award-winning Exhale spa. Shop, primp, play on the beach or watch movies by the pool.

Set up residence at your own beach-inspired garden Bungalow. Renowned Los Angeles interior designer Michael Berman reimagined these 31 original 1930s Bungalows, set among the palms and fountains of our fragrant gardens.

Wake up to a sea breeze or take in the pastel sunset from your private balcony with vistas of the Pacific. It’s all about views from our midcentury-modern Ocean Tower, a one-of-a-kind in Santa Monica, built in 1959. The 10-story’s 176 guest rooms look out to the Pacific—with panoramas of the iconic beachfront landscapes, the Pier and Malibu—and nearly all have sunny balconies.

Get a taste of the casually elegant Santa Monica lifestyle in a residential ambiance. Overnight in the spacious Palisades guest rooms and suites of our six-story 1924 historical wing, where politicians and Hollywood stars once stayed. These are all appointed in sleek, clean design melding contemporary and classic motifs with timeless furnishings and vintage touches, bright floral sculptures using natural objects found on local beaches and hand-distressed hard-wood floors.