#HTE

Design world cool-girl Kelly Wearstler is appropriately behind Santa Monica Proper, a boutique hotel seeking to emulate California cool. This West Coast outpost is the latest in the Proper Hotels family, from Viceroy Hotel Group founders Brian De Lowe, Alex Samek, and Wearstler’s husband Brad Korzen.

The Proper brand embodies a ‘looser’ kind of luxury, tapping into the local and surrounding culture in a way that appeals to long-term stays and staycationers just as much as holiday visitors. Existing Proper locations include San Francisco, with locations in Austin and Portland set to open later this year, and plans for a Portland outpost in 2021.

This latest West Coast branch started with the Santa Monica Professional building, designed by Arthur E. Harvey in 1928 in the Spanish Mission Revival style and originally used for medical suites. Howard Laks Architects built a new structure in harmony with the historic building, together which house the 271-room hotel.

Wearstler took lead from classic Santa Monica history, both visual and cultural, throughout the hotel. Striking objects dot the public spaces, a result of custom collaborations with L.A artisans for original artworks and monolithic installations, including Ben Medansky, Morgan Peck, Tanya Aguiniga, Len Klikunas, and Bradley Duncan. An assemblage of both new and vintage pieces add to the layered aesthetic and sense of the unexpected.

A functional terracotta and fibreglass chair-vase by emerging designer Chris Wolston takes pride of place in reception, displaying a regularly changing bouquet of exotic flowers. Wearstler’s signature flair for eclectic materials and textures are restrained within a neutral palette, including tile-clad structural columns, abstract, irregular parquetry, and transitional full-height archways of timber or travertine.

Private spaces relate to Santa Monica’s iconic coastal lifestyle, featuring a multifaceted mix of organic tones and textures. 271 rooms are split across two separate wings, one contemporary and the other more retro, set within the original Spanish Mission building. In the retro wing, Wearstler plays up the throwback aspect with floral wallpaper, deco lights and peach skirting. The contemporary wing is more, well, contemporary, some with exposed concrete walls, easel-mounted flatscreens and sculptural mid-century furniture.

Situated in a creative hub steps from upmarket boutiques, wellness cafes, farmers markets and the beach, the hotel is a holistic extension of the neighbourhood lifestyle. Amenities include an Ayurvedic spa, yoga, and an expansive rooftop pool. Opening soon is Proper’s signature restaurant, Onda, a highly anticipated collaboration between locally revered chefs Jessica Koslow and Gabriela Camara.

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