HotelChatter

General Thoughts:
The Viceroy is interesting hotel. We've been there several times before but that was mostly to party in the back near the pool. As we've mentioned before, Kelly Wearstler is responsible for most of the decor and furniture in the hotel which makes the Viceroy stand out amongst all the other hotels on Hotel Row in Santa Monica (aka Ocean Ave.)

But now that more and more boutique hotels are starting to copy this kind of decor, it feels overdone and sadly, not as unique as it used to a few years ago. Then again, when it's dark at night and you have a few drinks, it feels cool once more.

Speaking of dark, the elevators were extremely dark as were the hallways to your room. Make sure you look at your hotel room number before you step into the elevator, otherwise you are going to be straining your eyes under a dimly lit hallway lamp to figure out what room you are in. However, once inside the room, the California sunshine greeted us.

Room Reaction
The room we toured on the 7th floor was in the back of the hotel so we had a view of the city of Santa Monica, the parking lot where the valet keep your cars and a sideshot of the pool.

Again the room was full of funky stylish furniture and accent pieces like plates on the wall, the dog lamp and a chandelier. Yet the repetitive pattern of the wallpaper started to make us dizzy. Probably the most non-fussy part of the room was the bathroom which was surprisingly, very simply done.

WiFi Situation:
As for the internet, we had to connect to the ethernet cable when the wireless wasn't working. Guest services was very helpful with tips on getting onto the WiFi network, but none of them worked. They offered to send a technician to the room but we figured we would just hook up to the ethernet. It worked fast but the total charges turned about to be $12--it's $10.95 a day not including taxes. Not fun.

Service
The other good thing is that the staff here was really nice from the doormen to the front desk to the men working at the bar. We're not used to being greeted by so many staffers in this type of cool, hip boutique hotel so that's another plus for the Viceroy.

Bottom Line:
Given that there aren't many cool places to stay in Santa Monica near the beach (Shutters is the exception), the Viceroy stands out. And really, the outdoor dining and bar by the pool is still the place to be in Santa Monica.

Price:
When we inquired about staying this Saturday night, the front desk clerk quoted us a rate of $359 for a king view with an ocean view. When we checked online, we found that rooms were indeed for $359 but for a city view. You could do a city view king for $349 as part of the hotel's web rate which is fully prepaid, non-refundable and non-cancelable.

Stay Tuned for a Viceroy Santa Monica Video Room Tour. In the meantime, checkout more pictures of the Viceroy in the HotelChatter Flickr Pool.

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Tags: Guess the Hotel / Santa Monica Hotel Reviews

by juliana