HotelChatter

This Joie de Vivre Hotel is really different from any other hotel in the group's California-Only collection in that it feels very much like a resort, although you're just in Long Beach. (Or The LBC, as Snoop Doggy Dogg calls it.) JDV has taken an old hotel with strange-looking accommodations--there are five oddly-shaped pods on the property that house in total about 200 rooms--and turned it into something very fun, using a Mayan theme with bright colors and natural elements and coupling that with modern hotel amenities throughout. In short, it's a very welcome change from the generic waterfront/seaside take that so many hotels on the water do.

Oh and you know how JDV Hotelier Chip Conley always models his hotels after magazine publications? The Hotel Maya is reportedly a cross between Fast Company and Latina magazines.

The biggest hit, aside from the fantastic waterfront location, is the hotel's pool which reminds us a bit of The Cove at Atlantis pool. There are four floating cabanas that surround the lap pool and a bar is on-site as well.

Rounding out some of the things to do onsite are tennis and bocce courts and an Esplanade gathering area where a DJ spins tunes and guests can couple up together under an enormous umbrella imported from Australia.

There's also a garden/patio area that is just off the lobby and there are hints that they may turn the space into a hookah lounge, which would just be plain crazysexycool. But we'll settle for tequila-tasting in the front of the lobby in which a dumbwaiter lowers down your shot er...flights of tequila from the bar above.

Folks stopping over here on a cruise will make up the biggest bulk of guests but also the folks who come to the Long Beach Convention Center will now have a hip and fun place to shake off those convention doldrums. And we hate to use the already-overused "S word" (it rhymes with vacation) but folks from LA and The O.C. can hit up the Hotel Maya for an affordable weekend trip. There's actually quite a bit to do in Long Beach and it's all far more accessible than what you find in Santa Monica or Laguna Beach.

Rates here start an extremely affordable $139 a night. With all that's going on at Hotel Maya, the Residence Inn by Marriott next door must be wistfully looking in on the party.

For more inside shots of the Hotel Maya in Long Beach, head on over to our Hotel Maya Flickr Set.