The newly refurbished Le Méridien Delfina, Santa Monica is positioned about 4 blocks back from the beach and about a 15-minute walk to the shopping on Third Street. That means it’s cheaper than the beach front properties but lacking nothing in glamour.
I’m a sucker for cool interior design. I get inspired by wall art or the positioning of mirrors, picture frames and vases, the flower that stands immersed in a glass tube or ottomans and funky corner lamps. Fabrics and textures will make me stop in a hotel lobby and twirl in circles. If my eyes could pin what I’ve seen around the world onto a Pinterest Board I’d have tons of pages to scroll through on a rainy Sunday.
In all my years of getting to stay at some of the most amazing properties on this planet, three amazing ladies stand out for me.
One is Virginia Fisher who has used the blank canvas of Huka Lodge and sister property Grande Provence in South Africa to sweep her creative brush strokes, another is Eva Malmström Shivdasani, former Swedish model and now co-owner with her husband Sonu and creative director of their Soneva empire of stylish eco resorts throught Asia and the Maldives, and American designer Kelly Wearstler, who has stamped her bold and elegant designs onto the Viceroy Group – among others.
So when I read that the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica is part of the Viceroy Urban Retreat collection and had just undergone a refurbishment, I was very keen to twirl in its lobby suspecting that I would steal an idea or two for my own walls.
The lobby makes me want to flop down and wait for a cocktail
It turns out that another hotel designer is now on my list. Andrea Dawson, who has worked with Wearstler but has her own self-named company, was given the task of refurbishing this hotel and I like. A lot.
From the entrance you step into the high ceiling lobby with wooden floors and living room couches, lamps and cozy chairs. At the rear is the bar and beyond that a small restaurant and access to the pool area.
The pool and cabanas for a spot of sunning
The colour palate is sand, cream, coral and ocean blue to evoke the California seaside. I chose a comfy looking couch with a coffee and plonked myself down to wait for friends before dinner. I looked at a screen wall shielding the elevators and beside that a wall is dotted with picture frames reaching the ceiling.
I like the way these pics are hung, cool retro beach images
My room was fresh and crisp with a white patent leather studded bedhead, retro floor lamp and huge white lacquered mirrors.
The clever shower hole
The bathroom (and I am very critical of bathrooms) has white marble and chrome with rain showers and the genius design of a hole in the glass of the shower to reach in and turn it on rather than stepping all the way in and getting soaked while still in your jarmies.