{"id":1285,"date":"2009-08-26T09:02:31","date_gmt":"2009-08-26T14:02:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=1285"},"modified":"2016-12-17T02:42:50","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T08:42:50","slug":"new-boutique-hotels-spice-up-california-vacation-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/new-boutique-hotels-spice-up-california-vacation-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"New boutique hotels spice up California vacation scene"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Los<\/em><\/em>

Hotel Erwin<\/p><\/div>\n

By Lena Katz<\/em><\/p>\n

When choosing a place to hang my traveler\u2019s hat for the night, I\u2019ve always been a fan of the boutique and the unique. Which is yet another reason I love California: So many California hotels aredesigned to bring a sense of place: the sunny-chic Los Angeles hotels<\/a><\/strong> on the beach, the cool blue Tahoe mountain resort, the little city-slicker hideaway in the heart of San Francisco. Encouragingly, California continues to see its independent hotels and small hotel chains expand, with many new openings and revamps to announce this summer.<\/p>\n

Joie de Vivre Hotels has always been a favorite in its home city of San Francisco. But recently, the medium-sized chain known for mid-priced boutique hotels has gone luxe and moved into So Cal in a major way. The Hotel Erwin<\/strong><\/a> raises the bar for Venice lodgings, but with a wink to Muscle Beach\u2019s tattooed-and-funky urban edge. The guest rooms feature pop-art furniture and rock star photos<\/strong>.
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\"Los

Dream Inn<\/p><\/div>\n

Breezy-sophisticated Shorebreak Hotel<\/strong><\/a> in Huntington Beach is one of the only hotels JDV\u2019s built from the ground up, and is easily the most exciting thing to hit Huntington\u2019s hotel scene in years. JDV also just completed multi-million dollar renovations to Dream Inn<\/strong><\/a> in Santa Cruz, and is soft-launching the revamped Hotel Maya<\/strong><\/a> in Long Beach after a $20 million renovation.<\/p>\n

While Personality Hotels is still sticking within San Francisco borders for now, it\u2019s made a lot of enhancements and expansions to its portfolio. Congrats to this Union Square-centric hotel group for spending $10 million to make Hotel Frank<\/strong><\/a> resemble a 1950s Miami Beach shag pad. In a good way, of course. Houndstooth flooring, bubble lamps<\/strong>\u2026I\u2019m groovin\u2019 on it.<\/p>\n

\"California

Hotel Vertigo<\/p><\/div>\n

Also on the revamped Hotel Vertigo<\/strong><\/a>, which goes right to the Alfred Hitchcock-inspired lengths you\u2019d want, but doesn\u2019t overdo to the point of creepiness. Yes, the movie plays 24 hours on a flat screen in the foyer. However, in the rooms, Vertigo is represented by a subtle swirl within the orange vinyl, purple and white lacquered d\u00e9cor.<\/p>\n

Destination Resorts has always been great at delivering \u201cWOW\u201d factor, but this luxury lodging group has outdone itself in 2009 with the brand-new Los Angeles hotel Terranea<\/strong><\/a>, situated on the picturesque and less-traveled cliffs of Palos Verdes.\u00a0 Not to say that Terranea\u2019s better than the beachy-beautiful re-envisioned L\u2019Auberge del Mar<\/strong><\/a> in San Diego, or Tahoe\u2019s legendary Resort at Squaw Creek<\/strong><\/a> (frequented mainly by Hollywood power players and Olympians). That\u2019s a matter of taste. It\u2019s just a pleasant surprise to see such a high-end property open NOW, in a place that needed it so badly (there are only about three high-end hotels in all of LA\u2019s South Bay, and none of them are beach resorts). Right in front of your eyes, 102 acres of proof that a California vacation<\/a><\/strong> is still solid gold.<\/p>\n

Related Orbitz resources:<\/strong><\/p>\n