IHG’s Regent launches Americas flagship in Santa Monica
IHG Hotels & Resorts’ Regent has landed on the shores of Santa Monica, with the opening of Regent Santa Monica Beach.
The brand’s first flagship property within the Americas, the hotel features designs overseen by Chantell Walsh of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, alongside a number of other studios.
AvroKO’s San Francisco studio looked to luxury fashion and the ocean’s natural beauty to inspire its designs. Found throughout the resort’s public spaces are creative details reflecting boat sails, yachts journeying in the Mediterranean and sandy textures. Accompanying such details are framed brass archways, brass detailing, yacht-style flooring and green hues coupled with gold and cream accents.
Wimberly Interiors was responsible for envisioning the resort’s 167 guestrooms and suites, drawing on the soothing hues of the Pacific Ocean to do so. Spa-like bathrooms, complete with a soaking tub, walk-in rain shower and Perricone MD products, invite guests to decompress, while in-room features include a designated dining and work station, a Bose speaker and Dyson hairdryer.
The studio’s design of the on-site 10,000ft² Guerlain spa – the European brand’s first on the Western Seaboard – blends a coastal Californian aesthetic with Mediterranean elegance, exemplifying a marriage between the spa’s location and Guerlain’s French origins. The space comprises 12 treatment rooms, a pre-treatment relaxation lounge, gender-specific lounges with plunge pool, sauna and steam room, as well as an all-gender lounge, a post-treatment relaxation lounge and champagne room, and a retail boutique.
Regent Santa Monica Beach is home to four dining destinations, each offering unique epicurean discoveries. Orla by James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Mina blend the flavours of the Mediterranean with locally-sourced ingredients. Designed in collaboration with AvroKO, interiors feature an original, handmade Pompeii mosaic crafted by 16 Sicis Master Mosaicists.
Additional venues include Orla Bar, nestled in the resort’s lobby, and Azure Bar, with its elevated poolside cuisine and cocktails. Sweet July, the lifestyle and culinary brand founded by Ayesha Curry, is expanding beyond its Bay Area flagship with the opening of Sweet July Café at Regent Santa Monica Beach. The new café will feature a new menu inspired by Curry’s love for California farmers’ markets, alongside a nod to her Jamaican heritage.
“As we open the doors to Regent Santa Monica Beach, we celebrate not only the homecoming of Regent to the Americas but a new chapter for the brand that will usher in an unprecedented level of luxury along Santa Monica’s prized coast,” says Tom Rowntree, Vice President of Global Luxury & Lifestyle Brands at IHG Hotels & Resorts. “Half a century ago, Regent Hotels & Resorts pioneered modern luxury hospitality by introducing amenities that are hospitality hallmarks today. As we welcome Regent back to Los Angeles, the brand sets its sights on innovating luxury travel with a resort that will redefine Southern California hospitality and set a new standard for elegance, serenity, and thoughtful service.”
