Palihouse Santa Monica — Hotel in Santa Monica

The Palihouse Santa Monica is perfectly located steps from Ocean Avenue where you can walk along Palisades Park, look over the Pacific Ocean and watch perfect sunsets. The location of the hotel is situated in an ideal spot in Santa Monica because it's only a short walk to the many great restaurants and entertainment places like Santa Monica Pier, 3rd Street Promenade and Montana Avenue, but it's also slightly tucked away in a neighborhood-like part of the area. You can really feel like a local when you stay there. ||The front courtyard, as you make your way to the front door, feels like you are stepping into a European villa. The classic style of the hotel building makes you feel like you're about to experience something special--which you are. The grounds are perfectly manicured with gorgeous flowers and plants, birds chirping, some tables and chairs with restaurant service available and a bocce ball court. It's a perfect place for sitting and enjoying the perfect Southern California weather.||The lobby is more of a classy, community living room--warm and welcoming inviting you in with very chic/funky decor. Leather couches, long tables, velvet booths, cozy chairs, coffee bar, a fire going in the fireplace at all times, nice music, and at a certain hour every day, freshly baked cookies, lemonade, non-alcoholic sparkling wine and candy is set out in a beautiful display for guests to enjoy. The rooms are well-appointed, cozy and usually have a nice sitting area, lots of space. Most have a kitchenette stocked with snacks, drinks and even a few cooking essentials for some simple cooking.||My family and I stayed (lived) in Palihouse for about 2 and half months. As a result of the Palisades fire, we needed a place to stay after we evacuated our home/community, and then we needed an extended stay while we had our home remediation work done to repair smoke and soot damage. We decided that Palihouse was the place for us in this situation because the staff and the setting was so hospitable and kind to us during a difficult time for our family. We are a family of 5 plus a large Golden Retriever. The hotel made an exception to their "under 40 lbs" rule for animals because of the circumstances which is just one of the many ways the Palihouse accommodated our family. We were not the only evacuees staying there during that time. The hotel was full of Palisades residents (with dogs). Many of the guests, unlike us, were dealing with the total loss of their homes and the steps forward. Palihouse was a soft landing in a very difficult time for many families. ||Speaking of the staff: Top Notch. The full time valet gentlemen: Luis and Andy are a welcoming first introduction to your stay. Friendly, smiling, help with your bags. They were so helpful with our specific situation which often included having to come and go repeatedly throughout the day. They would always communicate with us about our cars and when we needed them next. There was rarely a wait for valet. If we needed to have our car early in the morning, we could tell them the night before and the car would be there waiting in the morning at that time.|Gavin, Dine', Ari, Barrett are beyond friendly and accommodating at the front desk. They dealt with details of our stay that are out of the ordinary like paperwork and insurance agents due to our situation. Sashi, the overnight security/front desk person: never saw him without a smile on his face. The staff made fresh coffee for the guests available free of charge in the lobby starting at 6am each morning as a special gesture of support to fire evacuees who were dealing with extreme circumstances. These are very kind individuals who learned our names including our dog's, particular details about us and would attentively ask about how things were going.||I can't recommend Palihouse more for your next stay in Santa Monica! Thank you for everything, Palihouse! You guys are...

Updated: I still stand behind my review but wanted to add I reached out to the owner directly about our experience and he did refund our night and said he would take action to correct the dust, stains, and crack. Adding this here since customer service is important and perhaps the owner was not aware of how his staff behave when he’s gone. So kudos to the owner for making this right after the fact.

I recently stayed at The Palihouse Hotel in Santa Monica November 2023, expecting a luxurious experience as depicted in their online photographs. Unfortunately, the reality was a stark contrast, leading to a deeply disappointing stay.

Firstly, the room's condition was appalling. For a staggering $500 per night, I was greeted by a room with stains on the bed skirt and a large, prominent crack in the bathroom floor, dust everywhere, a photo of a creepy child displayed. These issues not only presented a cleanliness concern but also a safety hazard. This level of upkeep is far from what one would expect in this price range, especially in a competitive area like Santa Monica.

Adding to the distress was the staff's attitude when I reported the issue. We were “upgraded” to another room but it still was not what was advertised. The person at the front desk said this was the best room they had though it did not match the online photos.

I decided to check out early due to these unacceptable conditions. Upon expressing my concerns, I was met with rudeness from both the woman and man at the checkout desk. Their unprofessional remark, "I hope you find a hotel without a crack in the floor," was both unnecessary and unhelpful. It was especially frustrating considering they insisted I pay for one night, despite the lower rate advertised online. It was worth paying to leave this place though sad at that steep price.

It's bewildering that The Palihouse Hotel chooses to misrepresent their rooms online, showcasing images that do not reflect the true, worn, and unkept state of their accommodations. It's misleading and unfair to guests expecting a certain standard of quality. If the hotel is proud of its offerings, why not show the real pictures and let guests make informed decisions?

Do yourself a favor and book at the Viceroy which is where I went after leaving this awful place showboating as a hotel. It really had “Get Out” vibes straight from the movie and was super creepy down to their staff. Shame on the owners and staff of this “hotel.”

The positive reviews are obviously fake. MJ has posted twice and it’s the same person. Please stop faking reviews and actually try to...

The property is beautiful in photos but the experience from check in to check out left everything to be desired. My girlfriend and I were excited to walk through the gorgeous entry gate and courtyard, and for a moment loved seeing the beautiful lobby with amazing woodwork. That’s were the experience ended. Right after check-in we found that the elevator was broken, it wasn’t the end of the world, but from here the hotel staff did not deliver. Here are the opportunities for improvement: Valet Service, Front Desk, Kitchen service, communication between staff!

Valet, thanks for getting a bag out of our car with medicine, but dropping it off at the front desk was not helpful, nobody knew that you’d gotten our bag and put it somewhere. This caused a 15 minute task to turn into 2 hours of searching.

Front desk, take a moment to bring calm to the guests, every question seemed to be met with a sharp and stark response. Anticipate that guests might expect an elevator tell them upfront it’s broken and you’ll take their bags. We felt sorry for the old lady that had to return to the front desk to ask about this.

Kitchen, make the food that was ordered, avocado toast with eggs seemed straight forward, but since eggs didn’t come the toast became cold over 10 minutes of waiting for the kitchen to figure out how to make eggs. A $7 deliver fee to the rooms seems excessive, why not just charge more for food and skip the extra strange charge!

Communication, coordinate between all disciplines take and share notes about what guests are wanting and needing, I had to repeat many times that I was leaving early and my girlfriend was staying late to meet with a friend, when I left for the airport the front desk was immediately calling the room to ask if she’d checked out. She was trying to sleep, it’s what people do in the morning :)

We both ended up being tired, having more stress than necessary and really didn’t enjoy our stay. I’d like to say better luck next time, but given what is charged for a subpar experience, I don’t think we’ll try this...