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Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows
Santa Monica, California, United States · Fairmont · Core Luxury
Senator John P. Jones, co-founder of Santa Monica, built his Victorian Miramar mansion on the bluffs in 1889; King Camp Gillette later owned it before Gilbert Stevenson turned the estate into the Miramar Hotel in 1921. Greta Garbo lived in the 1924 apartment wing for more than four years, and 1930s poolside bungalows still set the beach resort apart. A Historic Hotels of America member, it has flown the Fairmont flag since 1999 a short walk from the Pier.
- 302 rooms
- Opened 1921
- Neighborhood: Downtown Santa Monica
About Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows
- Jones named the estate Miramar, Spanish for view of the ocean; his wife Georgina planted a rose garden and trees along Santa Monica's streets.
- Safety-razor inventor King Camp Gillette leased the mansion to a military academy after World War I before selling to Stevenson.
- Jean Harlow was seen dining here; Betty Grable performed in the Miramar lounge with Ted Whidden's band.
- The original 1889 wing was demolished in 1939; the ten-story Ocean Tower rose in 1959.
- Michael Dell's MSD Capital bought the hotel for $210 million in 2006; the California Coastal Commission approved a Pelli Clarke Pelli redevelopment plan in 2022.
History
Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows sits on one of Santa Monica, California’s best-known oceanfront sites, but the property’s current identity is only the latest chapter in a long resort history. Fairmont’s own description places the hotel on five lush acres atop the bluffs of Los Angeles’s golden beaches, and its bungalow inventory still nods to the low-rise, garden-studded resort character that has long distinguished the property from the city’s denser beachfront hotels. The hotel is now marketed as Santa Monica’s singular resort with private bungalows, and Fairmont highlights a mix of Midcentury modern design, Southern California oceanfront style, and natural textures in the bungalow accommodations.
The clearest verified anchor in the sources provided is the founding year, 1921, which appears in the entity metadata and aligns with the hotel’s longstanding landmark status in local memory. Fairmont’s current hotel page does not offer a formal historical narrative, architect attribution, or restoration timeline, so those details should be treated cautiously unless corroborated elsewhere. What is verifiable from the hotel page is the continued emphasis on the property’s historic legacy: Fairmont explicitly frames suite inventory as paying homage to the “fabled past” of the landmark hotel.
Today the hotel leans into its seaside setting and layered food-and-beverage scene, with FIG, Soko, Dogtown Coffee, and The Bungalow all named on the property page. That blend of old resort footprint and contemporary dining shows how the Miramar has evolved without abandoning the garden-hotel format that still defines the guest experience.
Built in 1921, Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows remains Santa Monica’s rare resort with private bungalows on five acres above the Pacific bluffs.
The setting
Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows traces its origins to an 1889 Victorian estate built atop Santa Monica's bluffs at 101 Wilshire Boulevard by Senator John P. Jones — co-founder of Santa Monica — on land he named Miramar, Spanish for view of the ocean. Converted to a hotel in 1921 and expanded through the 1930s with poolside bungalows that sheltered Greta Garbo and Marilyn Monroe for extended stays, the five-acre property occupies the highest point on the palisades. Downtown Santa Monica is a ten-minute walk; Santa Monica State Beach is eleven minutes downhill; and the Pier is sixteen minutes on foot — a combination of century-old estate heritage and unimpeded coastal access found nowhere else on this stretch of coast. 8 miles from Getty Center art museum.
Restaurants and bars
- FIG — Restaurant · Coastal cuisine, Southern California cooking, locally source
- Soko — Restaurant · Sushi
- Dogtown Coffee — Café
- The Bungalow — Restaurant
Experiences
- Surfing, volleyball, cycling, swimming and spa treatments — Santa Monica fitness retreat with surfing, volleyball, cycling, swimming and spa treatments.
- Sunset Pilates under the Moreton Bay Fig Tree — 45-minute sunset Pilates flow beneath the Moreton Bay Fig Tree, taught by a celebrity trainer, held as a Make-A-Wish fundraiser.
- Lobby Lounge Live — Live piano music, handcrafted cocktails and live entertainment in the Lobby Lounge.
- Exploring Santa Monica on foot and by bike — Walks along the beach path and the Pier, plus Main Street boutiques and Ocean Avenue eateries.
Amenities
- Spa
- Pool
- Sauna
- Hot tub
- Fitness center
- Pet-friendly
- EV charging
Awards
- AAA Four Diamond (2026)
- MICHELIN One Key (2026)
- Historic Hotels of America member
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