Terranea Resort, for 25 treatment rooms and a heated 25-metre Spa Pool on the Palos Verdes cliffs; Santa Monica Proper Hotel, for Surya Spa's Ayurvedic treatments and a recovery suite in a walkable downtown; and Shutters on the Beach, for ONE Spa and weekend yoga on the sand outside.
3 of our ten · Hand-pickedHotels cannot pay to be hereLast checked: October 2026
Four of our ten Los Angeles hotels have a spa with treatment rooms, and these three build a stay around one. They divide by place. Terranea Resort is the big resort spa, on the Palos Verdes cliffs: by car off-peak, LAX is 35 minutes away and the city's sights 47 to 61, and no train comes near, so it suits a week you barely leave. Santa Monica Proper Hotel and Shutters on the Beach are both in Santa Monica, 19 minutes from LAX off-peak, with smaller spas and a town you can walk around them.
All three have a heated pool, which matters here: NOAA's averages for the sea at Santa Monica Pier run from 14.7°C (58.4°F) in January to 20.2°C (68.4°F) in August. Choose by how you like to unwind: laps and treatments all day, Ayurveda and a recovery suite between walks, or the beach first and a massage after.
Terranea Resort has the biggest spa of our ten: 50,000 sq ft of spa, gym and gardens with 25 treatment rooms, refreshed in 2025. Around them are relaxation lounges, saunas and steam rooms, hot tubs, fire pits and a heated 25-metre Spa Pool for spa guests aged 18 and over, open from 8am to 6pm, with lap swimming from 5am to 8am and 6pm to 8pm. The $75 resort fee already covers fitness classes and the Saturday morning hike along the bluffs with a naturalist.
This is a spa you stay inside. The resort spreads over 102 acres of the Palos Verdes cliffs, so book it for a week of treatments, laps and clifftop walks, with Cielo Point, the pool for over-21s, for the afternoons and the fire pits at Nelson's for the sunset.
The room to book
Bungalow King Guestroom
450 sq ft (42 m²)$730 a night
The same 450 sq ft as the entry Hotel King, but down near the ocean's edge steps from the spa, away from the lobby building, with a balcony or patio looking at the Pacific.
For a pool day without a treatment, go Monday to Thursday outside holidays, when resort guests can buy a $125 same-day pass to the spa, gym and Spa Pool.
Santa Monica Proper Hotel puts a full wellness programme inside a walkable downtown. Surya Spa is a 3,000 sq ft Ayurvedic spa created with the Ayurvedic doctor Martha Soffer, with treatments across six rooms, herbal steam rooms and fountain patios, open daily from 8am to 8pm. Its signature is a four-handed Abhyanga massage in warm herbal oils, and its Panchakarma retreats run from three days to 28. The gym, 2,500 sq ft and open around the clock, holds group classes that are free for hotel guests, and the recovery suites add a cold plunge, a dry sauna and red light therapy, booked by the session.
Between treatments there is the heated rooftop pool, shared with club members and day-pass holders, and the clifftop at Palisades Park is 12 minutes' walk for a morning run above the sea.
The room to book
Proper Sleep Room
about 460 sq ft (43 m²)$688 a night
About 460 sq ft in the 1928 landmark building, with an Eight Sleep mattress that controls its own temperature, blackout curtains, a diffuser and half off a Recovery Suite session.
Shutters on the Beach is the one to choose when the sea is part of the treatment. ONE Spa, redesigned by Michael S. Smith with the rooms in 2005, has its own steam rooms and opens from Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 5pm, for massages tailored to you, facials with Augustinus Bader, Luzern and Omorovicza products, and manicures and pedicures. The heated pool in the Ocean House courtyard, with a whirlpool, a fireplace, cabanas and a view out to sea, is for hotel guests and spa clients.
The resort fee covers weekend yoga on the beach and a two-hour bike rental every day, and the paved beach path runs along the front of the hotel, with the pier nine minutes' walk north. Most rooms have a hydrothermal massage tub for the evening.
The room to book
Ocean View Room
about 450 sq ft (42 m²)$1,229 a night
The first category sold with the sea in view: two step-out balconies looking out across the beach to the Pacific and, in most, a hydrothermal massage tub for a soak after the spa.
For a treatment between days in Beverly Hills, The Beverly Hills Hotel has its own spa of four treatment rooms, a duet suite and a nail suite, open daily from 10am to 6pm, and a pool for hotel guests only.
From about $1,090 a night
Questions people ask
Good questions about Los Angeles
Which Los Angeles spa hotels have a heated pool?
All three of ours, each used differently. Terranea Resort's 25-metre Spa Pool is for spa guests aged 18 and over, from 8am to 6pm, with lap swimming either side; other resort guests can buy a $125 day pass from Monday to Thursday. Santa Monica Proper Hotel's heated pool is on the roof, shared by guests, Proper Club members and day-pass holders. At Shutters on the Beach the pool in the Ocean House courtyard, with a whirlpool and a view out to sea, is for hotel guests and spa clients. With the Pacific at 14.7°C (58.4°F) in January, the heating matters.
Can Terranea guests use the spa without booking a treatment?
Yes, from Monday to Thursday, outside holidays: resort guests can buy a $125 day pass on the day, subject to availability. It covers the spa's relaxation lounges, saunas, steam rooms and hot tubs, the fitness centre, the movement studio and the heated 25-metre Spa Pool, and the saunas and steam rooms are separate for men and women. Treatments are for guests aged 18 and over. The spa opens from 8am to 7pm from Monday to Thursday and to 8pm from Friday to Sunday.
Is there an Ayurvedic spa in Santa Monica?
Yes: Surya Spa at Santa Monica Proper Hotel, a 3,000 sq ft spa created with the Ayurvedic doctor Martha Soffer and styled by Kelly Wearstler. Treatments include a four-handed Abhyanga massage in warm herbal oils and Shirodhara, a stream of oil over the forehead, and Panchakarma retreats run from three days to 28, with three and a half to four hours of treatments a day. It opens daily from 8am to 8pm and takes non-guests by appointment, and the Promenade is 7 minutes' walk from the hotel.
Do LA resort fees include the spa?
Not the treatments. Terranea Resort's nightly fee, $75 for most rooms, covers fitness classes, pool chairs and the Saturday guided hike, while the Spa Pool is for spa guests and day-pass holders. At Shutters on the Beach the $60 fee plus tax covers weekend yoga on the beach and a two-hour bike rental each day. At Santa Monica Proper Hotel the $55 destination fee plus tax covers Wi-Fi among other things, group fitness classes are free for hotel guests, and recovery sessions are charged separately.
How far is Terranea from Los Angeles?
Terranea Resort is on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, which closes Santa Monica Bay to the south. Off-peak, LAX is 35 minutes by car, Downtown 47, Santa Monica and the Getty Center 48, Rodeo Drive 49 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame 56, and rush hour adds to all of them. No Metro train reaches the peninsula, and the Lexus shuttle in the resort fee goes to select places in Palos Verdes, so plan a car for days in the city, or make the stay a spa week.
How did you choose these hotels?
Independently, through extensive research, trusted sources and first-hand visits. Hotels cannot pay to be included, and every one of the ten has to exist for a different reason.
The resort
