Four of our ten are worth booking for the view. At Malibu Beach Inn all but the King Pier View Rooms face the Pacific from balconies; Terranea Resort sells clifftop rooms by their ocean view; Ocean View rooms at Shutters on the Beach look across the sand to the sea; Sunset Tower Hotel has the city below its south side.
4 of our ten · Hand-pickedHotels cannot pay to be hereLast checked: October 2026
In Los Angeles the view worth paying for is mostly the Pacific, and three of these four hotels sell it by room category. The rule at each is the same: book the category named for the view, because the cheapest rooms often look elsewhere. At Malibu Beach Inn the entry King Pier View Room looks west along the coast to the pier, while the categories above it face the sea head on. At Shutters on the Beach the Superior and Deluxe rooms look north or south over a residential view, and at Terranea Resort the Resort View rooms face the grounds.
The fourth view is the city itself, through the floor-to-ceiling windows on the south side of Sunset Tower Hotel. Choose Malibu Beach Inn for the sea straight ahead and the winter sunrise, Terranea Resort for the clifftops and grey whales from December to April, Shutters on the Beach for the sand at the door, and Sunset Tower Hotel for Los Angeles laid out below.
Here the view comes with almost every room. All 47 have a balcony, all but the King Pier View Rooms look straight out to the Pacific over Carbon Beach, and most have a slate-bordered fireplace for the evening. The sea-facing rooms are sunrise rooms: in winter the sun comes up across the bay, and from December to April grey whales pass along this coast.
The three-storey building stands between Pacific Coast Highway and the sand, and at high tide the surf runs up to it. The entry King Pier View Rooms look along the coast instead, west over the pier car park to Malibu Pier and Surfrider Beach, with the ocean to the left. For dinner as the light goes, Carbon Beach Club's terrace hangs over the sand.
The room to book
King Premier Ocean Front Room
about 350 sq ft (33 m²)$905 a night
It gives up about 50 sq ft to the King Pier View Room to face the Pacific head on from its own balcony, with a fireplace inside and the winter sunrise across the bay.
Terranea Resort spreads 582 rooms over 102 acres of the Palos Verdes cliffs, with Catalina Island on the horizon, and it prices its rooms by what they look at. In the lobby building the Hotel King and Hotel Double rooms come in four views, Resort View, Ocean View, Premier Ocean View and Ocean Front, each with a balcony or patio, and the ocean tiers look over the clifftop lawns and bluffs to the Pacific. The Bungalow King Guestroom sits down near the ocean's edge beside the spa, looking at the Pacific and Catalina Island, at much the same rate as the Ocean View king.
Outside the room, the bluffs are the view. The coastal trail reaches Point Vicente Lighthouse in 23 minutes on foot from the lobby, grey whales pass offshore from December to April, the fire pits at Nelson's are the place for the sunset, and the Shearwater Suite has its own telescope for watching marine life.
The room to book
Bungalow King Guestroom
450 sq ft (42 m²)$730 a night
Sold on a balcony or patio looking at the Pacific and Catalina Island, down near the ocean's edge beside the spa, for much the same rate as the lobby building's Ocean View king.
Shutters on the Beach sells the Pacific by category, and the Ocean View Room is where the sea begins. These rooms are in the Beach House, the front building, which stands on the sand, and in the taller Ocean House behind it, each with two step-out balconies looking across a wide public beach, about 230 metres of sand, to the water. In the Ocean House a low floor puts the pool and the Beach House roof in the foreground, so ask for a floor above that roofline. Only the Ocean Front rooms, on floors 1 to 3 of the Beach House, face the Pacific and the pier directly.
At ground level the paved beach path runs along the front of the hotel, and the pier is nine minutes' walk north. The heated pool in the Ocean House courtyard has a view out to sea, and the Living Room's terrace is the hotel's place for a sunset drink.
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, with two step-out balconies looking across the beach to the Pacific, in about 450 sq ft, the same as the entry room.
Sunset Tower Hotel is the city view on this list. All ten room and suite categories in the 1931 tower have floor-to-ceiling windows, and from the south side Los Angeles drops away below you towards Century City and downtown. The north side looks across Sunset Boulevard to the Strip and the Hollywood Hills.
Most categories promise no side, so the view to book is in the room names. The Premier Suite is sold on the downtown skyline from the upper floors, the Townhouse Suite on planted terraces looking south over Los Angeles, and the Penthouse Suite on wraparound terraces facing the Hollywood Hills and downtown, while the Premier King names the city and the hills from the higher floors. By daylight, take breakfast or lunch on the Terrace's covered lanai overlooking the pool, with the city beyond.
The room to book
Premier Suite
about 800 sq ft (74 m²)
The one category below the terraced suites sold on the downtown skyline, from the upper floors, with about 800 sq ft, a living room and a limestone bathroom with a deep soaking tub.
At Santa Monica Proper Hotel the sea is chiefly a rooftop view, from beside the heated pool, and the Sunset One Bedroom Suite is the room the hotel sells on its sunsets and views for miles.
Silver Lake Pool & Inn sells The Deluxe King View for its wide window over rooftops, palms and the hills, and the flagstone pool deck, one floor above the street, shares that outlook.
From about $425 a night
Questions people ask
Good questions about Los Angeles
Which Los Angeles hotels have rooms facing the ocean?
Three of our ten sell rooms on a sea view. At Malibu Beach Inn all 47 rooms have a balcony, and all but the King Pier View Rooms look straight out to the Pacific. At Shutters on the Beach the Ocean View rooms look across the beach to the sea, and the Ocean Front rooms in the Beach House face it directly. At Terranea Resort, book a category sold on an ocean view, such as the Bungalow King Guestroom, rather than a Resort View room. At Santa Monica Proper Hotel the sea is chiefly a rooftop view, from the pool deck.
Which rooms at Malibu Beach Inn face the sea?
Every category except the entry one. The King Premier Ocean Front Room and both suites face the Pacific from their balconies, and they are sunrise rooms: in winter the sun comes up across the bay. The entry King Pier View Room is about 50 sq ft larger, with an oversized balcony, but it looks west along the coast to Malibu Pier and Surfrider Beach, with the ocean to the left. Most rooms have a fireplace, the King Pier View Room among them.
What is the difference between Ocean View and Ocean Front rooms at Shutters on the Beach?
Where they sit, not their size: both are about 450 sq ft. The Ocean View rooms are in the Beach House and the taller Ocean House behind it, with two step-out balconies looking across the beach to the Pacific; from a low Ocean House floor the pool and the Beach House roof share the view. The Ocean Front King Rooms are on floors 1 to 3 of the Beach House, which stands on the sand, and face the Pacific and the pier directly, most with an outdoor or Juliet balcony. Below both, the Partial Ocean View rooms see the water in part.
Which rooms at Sunset Tower have the city view?
Those on the south side, where the city falls away towards Century City and downtown; the north side faces the Strip and the Hollywood Hills across Sunset Boulevard. Every category has floor-to-ceiling windows, but below the top suites none is tied to the south side, so ask for it when you book and again at check-in. The hotel names a view for four: the Premier King, for the city and the hills from the higher floors, the Premier Suite, for the downtown skyline from the upper floors, and the Townhouse and Penthouse suites, with planted terraces.
When is the best time of year for a sea view in Los Angeles?
Winter has the most to watch. Grey whales pass the Palos Verdes and Malibu coast from December to April, and the Point Vicente Interpretive Center, 24 minutes' walk from Terranea Resort's lobby, is a museum on the bluffs from which the migration can be seen. In winter, too, the sun comes up across the bay from the sea-facing balconies at Malibu Beach Inn. Late-spring mornings on the coast are often under low cloud, what the National Weather Service calls May Gray and June gloom, so for the sunrise, come in winter.
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 romantic one
