The new Shorebreak Hotel in Huntington Beach is a lesson for the image-obsessed: Once you give up trying to be relentlessly hip, it's easier to relax.
Within two weeks of the Shorebreak's May opening, its pairing of surfer-chic decor and a laid-back beach vibe has become a hit with local travelers. Though the combination of Memorial Day weekend, a beach volleyball tournament and tantalizing $100 promotional rates fueled the hotel's first sold-out weekend, the Shorebreak also answered many travelers' questions, as in:
Why doesn't someone open a boutique hotel that caters to families and business travelers?
Why can't such a hotel be located beyond some upscale hipster neighborhood?
And, perhaps most important, can I bring my dog?
The Shorebreak's reach for a deeper demographic was evident from my informal, luggage-cart field research on Memorial Day weekend. I spied lots of diaper bags, children's car seats and a dog food bowl complete with kibble.
Locals who braved the holiday traffic jam on Pacific Coast Highway to take Fido and Junior on a little weekend jaunt found a hotel trying hard to deliver top service and style for moderate prices. On style, the Shorebreak scored. On service, it stumbled but recovered.
The overall decor is light, bright and inventive. A giant photo mural of ice plants surrounds the front desk, while oversize graphics of sea kelp paper the adjacent stairwell. The lobby is a kinetic collage of surfer movies projected on the wall, swiveling lime-green chairs and cutting-edge artwork. A program with the Surf Gallery in Laguna Beach allows the hotel to create a rotating exhibit of modern surfer and beach art in the restaurant, lounge and lobby.
I got to know that lobby well during a four-hour delay that kept me and my 9-year-old son, Eli, there till 7 p.m., when our room was ready. The concierge offered complimentary drinks in the lobby lounge and explained that two housekeepers had fallen ill that day. Good thing the drinks were on him; I never got the key to my mini bar (where sodas and juices were a reasonable $2).
With summer room rates that start at $199 and top out at $1,500 for a two-bedroom, ocean-view suite, the 157-room Shorebreak offers competitive rates for such immediate ocean access. The best views are from the waterfront rooms on the upper levels, such as the two-bedroom suite with a wrap-around deck, and an $800 suite that includes an outdoor living room with ocean views.
