Four grand hotels that have had a glow up

Makeover season

Since long before I was born – 37 years before, to be precise – The Georgian was a familiar fixture of Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, up on the bluff above State Beach. With its sorbet façade and eight storeys of art deco details that always seemed better suited to Miami Beach than LA, it held a certain allure; but its interior – repurposed over the decades as, variously, rental units and a retirement home – left something to be desired. Earlier this year, two fellow Angelenos finally gave it the love it has long deserved.

Jon Blanchard and Nicolo Rusconi, the founders of BLVD hospitality, bought the hotel in 2020 along with ESI Ventures, and have since put several million dollars and a great deal of thought into bringing The Georgian to life in a way that hews faithfully to its ’30s history and bones. It has a ground-level bar, lounge and meeting room, and a library hung with the highly collectable block-prints of Hugo Guinness and lined with titles curated by the owners of Arcana, LA’s beloved art-themed booksellers. The chef is ex Osteria Mozza; the sommelier earned her stripes at San Francisco’s legendary Saison. The 84 rooms and suites bring the sun-and-sea tones inside (though the bedlinens are 100 per cent Italian). The best part, though, is the reopening, for the first time since the ’70s, of The Georgian Room, the downstairs dinner-only restaurant that’s all dim lighting, classic cocktails and shades of Bugsy Siegel and Carole Lombard.  thegeorgian.com, from $700

Style times two in Venice

Alessandro and Francesca Gallo, the founders of Golden Goose, made waves up and down the Grand Canal in 2021 when they opened a spectacular conceptual hotel, The Venice Venice. Its rooms have towering ceilings and contemporary art on the walls; the restaurant and boutique feature one-off fashion editions, exclusive design products and rotating exhibitions.

This month Gallo is extending the vision with another 20 rooms in an adjoining palazzo. All are dedicated to singular figures in the worlds of the fine and performing arts; there’s an “immersive” spa called Felix Anima, with an installation by the Brooklyn- and Palermo-based artist Francesco Simeti, and a first-floor bar, The Venice Bitter Club. The rooms continue the design-as-provocation theme, showcasing both boldface and lesser-known names, from the lofty classicism of Luca Pignatelli’s painting to the ’70s and ’80s grit of photographer Brad Elterman. venicevenice.com, from €700

A nuova Dolce Vita in Portofino

Over to the west, on the coast of Liguria, a grande dame of the Italian old world is lightening up and layering in new style, thanks to the ministrations of owners LVMH. The Splendido – part of the Belmond group, which the Bernard Arnault-chaired conglomerate acquired in late 2018 – enjoys a prime parcel of land above the rosy village of Portofino, where the luxury boutique-to-resident ratio feels close to equal.

Time was, its interiors packed surfeits of charm into their sunlit spaces: parquet and matelassé, velvet and fringe. Not for much longer: next month will see the hotel reopening after the first phase of a rolling reinvention, starting with the pool’s much-loved restaurant (now the Splendido Grill), and culminating in the rooms and suites in the former Benedictine monastery being redesigned by Martin Brudnizki. belmond.com, from €1,605

In King’s Cross, a St Pancras redux

It’s been more than a decade since London property doyen Harry Handelsman, the founder of Manhattan Loft Corporation, brought St Pancras Chambers back from the edge of obsolescence as the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, thereby helping kickstart the renaissance of King’s Cross. To mark the 150th anniversary of the building this year, Handelsman is unveiling the hotel’s new Midland Grand Dining Room and Gothic Bar.

Taking over the space that previously housed The Gilbert Scott, the Midland Grand showcases the talents of chef Patrick Powell, who’s also the chef at the Handelsman-owned Allegra at the Stratford Hotel. The man behind the existing Booking Office 1869’s rich palette and baroque lighting, the French designer Hugo Togo, has seen to the Midland Grand’s cathedral-like dining room as well, bringing the “gateway to Europe” theme home with plush banquettes, paisley and potted palms. midlandgranddiningroom.com

@mariashollenbarger