The Return of a Laguna Icon
Laguna Beach has always been a place where art and ocean meet—where plein-air painters chased light across the bluffs, surfers carved rhythm into waves, and the small-town spirit of California’s coast endured long after other enclaves grew up. Into this mix comes Casa Loma Beach Hotel, perched high above Main Beach, reintroduced after a sweeping renovation that feels less like a makeover and more like a homecoming.
For decades, the property—once The Inn at Laguna Beach—offered enviable proximity to both sand and village. What it lacked, in recent years, was a sense of coherence. Now, after a $15 million transformation led by Marc & Rose Hospitality, the hotel returns with a new identity and a design language that makes the Pacific not just a backdrop, but the very heart of the experience.
A Renovation in Tune with the Sea
The reimagining of Casa Loma was entrusted to Electric Bowery, the Venice-based architecture and interior design studio known for creating spaces that hum with subtle, sensory detail. Their approach was less about trend than about tone—about crafting a hotel that mirrors Laguna’s own atmosphere: warm, textured, unpretentious.
Guestrooms now open like private coastal retreats. Neutral palettes of sand and stone, hand-finished plaster walls, natural woods, woven textiles, and soft curves all conspire to create calm. Many rooms spill out onto balconies with Pacific views, where the horizon seems to fold right into the bed linens.
Public spaces, too, have been recast with intention. The lobby feels like the living room of a well-traveled friend: tactile, layered, suffused with light. A curated mix of custom furniture, ceramics, and woven throws sits comfortably beside new lighting by Kassandra Thatcher and hand-painted signage by Joe Swec. Even the sound design was considered; each room is equipped with a Tivoli radio tuned to a custom station, extending the hotel’s atmosphere into the auditory.
Outdoors, new cabanas and lounges frame the pool terrace, drawing the eye outward to the ocean. The landscaping has been refreshed with native and Mediterranean plantings, blurring edges between cliff and coastline. The effect is not glossy luxury, but a cultivated ease—the kind of design that invites bare feet and long conversations.
A Setting That Belongs to Laguna
Location is everything, but Casa Loma’s address is more than geography—it’s identity. The hotel is perched above Main Beach, Laguna’s most iconic stretch of sand, with uninterrupted views of the Pacific. From balconies and terraces, guests can watch surfers trace early-morning arcs across the water or sunset slip behind Catalina Island.
But the hotel also sits within walking distance of Laguna’s cultural core: galleries, boutiques, cafés, and the legacy of the town’s artistic colony. Step outside and you’re not just at the beach—you’re in a neighborhood that has always blurred the line between natural beauty and creative life.
Press That Speaks Volumes
The design-forward rebirth of Casa Loma has already caught the eye of national media.
- Vogue called the hotel “a sleek new Laguna Beach escape that pays tribute to the city’s forgotten past,” spotlighting its design restraint and coastal ease.
- Architectural Digest praised Electric Bowery’s vision, noting how “Casa Loma achieves the rare feat of feeling both brand new and deeply rooted in place.”
- Hospitality Design and Travel Weekly have featured the property as an example of thoughtful repositioning, citing Marc & Rose’s broader track record in reimagining West Coast landmarks.
For travelers—and the advisors who guide them—this kind of coverage reinforces what guests will feel immediately upon arrival: this is not just a renovation, but a reinvention.
The Grand Opening: An Immersive Celebration
When the hotel reopened its doors, it did so not with a conventional ribbon-cutting, but with an immersive theatrical event. In partnership with Los Angeles’s IAMA Theatre Company, Casa Loma staged Infinite Swell, a site-specific performance that unfolded across the newly designed spaces.
Scenes unfolded in hallways, terraces, and salons, echoing Laguna’s surf history and artistic spirit. Guests weren’t simply spectators—they moved with the narrative, experiencing the hotel as both stage and character.
The weekend drew a mix of Hollywood names and local creatives—among them Shonda Rhimes and members of her Shondaland circle—but the true star was the property itself. With craft cocktails in hand and the Pacific as a backdrop, the crowd experienced what the renovation had set out to achieve: a hotel that is less a backdrop and more a participant in Laguna’s ongoing story.
Beyond the Stay: A Cultural Connector
Casa Loma’s ambitions extend well past its rooms and amenities. Through intentional partnerships with makers, designers, and culinary artisans, the hotel positions itself as a cultural connector—a place where the creative spirit of Laguna is not only reflected but actively supported.
Local collaborations give the property its texture. Rye Goods, the beloved Orange County bakery, delivers fresh cookies each evening—a small but memorable ritual that sweetens the stay. Handwoven textiles from Luna Zorro bring a sense of global craft to the interiors, while curated bar programming with Madre Mezcal introduces guests to the vibrant traditions of Oaxaca through tastings and cocktails. These details, paired with art installations and the hotel’s partnership with IAMA Theatre Company, make Casa Loma feel less like a commercial resort and more like an ongoing creative project.
This matters in Laguna Beach, a town where the shoreline has always been inseparable from the art it inspires. By amplifying the work of local and regional creatives, Casa Loma ensures that a stay here is not simply about beach proximity—it is an immersion into a living, breathing community of makers. For guests, the takeaway is more than a vacation memory. It’s the feeling of having participated, however briefly, in Laguna’s ongoing story.
Why Casa Loma Resonates Now
For travelers seeking more than just ocean views, Casa Loma offers a layered experience:
- Design that feels personal. Each room and space is crafted with detail that rewards attention.
- A sense of place. The hotel doesn’t just face the Pacific—it converses with it.
- Cultural relevance. From the immersive opening to its local collaborations, Casa Loma feels embedded in the life of Laguna.
- Editorial credibility. With praise from Vogue and AD, advisors can recommend it with confidence.
A Cliffside Classic, Reborn
Casa Loma Beach Hotel does not shout for attention. Instead, it offers something rarer: an atmosphere that lingers, a stay that feels both rooted and renewed. It is Laguna distilled into walls, windows, and textures—the ocean always just beyond reach, the town’s creative pulse just below.
For travel advisors, Casa Loma represents the sweet spot between design-forward luxury and California coastal ease. It’s not simply a new hotel. It’s an old soul reawakened, standing watch on the cliffs above Main Beach, inviting guests to pause, to notice, and to belong.
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