Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica

Le Méridien Delfina Santa Monica became Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica in September 2024, moving 315 rooms from Marriott to Hyatt in a single switch. A $16 million renovation by Waldrop + Nichols Studio ran through to the autumn of 2025, adding seven Sunset Suites with balcony whirlpools and the all-day Coastal Harvest Bar & Kitchen.

The place

The hotel sits in Santa Monica within reach of the beach on foot or on one of the complimentary beach cruisers it lends guests, with rooms looking out over the ocean, the mountains, the city or the pool depending on the floor and aspect. It is a full-service hotel with a rooftop ballroom rather than a small beachfront property, and its scale reflects a location built for meetings as much as for holidays.

The concept

This is a genuine change of flag rather than a refresh: the hotel traded for years as Le Méridien Delfina Santa Monica under Marriott before moving to Hyatt in September 2024, reopening as one of the largest Hyatt Centric properties in California. Hyatt used the switch to enter a Santa Monica market where it had no comparable address, and the brand's pitch here rests on walkability and access to the wider Westside. The rebrand was followed by the money. A $16 million renovation begun in 2024 and completed in the autumn of 2025 took in the guestrooms and the public areas, with Waldrop + Nichols Studio working a palette drawn from sand and sunsets and soft curves modelled on the surf. Seven Sunset Suites were carved out with private ocean-view balconies and whirlpool tubs. On the meetings side the hotel keeps eleven venues over 15,000 square feet, including the 4,526-square-foot rooftop Delfina Ballroom for up to 400 guests and a 500-square-foot mezzanine game room called Sandbox.

Dining & wellness

Coastal Harvest Bar & Kitchen opened with the renovation as the hotel's all-day restaurant, cooking Californian dishes from local suppliers, with an adjoining lounge for cocktails, wine and craft beer. Beyond it the hotel runs a heated saltwater pool and a fitness centre; there is no spa on site.