Malibu - Malibu Beach Inn
Summer 2009
Frank's view 
Weekend for One
“There’s Bob”, squealed Peggy.
“Where?” we yelled, looking round the terrace towards the hotel lobby.
But Peggy, the breakfast waitress, was pointing out to the Pacific.
Bob is a seal, so named because his head bobs up and down in the water.
Our Disney adventure continued as two dolphins meandered by, then a hunk from the house next door ended his daily morning swim by having a cute encounter with Bob.
The show over, we returned to the matter of digesting smoked salmon bagels.
It's not all Flipper and Bay Watch in Mailbu. The singer, Cat Stevens, apparently had a near death experience in 1976 whilst swimming off Malibu which resulted in him disowning his songs, selling his guitars and becoming a Muslim.
The Malibu Beach Inn sits in the heart of Malibu’s 29 miles of coastline, next to the famous Malibu Pier. A walk on the beach provides a fascinating insight into the residential architecture of the region, a hybrid of different decades of Californian decadence and extravagance. Many movies flash through your mind as you stroll along the sand. This is more Hollywood than Hollywood.
We arrived at around 10pm. The restaurant was closed, but the kitchen obligingly fixed a Club sandwich with fries.
I booked a Queen Double room with balcony at a rate of $385.
The room was long but narrow with a small balcony overlooking the ocean. A gas log effect fire lit up the corner of the room by the balcony. With the doors slightly open and the fire lit, the room took on a magical character, which was just as well as without the distraction of lapping waves and flickering flames this would have been a very different experience.
The room had a queen size bed, a sofa, coffee table and a desk, which left just about enough floor space to slither between the furniture. The bathroom had a decent shower but no bath.
This really is accommodation for one.
A note on the bed informed that the ‘Custom Serta Presidential’ mattress had been enhanced with the addition of a ‘Tempur’Pedic’ topper. The topper is supposed to mould to one’s body shape thus eliminating a night of tossing and turning.
The note offered to have housekeeping remove the topper which wasn’t a lot of good at midnight, as I suspect all the maids were sound asleep in their topper free beds, whilst I was err….tossing and turning.
In a craving for sleep it was tempting to resort to the room’s medicine cabinet or mini ‘Wine Cellar’, as they preferred to call it, containing a selection of 8 bottles of wine, halves at $35 and full bottles ranging between $46 and $60.
The hotel seemed virtually empty so I asked for a Friday afternoon late check-out.
“We are fully occupied tonight”, said the receptionist.
My disbelieving look was responded to by the explanation that the hotel is always packed at weekends.
The Malibu Beach Inn has a Spa, which when combined with the lure of the Pacific, provides a perfect weekend retreat for those LA dwellers who can’t afford their own beach house.
Malibu Beach Inn
Carbon Bay
22878 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu
+1 310 456 6444
http://www.malibubeachinn.com/
The Malibu Inn from the Malibu Pier (and a local)
“Where?” we yelled, looking round the terrace towards the hotel lobby.
But Peggy, the breakfast waitress, was pointing out to the Pacific.
Bob is a seal, so named because his head bobs up and down in the water.
Our Disney adventure continued as two dolphins meandered by, then a hunk from the house next door ended his daily morning swim by having a cute encounter with Bob.
The show over, we returned to the matter of digesting smoked salmon bagels.
It's not all Flipper and Bay Watch in Mailbu. The singer, Cat Stevens, apparently had a near death experience in 1976 whilst swimming off Malibu which resulted in him disowning his songs, selling his guitars and becoming a Muslim.
The Malibu Beach Inn sits in the heart of Malibu’s 29 miles of coastline, next to the famous Malibu Pier. A walk on the beach provides a fascinating insight into the residential architecture of the region, a hybrid of different decades of Californian decadence and extravagance. Many movies flash through your mind as you stroll along the sand. This is more Hollywood than Hollywood.
We arrived at around 10pm. The restaurant was closed, but the kitchen obligingly fixed a Club sandwich with fries.
I booked a Queen Double room with balcony at a rate of $385.
The room was long but narrow with a small balcony overlooking the ocean. A gas log effect fire lit up the corner of the room by the balcony. With the doors slightly open and the fire lit, the room took on a magical character, which was just as well as without the distraction of lapping waves and flickering flames this would have been a very different experience.
The room had a queen size bed, a sofa, coffee table and a desk, which left just about enough floor space to slither between the furniture. The bathroom had a decent shower but no bath.
This really is accommodation for one.
A note on the bed informed that the ‘Custom Serta Presidential’ mattress had been enhanced with the addition of a ‘Tempur’Pedic’ topper. The topper is supposed to mould to one’s body shape thus eliminating a night of tossing and turning.
The note offered to have housekeeping remove the topper which wasn’t a lot of good at midnight, as I suspect all the maids were sound asleep in their topper free beds, whilst I was err….tossing and turning.
In a craving for sleep it was tempting to resort to the room’s medicine cabinet or mini ‘Wine Cellar’, as they preferred to call it, containing a selection of 8 bottles of wine, halves at $35 and full bottles ranging between $46 and $60.
The hotel seemed virtually empty so I asked for a Friday afternoon late check-out.
“We are fully occupied tonight”, said the receptionist.
My disbelieving look was responded to by the explanation that the hotel is always packed at weekends.
The Malibu Beach Inn has a Spa, which when combined with the lure of the Pacific, provides a perfect weekend retreat for those LA dwellers who can’t afford their own beach house.
Malibu Beach Inn
Carbon Bay
22878 Pacific Coast Highway
Malibu
+1 310 456 6444
http://www.malibubeachinn.com/
The Malibu Inn from the Malibu Pier (and a local)
Be Frank: agree or disagree? What do you think?
