La Bahia Hotel & Spa

Historic Hotels Are Reopening Across California - AFAR

"After three decades in limbo, I watched the Spanish colonial revival complex on the Santa Cruz waterfront come back to life: originally opened by the Seaside Company in 1926 as a long-term stay hotel, it was partially converted, sold as apartments in 1964, and partly demolished in 1989 while its white bell tower kept marking the skyline. Following years of lawsuits and stalled plans, the Seaside Company and Ensemble Investments invested $100 million to resurrect the property, which reopened on September 8 with 155 rooms (including 29 suites) wrapped around a restored courtyard, four restaurants, a spa, a rooftop pool, and meeting space — a transformation that turned a lot once full of graffiti into a lobby where bridal parties and surfers pass luggage carts and shake sand from their boards." - Jackie Bryant