2024 Best of Year Winner for Hotel Dining
An amalgamation of beaches across the globe, from Crete and Santorini in Greece to Positano and Capri, Italy, influenced Marelle, this 3,700-square-foot restaurant designed by Atelier Gulla Jonsdottir in Santa Monica, California, part of a broader revamp of the Sandbourne hotel, located mere steps from the Pacific shoreline. Hand-plastered walls, in a dusky terra-cotta hue that conjures the Mediterranean, backdrop the main room, where undulating plaster columns cordon off a more intimate dining alcove. Similarly sculptural are the custom pendant fixtures, handcrafted of ceramic in Oaxaca, Mexico, that form a shapely constellation above. Welcome cocktails are served at a grand bar, built of oak with a weathered-look concrete top and backed by sunny gold-tone wallcovering. This being SoCal, the restaurant naturally flows outside, where a lighthouse-like triple-height dining pavilion is enclosed by cream-colored drapery panels—allowing for cozy privacy or full-fledged access to million-dollar views.
PROJECT TEAM: GULLA JONSDOTTIR; ALINA IGARASHI; SASHA BELYAVSKAYA.
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