Best Family Hotels with Pools in Santa Monica, CA

The best family hotels with pools in Santa Monica pair a genuinely kid-friendly pool with enough on-site comfort that parents get to relax too. Take the Regent Santa Monica Beach. A stunning ocean-view pool deck with cabanas and poolside service. We plan dedicated pool days where we do absolutely nothing, so the hotel has to carry the entertainment on its own. Every pick below gets our Sloth Relax Score, and by the last one you’ll know exactly which Santa Monica pool deserves your booking and which famous names don’t earn their nightly rate.

At-A-Glance Comparison

Regent Santa Monica Beach

Worth knowing before you read further: the hotel that stood here as the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel closed in 2023, went through a $150 million renovation and reopened as the Regent Santa Monica Beach. Same oceanfront address on Ocean Avenue, different hotel. It rates 4.0 out of 5 on TripAdvisor, though on only 41 reviews so far, and it is now 167 rooms and 34 suites rather than the 342 it had before.

• What it’s like: Quiet, expensive and adult-leaning, with the polish you would expect from a property that has just spent nine figures on itself.
• The Pool: One outdoor pool and a hot tub, both looking straight out at the Pacific, with cabanas for rent and poolside service from the bar. It is a beautiful place to sit. It is not a place children will entertain themselves. There is no kids pool and no shallow entry, and under-14s have to be accompanied by an adult in the water.
• Rooms That Fit a Family: Connecting rooms are available and cribs are free. Base rooms start around 720 square feet, which is genuinely large.
• Walk to the Sand: Directly across from the beach and a few minutes from Santa Monica Pier, which is the reason this address has always been worth paying for.
• Nearest Groceries: Vons at 1311 Wilshire Boulevard, open 6am to 11pm daily, with a Whole Foods at 2201 Wilshire Boulevard.
• Tip: The Seascape Explorers program runs beach games and creative activities for younger guests. It is the closest thing to childcare on this page and it is the reason a luxury hotel works here at all.

What It Actually Costs: Valet parking only, and Santa Monica valet rates are among the steepest in California. Cabanas are a paid extra on top.

Good to know: The review count is small because the hotel is new in this form, so there is less to go on than for anything else on this page. Treat the rating as provisional rather than settled.

Skip It If: you have a child under 14 who wants to swim independently. The supervision rule is a real constraint here, not a formality.

Shutters on the Beach

Shutters is the Santa Monica hotel people picture when they picture Santa Monica: a grey-shingled beach house sitting directly on the sand. It rates 4.0 out of 5 across 2,268 TripAdvisor reviews, 16th of the town’s 37 hotels.

• What it’s like: Understated, expensive and genuinely relaxed rather than formal. It reads as a private beach house that happens to have a front desk.
• The Pool: One heated outdoor pool with a whirlpool spa, chaise lounges, private cabanas and towel service. Comfortable and calm, with nothing in it built for children.
• Rooms That Fit a Family: Cribs are available on request in rooms and suites. Rollaway beds are $50 a night, which is worth knowing if you are five people rather than four.
• Walk to the Sand: Directly onto the beach. This is as close as it gets in Santa Monica.
• Nearest Groceries: Vons at 1311 Wilshire Boulevard, open 6am to 11pm daily, with a Whole Foods at 2201 Wilshire Boulevard.
• Tip: Book a cabana rather than chasing loungers. At a hotel where the pool is the only quiet space, having a reserved one changes the day.

What It Actually Costs: Valet parking runs about $30 a night, which is the most reasonable rate on this page by a wide margin. There is a resort fee on top, and the cabanas are extra.

Good to know: There is no shallow entry and no children’s pool, so a small child will be in your arms in the water. The beach directly outside is the better bet for them, and the pool is where you go afterwards.

Skip It If: the pool is meant to occupy the children. It is a beautiful pool for adults with a book.

Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows

The Fairmont Miramar sits on the bluffs above the beach across five acres of gardens, and its bungalows are the reason families choose it over the two hotels below on the sand. It is also, by some distance, the most expensive place on this page once the compulsory extras land.

• What it’s like: Lush and private, spread across five acres of gardens on the bluff. It feels more like a garden estate than a beach hotel.
• The Pool: One expansive heated pool kept at 82 degrees with a whirlpool spa at 110, both family-friendly and both looking west for the sunset. No children’s pool and no shallow entry.
• Rooms That Fit a Family: This is the draw. There are 31 bungalows, which the hotel bills as the only secluded hideaways of their kind in Santa Monica. The largest runs 2,500 square feet with a 1,000 square foot private patio opening onto the gardens and the pool.
• Walk to the Sand: Across Ocean Avenue and down the bluff. Close, but not the barefoot walk that Shutters offers.
• Nearest Groceries: Vons at 1311 Wilshire Boulevard, open 6am to 11pm daily, with a Whole Foods at 2201 Wilshire Boulevard.
• Tip: A bungalow with its own patio means naptime does not stop the rest of the day. That is the single most useful thing on this page for a family with a toddler.

What It Actually Costs: Budget carefully. There is a $50 a night Resort Experience Fee plus tax, and valet parking at $79 a night. That is about $129 a night in mandatory charges before the room, the highest of any hotel reviewed on this site, and reviewers say so directly. The resort fee does at least cover pool access, sun loungers, towels and sunscreen.

Good to know: Guests praise the location and the staff and then complain about the fees in the same breath. Go in knowing that the nightly rate you are quoted is roughly $129 short of what you will pay.

Skip It If: you are comparing on headline rate. This one only makes sense if you book a bungalow and use it.

Shore Hotel

The Shore Hotel is ranked first of Santa Monica’s 37 hotels on TripAdvisor, across 7,185 reviews. It also has the plainest pool on this page, and both of those things are worth saying in the same breath.

• What it’s like: Modern, open-air and easy, built around a central courtyard. Genuinely simple to navigate with a stroller, which is not true of the bluff-top or beach-house options.
• The Pool: A single heated pool in the courtyard, and that is the whole of it. No children’s pool, no shallow entry, no cabanas. What it does have is sight lines: you can see the whole pool from most of the deck, which with two children in the water counts for more than most amenities.
• Rooms That Fit a Family: Straightforward modern rooms. The sustainable design is the selling point rather than the square footage.
• Walk to the Sand: Directly across Ocean Avenue from the beach and about two minutes from the pier, which is the best position on this page for families who plan to walk everywhere.
• Nearest Groceries: Vons at 1311 Wilshire Boulevard, open 6am to 11pm daily, with a Whole Foods at 2201 Wilshire Boulevard.
• Tip: Valet has elevator access straight into the hotel, so unloading a car full of beach gear and tired children takes one trip rather than three.

What It Actually Costs: Valet parking is $50 a night. That is the main extra, and it sits between Shutters at $30 and the Fairmont at $79.

Good to know: The pool is small and central, which means it is overlooked by rooms and gets noisy when it is busy. This is a hotel you book for the location and the service, both of which are genuinely the best in town, and the pool is a bonus rather than the reason.

Skip It If: you want a pool day. Everything else about the Shore is excellent and the pool is the one thing it does not do.

FAQs About Family Trips to Santa Monica

Are these pools safe for toddlers?

Most hotels provide shallow areas or hot tubs, but always supervise children closely as these are resort pools without constant lifeguards.

Is it better to stay near the pier or in the city center?

For a lazy trip, stay near the pier or beach to minimize travel time and maximize pool time.

Can I find heated pools in Santa Monica?

Yes, most upscale hotels in Santa Monica feature heated pools, making them perfect for year-round lounging regardless of the ocean breeze.

Santa Monica is one of the seven towns in our ranking of the best California beach towns for families.

More Family Travel Guides for Santa Monica:

• Top Family-Friendly Activities in Santa Monica, CA
• The Ultimate Family Guide to Santa Monica Beaches