[2][4] Designed by Los Angeles architect Charles F. Plummer to reflect an Italian Renaissance Revival aesthetic, the glory days of the hotel spanned 1926-41, as it became one of the most successful beach clubs in Southern California, popular with socialites and Hollywood celebrities.

[7] Architecture firms HLW International and Thomson Design Associates worked to preserve the interior and exterior of the seven-story building, reviving the hotel's original 1920s European style.

[7][9] In February 2008, designer Darrell Schmitt completed a multimillion-dollar remodel of all 129 guest rooms and suites, adding new furniture, artwork, flat-screen televisions, windows, wallpaper, mirrors and drapes.

The piece of art, titled Absinthe and The Elephants, was created by local street artist Jules Muck, serving as camouflage for the lobby's central bar area during renovations.

[14] The hotel has 129 rooms, a curving double staircase, a high coffered ceiling, mosaic tile floors and glowing copper sconces atop mahogany pillars in the lobby.

[2][7] In 2014, Michael S. Smith redesigned the hotel's new restaurant, Terrazza Lounge, which has a menu and style inspired by the Italian coast, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the ocean.