Huntington Beach is a seriously surfy destination. Lots of Southern California thinks of itself as laid back and surf-happy, but Huntington Beach is the real thing: surf shops galore, hip cafes and juice bars, beach party bonfires on the sand, a surfing museum, and consistently excellent surfing conditions. It’s also an incredibly beach-y destination, with a long, long (15.3kms) seafront lined with gorgeous hotels, bars and restaurants, and naturally our picks for the best places to stay in Huntington Beach are right along the beach.
Huntington Beach has never been glitzy, but it’s always been properly cool, and these days, the surf fashions you see here will be emulated across the world. Huntington Beach has been made over a couple of times, and, as well as being a much larger city, it’s also now got a colourful, and expansive, shopping and restaurant district around Main Street, and several huge malls.
You can’t build against Huntington Beach without a vote, so it’s mostly low rise, with a large, flat marshy wetland at one end of the beach, and several state parks, so despite being a city, there’s plenty of open space and wilderness too.
Our pick of the best places to stay in Huntington Beach are extremely popular beachside beauties. So do yourself a favour and book well ahead to avoid disappointment.
The Best Places to Stay in Huntington Beach
For a chic central stay
- Right across the street from the beach, the Shorebreak Hotel is a chic, contemporary hotel with 157 rooms and suites, the fanciest of which have private hot tubs, as well as wonderful ocean views. The bar and restaurant look like David Hockney would paint them, and there are fire pits, cocktails, a ping pong table and bike and surfboard rentals. And you’re right in the heart of Huntington Beach, just off Main Street.
For surfers
- Just along the sand from the Shorebreak is the Pasea Hotel and Spa, a larger hotel with a minimal feel to the decor, which features simple furnishings in marine colours, with soft, wave-like curves. There are large ocean themed murals on the walls of many of the 250 rooms and suites, a large spa, and a vast bar and restaurant with lots of glass and a killer cocktail menu. This hotel takes surfing so seriously that they have such a thing as a ‘surf butler’.
For romance
- The Newport Beach Hotel, which is, unsurprisingly, in Newport Beach, is further along the coast in the direction of Laguna Beach. We like it because it’s small, with only 15 rooms and suites, classic and romantic. The rooms themselves are generously proportioned, and light and airy, with a contemporary, marine theme and private balconies overlooking the ocean.
Prefer an Apartment or Villa?
- If you’d prefer to stay in an apartment or private villa we recommend you visit our online partner, booking.com.
Travel Information
- The Los Angeles area, which includes Huntington Beach, is served by five major commercial airports: Santa Ana, Los Angeles Airport, Burbank, Long Beach, and Ontario, and which one you fly into probably depends on where you’re flying from most. Santa Ana is probably closest, only 20-25minutes in a cab. From LAX the transfer is a bit more of an adventure, involving routing through Union Station and either bussing or cabbing it from San Juan’s Amtrak Station. The transfer from Long Beach involves around two hours worth of bus journey, unless you know someone with a speedboat? Or you can arrive in San Diego airport and catch a couple of trains and a couple of buses.
- If you’re thinking about hiring a car we recommend checking what our online partners, Rentalcars have to offer.
- This part of Orange County, and most of it, has a Mediterranean climate, which means it’s sunny, dry and mild, temperatures are comfortable here year round. July and August are the hottest months in Laguna Beach, with maximum daily average temperatures at 25°C, and January and February are coolest, with daily maximums at 17°C. Which keeps the water very comfortable for surfers. Hunting ton Beach hosts loads of events come the summer, including The US Open of Surfing, and the AVP beach volleyball tour, but there are a number of events in winter too.
Still not sure?
