Georgian Hotel

White-gloved attendants first swung open the doors of Santa Monica’s Georgian Hotel in 1933. Run by Judge Harry J. Borde, the exclusive hotel was nicknamed “The Lady” in honor of Borde’s late mother, Rosamond—the true visionary of The Georgian and its adjacent sister hotel.

Rosamond was an audaciously modern, enterprising woman who bought the land and commissioned an upscale establishment in a style that married Romanesque revival and art deco. Much like “the lady” who dreamed it up, The Georgian was ahead of its time, enticing A-list celebrities and gangsters with its refined speakeasy at the height of Prohibition.

Santa Monica was still inventing itself at the time, and The Georgian’s stately elegance helped establish Southern California’s coastal aesthetic. While retaining its original charm, the hotel moved with the tides, later becoming a summer residence for first mother Rose Kennedy; creating a beauty parlor and playground before such amenities were common- place; and consistently offering discretionary martinis on the veranda to Hollywood’s elite.