House Rules

A Palihouse is just one type of hotel you could choose from the Palisociety group. How to decide? Let us count the ways.

I have, at times, when asked what my favorite hotel is, answered Palihouse Santa Monica. It’s a royally tough question. I’ve seen thousands of amazing hotels. But at times, when asked, the Palihouse was my first reply. You might think that sounds like some bullshit. You might think the real answer has to be a luxury resort with private butlers and big-name architects. And yes, those are great. But I wouldn’t be very good at my job if I placed extravagance ahead of character. The whole point of Tablet is to level the playing field between places that cost a fortune and places more folks can afford.

Full disclosure. Palihouse Santa Monica was the first hotel stay I treated myself to after a year-long battle with stage 4 cancer. Coming out of that ordeal, the world was brighter, the colors more vivid, and I was thankful for every little indulgence (if only I could always navigate life with such positivity). The Palihouse wasn’t merely a beneficiary of my rosy mood. It was the hotel I chose specifically for my big reintroduction to the world.

Here are five reasons why.

1.) THE KITCHEN
I believe a kitchenette should be as common in hotel rooms as a shower faucet that’s impossible to interpret. Many rooms at Palihouse hotels have a fridge, sink, microwave, and coffee maker (“house” hints at their apartment-style intention). My suite in Santa Monica had a full kitchen and dining table. I had my own, incredibly well-designed L.A. apartment. This was what I flew all the way from New York for.

2.) THE HISTORY
I’m a sucker for hotels in historic architecture, and the Palihouse lives in a 1927 Mediterranean Revival masterpiece. Inhabiting and improving notable structures is a hallmark of the Palisociety group, and if their new Le Petit Pali line is any indication, they’re only getting better (more on that below). Another fine example is the Spanish Colonial Revival compound that houses Palihouse Santa Barbara and its courtyard garden.

3.) THE DESIGN:
When it comes to interiors, what I really want are one-of-a-kind statements. At a hotel with hundreds of rooms or ultra-modern minimalist design, you won’t find too many hand-picked, singular pieces. At a Pali, you just might. I’m thinking of an antique easel in the corner of my suite in Santa Monica. On it, a painting of a dog that looked like it could’ve been plucked off the wall of a really great vintage store. And probably was. Maybe even by Avi Brosh, Pali’s founder and creative director.

4.) THE LOBBY:
Brosh’s eye for drama continues downstairs in the lobby, where the hunter green walls, stone fireplace, and deep booths call to mind my favorite design style: dark English pub. A good lobby is a space you can always depend on. For all their charms, hotels can be isolating if you stay too long in your room, but it’s intimidating to venture out if there isn’t a place to be comfortably alone among people. The lobby at Palihouse Santa Monica is plenty comfortable, and was where, each morning of my stay, I enjoyed coffee and chilaquiles.

The memory of that dish has endured. Chemotherapy had sapped much of the joy (and flavor) from eating, and after my final surgery, I was put on a month-long, fat-free diet. That diet ended just before my stay. I savored each bite of egg and fried tortilla, and each moment of conversation with the lovely server who brought it. Which brings us to reason five.

5.) THE STAFF:
I’ve had the good fortune of staying at all four Palihouse hotels, in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, and in West Hollywood and Tampa. At each, the staff was a warm beam of delight. My god, I can’t emphasize enough how wonderful it is to be greeted with smiles and genuine enthusiasm. We’ve all checked into hotels and felt like we were an inconvenience to the front desk. Never an issue at any of the Palihouse hotels.

Beyond the Palihouse line, Palisociety has a number of Palihotels on the west coast, from San Diego to Seattle. Along with operating a handful of independent properties, their portfolio also includes the ARRIVE group, which extends their influence in the east to not just Florida, but Memphis and Wilmington. There’s even a Palisociety capsule collection if you want to bring a bit of Avi Brosh home with you.

The most exciting advancement, though, is the recent launch of Le Petit Pali, a bed and breakfast concept comprised of small inns in prime California havens like Carmel-by-the-Sea, Laguna Beach, Brentwood, and St. Helena. Here especially, Brosh is adept at melding his eclectic sensibility with the unique peculiarities of existing buildings. We’ll undoubtedly go deeper on Le Petit Pali down the road.

For more insight on Palisociety, read our interview with Avi Brosh from 2020, and a 2024 follow-up on the brand’s ambitious expansion. For more detail on the four Palihouse hotels, see below.

Palihouse Santa Monica

Los Angeles, California

The formula of Palihouse Santa Monica is simple: guest rooms with space to spread out, bedding made of all the right feathers and threads, free internet, and supersize screens. Their tendency toward the homey shows in the small details, like windows that actually open. Opt for anything above the entry-level “classic” rooms and you’ll get a fridge, a range, and a full stock of high-end kitchen appliances.

Palihouse West Hollywood

Los Angeles, California

The very first Palisociety hotel has been completely reinvented as the 95-room Palihouse West Hollywood. As you’d expect based on the Palisociety brand’s previous form, this is a vintage-inspired stunner — its design incorporates L.A.’s plentiful European influences and encompasses a multitude of eras on the way to delivering a blend that ultimately feels fresh and fully realized.

Palihouse Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California

“Vintage preppy meets American riviera” is an apt description for the vintage-inspired, tweedy-yet-sunny, elegantly casual atmosphere of Palihouse Santa Barbara. The 24 rooms and suites surround a tranquil central courtyard or sparkling pool area, and they’re uniformly spacious and sunny, with fireplaces, private patios or gardens, and at the higher end kitchenettes and dining tables.

Palihouse Hyde Park Village

Tampa, Florida

Palisociety hotels may have been born in California, but the brand’s colorful, eclectic, European-influenced style looks perfectly at home on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Guest rooms at this remarkably stylish boutique hotel are colorful, handsome, equally warm, and somewhat residential in their concept — some of them feature kitchenettes and sofa beds, all have Nespresso machines and SMEG fridges.