Malibu has long inspired artists and beckoned the rich and famous.
Now three low-key hotels are offering visitors a slice of the southern California dream.
That sharp curve of road it was in the chase scene from that movie, right?
Credit:Valerie de Leon/Travel + Leisure
The Creamsicle sunset, just as mesmerizing as the song promised.
That perfume was it star jasmine or eucalyptus, Ms. Didion?
(Actually, it was both.)
From left: Diners at Malibu’s Café Habana; the interior of Teressa Foglia’s hat shop at the Malibu Country Mart.Carmen Chan
He howled with laughter, a frayed Netflix cap falling from his sunburned forehead.
Welcome to the good part, man.
Keep heading west, and keep the water on your left.
From left: The coffee bar inside Hotel June’s surfer-chic lobby; Reem Al-Zahawi and Sam Shendow, two of Hotel June Malibu’s co-owners.Carmen Chan
Carmen Chan
It was October, and Id driven out from Los Angeles to flee a heat wave.
The Malibu of the 10-foot-high privacy hedge.
The Malibu where Bob Dylan still lives in the home he bought for $100,000 in 1979.
The retro sign outside Hotel June.Carmen Chan
The Malibu of Barbra Streisands three-acre, country-style estate and Julia Roberts three-house compound.
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But theres always been just one hotel: the Riviera.
It was built in 1949; in 1974, Dylan wrote “Blood on the Tracks” there.
Seagulls in mid-flight near Nobu Ryokan Malibu.Carmen Chan
About six years ago, its 13 rooms got a glow-up, and it was renamed the Native.
(The first-generation neon VACANCY sign along the PCH keeps the no-tell-motel vibe alive.)
It used to be Dylans.
From left: The sitting area of a guest room at Nobu Ryokan; Nobu Ryokan, as seen from Carbon Beach.Carmen Chan
Instead, youre meant to get out.
Eat $40 barramundi tacos!
Overnight, it rained.
From left: A tier from a seafood tower at Broad Street Oyster Co.; Derek Savoie, the Surfrider’s front-desk manager and a surfing instructor, sitting in the hotel’s 1968 Land Rover.Carmen Chan
(Theres no room service or restaurant.)
We climbed up, then down, toward Zuma Beach, into the neighborhoods of Point Dume.
This is the Malibu of locals, Collings said.
Surfers on Zuma Beach, in Malibu, California.Carmen Chan
He grew up around here.
His first job was tending bar at the legendary Dukes.
The Nobu and all that is…a different place.
The Surfrider Hotel’s private rooftop terrace.Carmen Chan
Shendow and Collings mentioned the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which killed three people and burned nearly 100,000 acres.
The fire changed the land here; it changed the vegetation were allowed to plant.
The one-two punch of the fire and the pandemic irrevocably altered Malibu, Shendow and Collings continued.
A bartender at the Surfrider Hotel Malibu.Carmen Chan
Now you have the Andrew Garfields, Collings said.
You have, like, every WB web link actor from the nineties here in Point Dume.
Its like everyone youve ever seen your whole life just decided this is the spot to be.
His wet suit open to his waist, he looked like a centaur.
In these parts, Nobu Malibu is the town square.
Theres Scott Disick getting a jump start in valet.
Hey, its Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith returning to public life.
Happy 50th, Cameron Diaz!
Happy Tuesday, Selena Gomez.
What a terrible day in Malibu!
she declared on her way to valet, her face lit up by a cloudless sky.
A waterfront table at Nobu is the toughest reservation to get in southern California.
Staying two doors down at the 16-room Nobu Ryokan Malibu really helps.
The waves do keep some people up, the porter admitted.
Looking out, I spotted a hoverboard surfer zipping across the horizon, shrugging at the waves.
They named it Humaliwo, which translates to the surf sounds loudly.
It was transliterated to Malibu by Spanish colonizers in the early 1800s.
And every cinematographers shot began with the Pacific Ocean.
Is this the part where I describe it?
Its green…no, blue…maybe even purple at times.
At sunset, for just a split second, its tangerine.
Then, its ink black.
And the water temperature generally hovers somewhere around 60 degrees perfect for a shoeless late-afternoon walk along the shore.
I carried on, the water flirting with my ankles.
I got closer to Carbon Beach and its homes belonging to alpha males like David Geffen.
I watched two people in wet suits walk into the water.
They dove in and started swimming, headed for the horizon, chasing the fleeing sun.
For some 4,000 years, this area was held by the Chumash, a Native American people.
They named it Humaliwo, which translates to the surf sounds loudly.
It was transliterated to Malibu by Spanish colonizers in the early 1800s.
The tide started coming in.
There was less beach to walk on.
My sweatshirt came loose and fell into the water.
As I wrestled it from the undertow, an Academy Award winner walked by smoking a joint.
The Surfrider Malibu
There is one rooftop restaurant in Malibu.
The feel is less hotel and more TV-show apartment building.
Spreading four cards out across the table, she told me, You have everything you want.
You just have to see it.
Frederick Rindge said that, too, to his wife May when he took her to Malibu in 1892.
The love they found for its land, water, and air took them by surprise.
In this good country you need not fear to take a deep, long breath.
Even out on the water, I could smell star jasmine.
Above, the Property Brothers were filming an episode.
one of the twins bellowed.
Three dolphins crested out of the water.
A few minutes later, the water began to dance around my board.
For 20 feet on either side of me, the water shimmered as if reaching a boil.
It crescendoed and then…peace.
You gotta take a dunk, Savoie commanded, breaking the silence.
We hopped in the water; the cold had me eyeing his wet suit with envy.
We sat on our boards and floated.
Take it all in, he advised, motioning up.
We never really look at this side of the street.
He meant the right side, the mountains, canyons, and rocks.
You actually have to be out on the water to see the land.
We watched the surfers.
When Im out here, I have to make myself look back, look up, he said.
And breathe in what Malibu has to offer.
Perks include in-room dining from the namesake restaurant and direct access to a pristine stretch of Carbon Beach.
