Ribbon cut at La Bahia: Santa Cruz’s most opulent hotel set to welcome guests Sept. 8

Across from Main Beach and the cool waters of Monterey Bay, around 200 invited guests gathered in the Mediterranean-style courtyard of La Bahia Hotel & Spa on Wednesday afternoon to formally celebrate the opening of Santa Cruz’s most luxurious accommodations. 

More than 40 years in the making, including three years of construction, the beachfront hotel will officially open in early September. When it does, it will boast 155 rooms, a banquet hall and event space, a rooftop pool, spa services, two full-service restaurants, a beach club and a Champagne bar in the lobby. And, supporters hope, uplift Santa Cruz’s status as a tourist destination. 

The official opening day isn’t until Sept. 8. That’s when the towering, cream-colored gem, crowned by a freshly restored bell tower, will welcome guests for overnight stays and spa treatments, and its two full-service restaurants will open to the public. But Wednesday, city councilmembers, business owners and La Bahia supporters sipped wines from Carmel Valley’s Bernardus Vineyards – another one of Ensemble Hospitality’s 10 properties – for a ribbon-cutting and a sneak peek at the expansive property. 

Ensemble owns La Bahia, as well as the Dream Inn, another beachfront hotel located just up the street. While the Dream Inn’s rooms range from around $200 to over $700, a night at La Bahia will start at $351 for a standard king room to $1,568 for a signature suite.

Mayor Fred Keeley didn’t hide his excitement about La Bahia as both an achievement for the city as a tourism destination and as an economic driver. “In terms of revenue from sales tax and the transient occupancy tax, it’s like the voters approving an eighth-of-a-cent sales tax increase, forever,” he said. “It’s an amazing economic generator for our city,” in addition to employing hundreds of workers in a range of jobs. 

Conrad Garner, managing director of Ensemble Investments, and Karl Rice, the CEO of the Santa Cruz Seaside Company, thanked the hotel’s supporters over the past 40 years, before cutting a ribbon and allowing curious guests to step inside. 

As the invitees snacked on deviled quail eggs and ceviche while sipping fizzy Meyer lemon vodka cocktails, they marveled at the beautiful surroundings. The design is both opulent and tranquil, with white stucco walls, arched entries, beachy touches like potted palms and rattan, and geometric light fixtures. Both the public and hotel guests can visit Pearl, a glitzy Champagne and cocktail bar in the lobby. 

On the back wall, tropical birds and a unicorn emerge from the mist of a hand-painted jungle. The mythical landscape is repeated on the headboards of the beds in every room, with an image of the hotel, the Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse and a ship sailing through the clouds, and is intended to represent Santa Cruz in a dream state. 

The bedrooms are soft and luscious, with intentional Santa Cruz touches. The minibar is stocked with local brands like Marini’s Candies, and the hotel has forged partnerships with The Penny Ice Creamery, Cat & Cloud coffee and Richard Schmidt Surf School. 

The pool area, including its four cabanas and Plunge bar, is restricted to hotel guests and spa members, but the lobby area and both of La Bahia’s two restaurants are open to the public.  

The dinner-only High Tide, located on the second floor, and the first-floor brunch, lunch and dinner spot Low Tide, will also open early September, with menus that are still being finalized. The executive chef, Fernando Reyes, came to La Bahia from Carmel Valley Ranch and has worked at luxury hotels around the world, including The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay. 

Overall, there was a celebratory sense of completion after years of planning, and hope for the future. “We are so grateful to the Seaside Company, to Ensemble, and to the working women and men who built this through Swenson [Builders],” said Keeley. “We are grateful to the community for believing in this project for a very, very long time.”

215 Beach St., Santa Cruz; labahiahotel.com; 831-285-1100.

—

FOR THE RECORD: Ensemble Properties owns La Bahia Hotel & Spa.

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.