Venice’s Hotel Erwin gives its rooms and suites a bright reboot

The Hotel Erwin’s popular rooftop lounge, High, is the beachfront property’s star. But that might not be the case much longer.

Los Angeles-based designer Sally Breer, aka “young Hollywood’s decorator of choice,” has refreshed the hotel’s 119 rooms. Breer’s previous work includes the Hotel Covell in Los Feliz and Highland Park’s Cafe Birdie, and with Hotel Erwin, she aimed for a look that captures the 1970s bohemian wave that established Venice as a funky neighborhood.

The rooms’ new palette incorporates bold yellows, greens, and blues. Certain touches—including funhouse mirrors and a designated selfie spot that replicates a “Wish You Were Here!” postcard—nod to Venice Beach’s boardwalk and the neighborhood’s early days as a travel destination. Additions such as standing orb lamps, semi-circular pendant lamps, and wicker chairs are blasts from the past that are trendy again.

The hotel, which opened in 2009 in what used to be a Best Western, sits on Pacific Avenue, less than a block from the sand. Rooms at the hotel start at $279 a night this summer.