T R A V E L
Haven of Peace and Serenity
Bed and breakfast inn maintains decades of tradition on the wetlands PHOTOS COURTESY OF INN AT PLAYA DEL REY
By Bridgette M. Redman mid all the bustle of the Westside, the Inn at Playa del Rey is a warm haven of peace and serenity. It opened in 1995 because Ed and Susan Zolla wanted to build a small inn abutting the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve, a place that they supported and were committed to seeing preserved. They partnered with Architect Gerald Li to create a place that centered nature and gave their guests an opportunity to experience it from courtyards, in the common areas and from balconies in their rooms. In 2018, the Inn at Playa del Rey joined the Four Sisters Inn collection, a small management company that had been managing another Zolla property since 2008—the Channel Road Inn in Santa Monica. “We started working with Susan way back with the Channel Road Inn,” said Tamara Mims, president and CEO of Four Sisters Inn. “She is still very involved at Playa del Rey and really didn’t want to fully retire. She’s a very busy, active woman.” Because they had had a successful relationship with the Channel Road Inn, Mims said Zolla was ready to pass over the reins of the day-to-day management of Playa del Rey, even while continuing to take an active interest in the property. “They are an amazing family,” Mims said. “They are really incredible people that are very generous and very giving. They actively support the Ballona wetlands. It’s a big piece of the hotel. She’s a great, great person that supports the community.” Mims said that Zolla stays in touch with the employees, throwing amazing Christmas parties for them each year. For guests, the Inn at Playa del Rey provides an opportunity to experience the wetlands in an intimate fashion. There are comfortable sitting areas that invite guests to linger and take in the wetlands and the wildlife. There are telescopes and binoculars along with books explaining what might be found outside the large windows.
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The Inn at Playa del Rey is a hidden gem on the Westside that overlooks the Ballona Wetlands Ecological Reserve and Marina del Rey. “There’s no other hotel in Los Angeles that sits on over 600 acres of a nature preserve,” Mims said. “We have guests when they leave or come saying over and over, ‘I cannot believe I’m in Los Angeles.’ You’ll go out the front of the hotel and you’re on a fairly busy street—I mean, you’re in LA at the end of the day. But when you walk into the hotel, the viewpoint is looking out to the preserve and it’s just incredible.” The décor summons images of the nearby marina with sailing pictures and ornamentation and blue and white color schemes throughout. The walls are decked with nautical maps and photographed images of the beach and historical events. The owners were seeking a New England beach style. Many rooms have private balconies with a table and chairs looking out on the stretch of undeveloped land where birds, small animals and even—since the pandemic—a family of coyotes live. “It’s just a breath of fresh air,” Mims said. "It’s really amazing. The location is one of the most unique aspects of it. You’re in
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the heart of Los Angeles, you can walk to the beach and you’re looking out to no buildings or high rises.” Guest amenities offered at the Inn at Playa del Rey fit in with the Four Sisters Inn properties, meaning very little had to be added when management changed hands. “Everything that (Zolla) did and how she ran this hotel is still in place,” Mims said. “She is a very warm person who really believes in the guest experience as well as the employee experience so nothing major really changed, which is why it was such a natural fit for us. They were already doing an amazing breakfast, they were doing the cookies—when you check in you get two cookies in your guestroom. They have the wine and cheese hour.” All those amenities are included in the price of the room, as are bottled waters, soda, coffee and tea—they don’t believe in nickeling and diming their guests. The property has a cupboard from which guests can borrow beach gear including towels, sand
pails and shovels and beach mats or umbrellas. While the guest experience hasn’t changed, Four Sisters Inn was able to help better support back-of-the-house efforts such as marketing, accounting and bookkeeping and human resources, as well as add a few technological innovations. “We brought peace of mind for her,” Mims said. “She saw how we ran Channel Road, that we were very fiscally sound and took care of the hotel just like she would have done in terms of maintenance, guest services, maintaining food offerings, training the staff and all of that. So really for us and for her it was a very natural fit. We just kept with her tradition, which was very similar to our own.” Many of the staff have been with the Inn for a long time and are committed to maintaining the special character of the property. Mims said that two of their housekeepers have been with them for more than 25 years and were recently recognized by the California Hotel & Lodging Association for being outstanding in their
field. The staff makes an effort to cater to all types of guests, whether they are business travelers, families or couples looking for a getaway. They are minutes away from LAX and have all the technology that someone needs for a working trip, but there are also rooms for families. Other rooms are designed for romance with a two-sided fireplace that can be enjoyed from the bedroom and the bathroom both—and the bathroom contains a romantic, large jetted tub and separate shower. “People will just go relax, have a glass of wine, maybe do a little work or just catch up with a friend,” Mims said. “It has a very comforting feeling to it.” Much of their business relies on word-of-mouth because they are such a small property. Mims said guests consider their property a best-kept secret, a gem among LA hotels. In turn, they try to make sure their guests feel safe, taken care of, relaxed and wanting to come back. One of their more recent