Fairmont Breakers Long Beach hotel review

Fairmont Breakers Long Beach location

The Fairmont Breakers Long Beach sits smack dab in the middle of downtown Long Beach, right along Ocean Boulevard. The hotel is just under 7 miles away from Long Beach Airport (LGB), which takes around 20 to 30 minutes by car to reach. Depending on traffic, you can expect to pay around $40 to get to and from the airport via a ride-hailing service.

The property is also 25 miles south of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), and a ride from there can take anywhere from 40 to 75 minutes and cost upward of $80 if you are using a ride-hailing service. Another option is John Wayne Airport (SNA), which is 25 miles southeast of the hotel in Santa Ana, California. The drive from there can take around 40 to 60 minutes and cost approximately $70 when using a service like Uber or Lyft.

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Fairmont Breakers Long Beach booking details

Standout features

• You’ll want to check out the hotel’s several swanky watering holes, including the rooftop Halo venue and the lobby jazz lounge Alter Ego.
• The building has gorgeous historical features, as well as beautifully redone rooms and public spaces.
• Guests can anticipate affordable room rates with on-property benefits when booking directly through Accor.

Drawbacks

The vibe at Fairmont Breakers Long Beach

“That’s the mayor of Long Beach,” our server at Nettuno said as she set down a plate of Caledonian prawns with Calabrian chili butter, indicating a man entertaining a large dinner party at a nearby table.

He was just one of many locals we found checking out the newly opened hotel in November. The spa was mostly booked during our two-night stay, and both the glamorous dining room at Sky Room and the gardenlike lounge at Halo on the upper floors were packed with curious Long Beachers eager to try the food and drinks at the city’s hottest new hotel.

No doubt the fanfare will calm down over time and the crowd mix will veer more toward out-of-town business travelers and families checking out Long Beach’s longstanding attractions. But for now, it was nice to see a mix of visitors and locals alike.

Rooms at Fairmont Breakers Long Beach

Although it had 330 accommodations back in its original heyday, after the recent renovation, the Fairmont Breakers Long Beach now houses just 185 rooms and suites. These start with 279-square-foot Fairmont King rooms and range up to the Breakers Two Bedroom Suite on the 12th floor.

I stayed in a Fairmont Bay View King, which is a few categories higher, about 20 square feet larger and around $50 per night more expensive than a standard room. It was at the end of the hallway on the hotel’s ninth floor and offered views of the Port of Long Beach and San Pedro Bay through large windows that let in plenty of natural light.

The room had a short entry hallway and a small closet that were probably vestiges of the historical room footprint.

The room’s color palette was inspired by the port, with tones of industrial grays, cloudlike whites and swirls of blue and gold on the rugs, plus some framed seashells above the king-size bed. The spotless white linens, woven straw wall accents and bleached wooden floors gave the room a clean, contemporary look.

Attached to the wall in one corner was a large flat-screen TV. To the other side of the bed, there was a small sort of multipurpose area featuring a round, marble-topped table that doubled as a place to eat and work. It had one heavy armchair with a ropelike frame (another nod to the nearby port’s industries) next to it. There were also a Nespresso machine and complimentary bottles of water.

The most impressive feature was the bathroom, which was surprisingly large for an old hotel building. The space included a long marble countertop with two sinks and mirrors, a separate water closet with a frosted-glass door and a marble spa-style wet area that contained both the bathtub and the shower.

There was a wall-mounted, hand-held showerhead and another overhead one with several stream functions, including a mister. Both the vanity and the shower area were stocked with Le Labo Rose 31 products.

Though on the small side, the room’s fresh look and spacious bathroom created a luxurious ambience equally suited to both leisure and work trips.

Food and drink at Fairmont Breakers Long Beach

There are five bars and restaurants at the Fairmont Breakers Long Beach, and even a short stay is enough to experience most, if not all, of them.

Nettuno

Nettuno is the hotel’s main restaurant and sits next to the reception area in the lobby. Its dining room has soaring double-height ceilings anchored by squared-off columns with antiqued-mirrored surfaces and Corinthian capitals that are beautiful contrasts to the contemporary art on the walls and the chainlike chandeliers strung across the ceiling.

The breakfast menu offers standards like avocado toast with baby kale, cherry tomatoes and stracciatella on seedy whole wheat ($18) and an egg white omelet with seasonal herbs, mushrooms and goat cheese ($20), plus pastries like a fluffy blueberry-olive oil muffin ($6) and a variety of coffees, teas, juices and smoothies ($6 to $16).

The lunch and dinner menus feature mostly coastal Italian fare like zucchini blossoms filled with lemon-herb ricotta ($24), artichoke tortelli with brown butter and sage ($28) and tiramisu ($10).

Sky Room

Sky Room, which takes up most of the hotel’s 13th floor, dates to 1938, when Conrad Hilton took over the property and turned a penthouse suite into one of the West Coast’s toniest restaurants.

It is looking as splendorous as ever again thanks to a complete restoration. It’s easy to picture yourself here during its prewar pinnacle as you cozy up in one of the enormous circular velvet booths or at the intimate two-tops by the windows, all illuminated by a dazzling fluted light fixture that appears to ripple as it runs nearly the length of the dining room.

Open only for dinner Tuesday through Saturday, Sky Room feels like a throwback to the supper clubs of yore thanks to the bustling, neatly uniformed staff, a cocktail list of old favorites and a roster of continental classics you might have found on some of the original menus — oysters Rockefeller and clams casino, anyone? You can actually spot some of the 1930s menus decorating the walls near the entrance.

Start with piping-hot parkerhouse rolls with whipped cultured butter ($8), then tuck into specialties like luscious Dungeness crabcakes with smoked trout roe and caviar butter ($28) — there’s even a whole caviar menu, if that’s your thing.

Bring a few friends to indulge in the California wagyu beef Wellington with mushroom duxelle, bordelaise sauce and prosciutto encased in a flaky pastry crust ($165), or go lighter with the juicy whole John Dory (fileted tableside, of course) with yuzu-kosho beurre blanc and herb salad (market price based on weight). The wine list features bottles from around the world, including the likes of chardonnay from Western Australia’s vaunted Vasse Felix winery ($105 per bottle).

Order the bananas Foster ($22) to end your meal with a bang … or rather a flambe as the staff sets the dish alight right at your table.

Halo

Halo feels like a little secret tucked away on the hotel’s top floor. Inside, glazed green tiling, pink wallpaper with exotic leaf motifs and a beautifully lit, deep-veined alabaster bar all create the feeling of a Caribbean garden party.

That’s only heightened by the tropical cocktails, like the startlingly blue Clarified Top Floor Mai Tai ($19) with Bacardi Ocho rum, Plantation Stiggins pineapple rum, Wray & Nephew overproof rum, Grand Marnier, lime, mango and pineapple.

Come the warmer months, the outdoor terrace should be the best place in town to catch the sunset and views of Catalina Island across the channel.

An added historical oddity? If you look up at the hotel’s belvedere, you can still spot a World War II pillbox gun turret from when the building formed part of the country’s coastal defense.

La Sala

On the street side of the lobby, La Sala is designed to feel like a cozy solarium with jade-green chinoiserie wallpaper adorned with blossoming trees and a palm-shaped brass and crystal chandelier overhead. Guests and visitors can stop in for barista-made coffee and tea drinks, cocktails and light bites throughout the day and evening.

Alter Ego

Moodily lit and decorated with emerald velvet chairs and Henri Rousseau-like floral prints on the walls, Alter Ego is located just off the lobby. There will be live jazz most nights to accompany creative twists on classic cocktails, including updates on the daiquiri and the dirty martini.

The drinks to order, though, are the specialty Old-Fashioneds, including one inspired by California’s redwoods with Old Forester bourbon, various house-made botanical tinctures, “campfire” bitters, a smoky mist and even an edible pine cone ($23).

Amenities and service at Fairmont Breakers Long Beach

On the eastern end of the ground floor, the Fairmont Breakers Long Beach has a small fitness center and a bi-level spa.

The fitness center has a plethora of window-facing Technogym cardio machines, including treadmills and stationary bikes, plus racks of weights, resistance bands, kettlebells and balance balls, among other equipment. There’s also a water dispenser so you can fill up your own bottle.

Next door, the Fairmont Spa has an airy reception area replete with cream-colored marble and contemporary brushed brass light fixtures, plus plenty of counter space to display the products incorporated into the treatments, including items from Biologique Recherche, Venn and Lola’s Apothecary.

There are separate men’s and women’s locker rooms with steam rooms and shower facilities, as well as a pre- or post-treatment lounge area with blond timber walls and chaise-style seats separated by diaphanous curtains.

The treatment menu includes intriguing options like a Venn supercharged facial (60 minutes for $260) and the signature Breakers massage that you can tailor to your preferences (60 minutes for $220).

Up on the third floor, the hotel now features a small outdoor pool and deck with plenty of lounge chairs, some seating vignettes and a pool bar (though it was not open during our stay).

Service at the hotel could not have been warmer or more enthusiastic. There were a few opening-week hiccups, such as a server bringing the wrong dish or a certain glass of wine on the menu not being available, but those have likely been ironed out by now.

Out and about

For those not familiar with the area, there is plenty to see and do in Long Beach.

Families might want to walk to the Aquarium of the Pacific and the waterfront where harbor cruises and ferries to Catalina depart. The nearby Terrace Theater hosts performances throughout the year, and various beaches as well as the Long Beach Museum of Art are quick drives away. There is also outlet shopping, plus the independent boutiques of Retro Row, nearby. As for business travelers in town for meetings or conferences, the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center is conveniently situated next door.

Accessibility at Fairmont Breakers Long Beach

Old hotels, especially those with landmark status that prohibits drastic changes to their infrastructure, can sometimes be hit or miss when it comes to accessibility, but the Fairmont Breakers Long Beach has incorporated plenty of accessible features into its renovation.

The hotel’s main entrance and ground floor are step-free, so those in wheelchairs can access all the spaces. There are also elevators to every floor, including a small wheelchair lift up to the pool deck from the third floor. Speaking of the pool, it has a chairlift at one end to assist folks with limited mobility into the water. The spa also has wheelchair-accessible showers in its locker rooms.

The hotel’s hallways are all wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, and there are seven room and suite categories with mobility- and hearing-accessible facilities. They include toilet and shower grab bars, and closet rods, towel racks and viewports less than 48 inches high. Those designed for hearing-impaired guests include visual alarms and doorbells.

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