Hotel Metropole

Hotel Metropole is the grand-hotel anchor of Avalon's boardwalk — a 49-room hotel directly on the Crescent Avenue waterfront, with the Casino Building visible at one end of the harbor and the green pier at the other. The architecture nods to the early-20th-century resort era when Avalon was first built up as a Pacific destination. It's the largest of the village's independent boardwalk hotels and a Catalina institution.

Catalina Island is reached only by ferry or helicopter, which is part of the appeal. The island is twenty-two miles long and one square-mile dense at Avalon — golf-cart town, no rental cars, dive park, hiking, the Casino's 1929 Art Deco landmark on the harbor. The Metropole sits in the middle of all of that.

The setting

On Crescent Avenue, the boardwalk on Avalon Bay, a few minutes' walk from the Casino Building (the 1929 ballroom-and-theater landmark) at one end and the green pier and dive park at the other. The hotel's harbor frontage gives most rooms direct water exposure.

The ferry from Long Beach, Dana Point, or San Pedro runs about an hour. The helicopter from San Pedro is fifteen minutes. Once on the island, you walk, ride a bicycle, or take a golf-cart taxi.

The building

A four-story building on the Avalon boardwalk, with the harbor-facing elevation organized around balconies and large windows. The architectural register is refined-Americana with country-estate overlays — clapboard porch trim, brass and velvet in the lobby, painted exterior in the muted historic-coastal palette. The interior leans Neo-Victoriana in the public spaces while the rooms run quieter.

The renovation work has been gradual. The grand-hotel feel is intact.

The rooms

Forty-nine rooms across the four floors. Categories climb from compact rooms (around $425 in season) up through harbor-front suites with private balconies, soaking tubs, and the better light. Beds are queens and kings, linens are heavy, bathrooms are full. The harbor-view rooms get direct water exposure; mountain-view rooms face the Avalon hills behind town.

The harbor-view balcony rooms are the obvious ask.

Food & drink

There's no on-site full restaurant, though the lobby bar runs through the day. For dinner, the walk along Crescent Avenue reaches Avalon's restaurants — Bluewater Avalon, Steve's Steakhouse, Lobster Trap, and the Casino's restaurants at the north end of the harbor.

On the property

A small grand-hotel with the right amenities.

• Lobby bar and casual cafe
• Harbor-front balconies in many rooms
• Concierge for dive operators, hiking, and Casino tours
• Walking distance to the entire village
• Open year-round

Who it's for

• Couples doing a long weekend who want directly-on-the-boardwalk access
• Photographers and design-set travelers — the harbor frontage is the draw
• Repeat Catalina visitors who've cycled through the smaller boardwalk inns
• Divers and snorkelers — the Casino Point dive park is a five-minute walk

Who it's not for

• Travelers who want a quiet hilltop setting (the inn is on the boardwalk, with all that implies)
• Anyone seeking a full hotel amenity stack with pool and spa
• Light sleepers without earplugs (Crescent Avenue runs busy in summer evenings)

Nearby

Walk a few minutes to the Casino Building — guided tours of the 1929 ballroom and theater run daily. The Casino Point dive park is five minutes north along the harbor. The Wrigley Memorial and Botanic Garden is two miles inland (a hike or a golf-cart taxi). The Trans-Catalina Trail trailhead is at the edge of town for serious hikers. The submarine tour and the glass-bottom boats run from the green pier. The Catalina Island Conservancy runs Hummer ecotours into the island's interior — bison country, cactus, the kind of empty that surprises first-timers.