Los Angeles-based FOUND Hotels is continuing its sweep across the nation, and in September, there are plans to open its Sawtelle outpost, at 12311 W Santa Monica Boulevard. Although just outside of the city limits, the hotel is being referred to as FOUND Santa Monica in marketing materials.
The two-story, 32,594-square-foot hotel offers 88 guest rooms, an approximately 856-square-foot guest lounge with 55 seats, and a roughly 1,303-square-foot restaurant with 20 interior seats on the ground floor.
Co-Founder Ross Walker told What Now Los Angeles that his concept, which is targeting Gen Z and Millennials, is “much-needed” for the neighborhood. “The only options are older, outdated, independent hotels and then high-end luxury resorts right by the beach,” Walker said. “There’s nothing in-between.”
Along with private rooms that offer flat-screen TVs, work desks, and Wi-Fi, there are shared, communal spaces with bunk beds and lockers large enough for “most backpacks.” FOUND Santa Monica also offers an extended-stay option with a communal kitchen and on-site laundry offered as well as fridges and freezer units in the longer-stay bedrooms.
Walker denied offering any intel on the upcoming restaurant planned for the hotel. “It hasn’t been finalized,” he said, though he hopes to reveal the new tenant “in the coming month.”
No nightclub or dancing is proposed, but a Conditional Use Permit for alcoholic beverage sales at FOUND Santa Monica indicates that there will be “ancillary limited entertainment” in the form of background movies and music playing in the form of a small acoustic band or single musical performers.
The project was approved in 2017 to allow for the rehabilitation and reuse of a then-vacant and rundown building. FOUND Hotels are currently located in Boston, Chicago, San Diego, Miami, and Washington, D.C.
