Heart of Malibu
A ’50s surf motel is transformed as a boutique beachfront hotel,
channelling the coastal style of California and Australia.The Surfrider’s
rooftop. Right
from top: a beach
picnic; inside the
transformed
surfers’ motel.Emma Crowther Goodwin
and her husband Matthew
were among thousands of
residents forced to evacuate
as bushfires jumped Highway
101 and raced down hillsides
towards the Californian coast
late last year.
A week later the pair
returned to The Surfrider,
the boutique hotel they
opened just a year before.
“Malibu town was completely
untouched, not even signs
of ash,” says Crowther
Goodwin, “so we felt a
great sense of relief, but
also responsibility to help
the residential community
north of us, where some
people lost everything.”The couple and their
business partner, Alessandro
Zampedri, offered free lodgings
for residents in need and
staged a fundraiser barbecue
for 400. “The perception of
Malibu is about celebrities,
but it’s much more than that,”
says Crowther Goodwin.
“Here was a small community,
only 13,000 of us – real and
vulnerable – pulling together.”
It’s this sense of
community as much as
the Californian dream of
freedom, good times and
perfect barrels that the
hoteliers aim to showcase.
Creative director Emma,
from Brisbane and Byron
Bay, Matthew, a Californiankid and former architect, and
Alessandro, a former racing
driver, have collaborated with
local businesses to develop
guest experiences, including
hikes to “secret” spots, beach
picnics, surf lessons on
boards designed for Malibu
conditions, beach yoga,
canyon meditation and
surf trips in the hotel’s
1968 Land Rover.
Local farms supply organic
or biodynamic produce
for picnics and meals in
the guest-only rooftop
restaurant, with spectacular
views of Surfrider Beach
and the Malibu Pier, and
the wine list features small
Californian producers.The partners spent four
years transforming the old
motel, built in 1953 beside Neil
Young’s former Crazy Horse
Saloon, into a “beach house”
with 20 guestrooms, a library,
fire pit and rooftop bar, and
dining space. And they’re
planning to develop other
sites as bases for “the ultimate
Californian road trip”.
The Surfrider, 23033 Pacific Coast
Hwy, Malibu, California, US,
thesurfridermalibu.comHOT HOTELS20 GOURMET TRAVELLER