Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows

British expat John P. Jones co-founded Santa Monica in 1875 after making his fortune in silver mining in 1840s California. Mr. Jones built his family a Victorian-style mansion on the hotel’s current coveted site overlooking the Pacific Ocean in 1889, naming it Miramar, or “ocean view” in Spanish. Mr. Jones’ wife, Georgina, put in the lovely rose garden and planted many trees around the new town, including the property’s signature Moreton Bay fig tree, now nearly 100 feet high with an enchanting 130-foot canopy. Not surprisingly, the graceful fig with its huge trunk and gnarled roots is a favorite spot for engagements, weddings and snapshots. The landmark property became a hotel in 1921. Once dubbed the “Hollywood Hideaway” for the high-profile VIPs, politicians and starlets who flocked to the hotel—John F. Kennedy and Eleanor Roosevelt, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo (a resident for four years), to name a few. It all happens here! There’s no need to leave the resort, unless you want to, of course. The Miramar is the hub of...