HOW IT STARTED
Originally built in 1959, the Skyview Motel was an oasis for roadtrippers traveling California’s bustling Highway 101. It was the perfect halfway-point between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and for a long time – the only pool for miles (back then, families would pay 25 cents to swim.)
Legend has it, the Mama’s & the Papa’s may have even stopped by a time or two. In it’s heyday, Skyview was a sight straight out of “California Dreamin’” – until it wasn’t. Eventually, the once-vibrant mainstay was deserted at the top of the hill, earning itself an infamous “Bates Motel” nickname among longtime locals.
In 2016, Nomada Hotel Group purchased the five-acre property and set out on a renovation intent on honoring the mid-century architecture while breathing new life into its old bones.
After two years of careful restoration and some 21st-century upgrades, Skyview reopened in 2018 with 33 modernized guestrooms, Norman restaurant + bar (a nod to that earlier Psycho reference), an adults-only pool dripping in Palm Springs style; and a vibrant central courtyard with fire pits and fountains. Some of the most iconic original elements were saved and salvaged – like the yellow ‘MOTEL’ sign, the carport with wooden cacti pillars, and the working vineyard that produces the house rosé.
Today, Skyview is more than a motel – it’s a full-service destination in its own right.
Featured in the Michelin Guide, Vogue, The New York Times, Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, The Los Angeles Times, Forbes, HGTV, HBO’s ‘REmotel’ and more.
