Best Window Covering: Geagea Interior Designs
Geagea Interior Designs is the brainchild of Lena Khattar, a pilot turned interior designer whose broad swath of influence has taken her to the homes of top entertainment heads, sports stars royal families. Khattar brought Geagea to the South Bay in 2009, after opening offices in Chicago and Los Angeles. Her company takes two Best […]
Best Hotel: Shade Hotel
Restauranteur Mike Zislis’ luxury boutique hotel Shade takes the cake again this year for best hotel in the South Bay. Since opening doors in 2006, the sleek hotel has racked up a number of acclaims: Conde Naste voted Shade the number six reason to visit Los Angeles, TripAdvisor.com named it one of the Top 25 […]
Best Public School: Mira Costa High School
Mira Costa kicked off the new year in high spirits. In October, the community saw the completion of the school’s new state-of-the-art math/science building, marking the success of phase one in a revitalization project funded by Measure BB, a $67 million bond approved by voters in 2008. The school made headlines again when State Superintendent […]
Best Optometrist: Dr. Lester Silverman
“I want to become the optometrist of the community.” If this year’s Best of the Beach is any indication, Dr. Lester Silverman has nothing to worry about. His practice Look! Optometry Center in Metlox Plaza often bustles with faces familiar to the optometrist, who with his wife Angie are heavily involved in the Manhattan Beach […]
Best Land Camp: Manhattan Beach Karate & Yoga
Manhattan Beach Karate & Yoga, which takes this title for a fourth consecutive year, offers a variety of camps based on traditional Shotokan Karate, taught by instructors with four decades of experience. Each camp, ranging from beginner to advanced, is custom-tailored to the participants but with an overarching intention of developing a balance of the […]
Best Indoor Play: AdventurePlex
On its website, AdventurePlex issues a note of precaution: “WARNING: There’s so much fun packed inside the 16,000 sq. ft. AdventurePlex facility that kids might not want to leave!” As the reigning titleholder for best indoor play in the South Bay, this statement does seem to be out of line. The facility, part of a […]
Best Tanning Salon: Sugar Rays Studio
Sun Rays Studio is an eco-conscious salon that has the art of tanning down to a tee. Instead of tanning beds, they use the salon’s organic sugar cane spray tan formula imbued with aloe and vitamin E, leaving the skin nourished and glowing. The studio also offers waterless manicures and pedicures, waxing and eyelash extensions. […]
Best Nail Salon: Angel Nails & Spa
After 15 years on Hermosa Avenue, Angel Nails and Spa has earned a special place in people’s hearts for allowing them to be pampered with a mani-pedi while looking out at the ocean from the deep comfort of leather massage chairs. Following a remodel and expansion last October, owner Cindy Nguyen says her business has […]
Best Eyewear: Stein Optometric Center
“The main thing is just giving good service to people,” says Dr. Howard Stein, who after 50 years in the business has no plans to retire. “I enjoy working, mainly being with patients.” The family-owned business opened in Manhattan Village in 1981 and is the last of the center’s original tenants. With some 3,000 eyeglass […]
Best Jewelry: 23rd Street Jeweler
In 1981, sisters Diane Allen and Mary Kelley combined their talents to open 23rd Street Jewelers in Santa Monica. Allen, artistically inclined from a young age, designed souvenirs for Elvis Presley’s Estate, while Kelley, who attended the Gemological Institute of America, worked for businesses importing and brokering diamonds and colored gemstones, traveling to trade shows […]
Best Flower Shop: Growing Wild
Manhattan Beach native twin sisters Lee Hoven Bakos and Lisa Hoven Gallien always dreamed of running their own business. Growing up, their parents instilled in them a love of gardening and the two worked at a local flower shop as Mira Costa High School seniors, then as business majors at Pepperdine University. In 1991, their […]
Best Massage: Trilogy Spa
Massages offered at Trilogy Spa have garnered attention from the LA Times, Allure, Cosmopolitan, Shape, Elle and “O” Magazine. Options abound, from aromatherapy body massages, hot oil melts and on-the-spot treatments to the classic Trilogy massage, deep tissue, prenatal and couples massage. The spa even offers a “Massage-Your-Mate” special, which offers personal instruction with a […]
Best Day Spa: Trilogy Spa
Imbued with a luxury beach vibe, Trilogy Spa’s various services — vichy rainbar, moana tub plunges and showers for two — earned the hearts of our readers again this year. Since moving to Metlox Plaza from its original Hermosa Beach location in 2005, the Hawaiian-themed spa has racked up a loyal clientele who appreciate its […]
Best Grocery Store: Trader Joe’s
Trader Joe’s began as a small chain in the 1950s, under the name Pronto Markets. Today, the Trader Joe’s has evolved into a foodie’s playground with kind, helpful employees in Hawaiian t-shirts, low prices and most importantly, fresh produce, products made with natural ingredients and the Two-Buck Chuck wine. With seven locations across the South […]
Best Gold Buyers: South Bay Gold
South Bay Gold is celebrating a lot of milestones as of late. Two years ago, the company brought under its brand Finley’s Jewelers, a Riviera Village establishment since 1924. This year, the company celebrates its 20th year in the South Bay and takes the Best of the Beach title as the best place to buy […]
Best Gift Shop: Hillside Gifts
For 25 years, Redondo Beach couple Ron and Lyndall Otto operated Hillside Pharmacy in Manhattan Beach, inside which they kept a growing collection of gift items, from children’s books to birthday cards. In August of 2011, the couple sold the pharmacy to Walgreen and opened Hillside Gifts. It takes the Best of the Beach title […]