Hotel Wedding Venue in Manhattan Beach
At Shade Hotel, our mission is to create unforgettable experiences for our guests, each and every time they visit us. Our beach hotel features stunning luxury suites and an unbeatable list of amenities, and our on-site hotel wedding venue beautifully fuses the convenience of a hotel wedding with the luxury of a beach wedding. But even beyond our beach hotel, a stay at Shade means you'll get to experience the sophistication and fun of the thriving Manhattan beach community. We're proud to be a part of what is today a global hotspot for shopping, dining, nightlife, and relaxation.
The History of Manhattan Beach
Today, our luxury hotel & beach wedding venue sits in the middle of one of the world's most vibrant locales. But it wasn't always that way. Back in 1888, the city that's now known for its chic restaurants and sophisticated nightlife was little more than a cattle ranch dotted with beanfields. But that very same year, the Santa Fe railroad laid the first tracks to the port of Redondo Beach, which had a lively fishing and tourist trade at that time. The railroad connection spurred development in the area, and developers rushed to build beach cottages and tent camps for vacationers. The area grew into a popular summer vacation spot over the next decade, but it was still known only as the northern part of Rancho Sausal Redondo. It wasn't until 1902 that the name changed, and after two developers with different ideas flipped a coin to decide, Manhattan was born. Confusion with other cities by the same name caused the name to be altered to Manhattan Beach by the time the city was incorporated in 1912. At the time, Manhattan Beach had only 600 full-time residents, but at least three times that number visited for vacations every summer.
By 1920, Manhattan Beach had a small but vibrant downtown and a 928-foot cement pier which still stands today. That pier quickly became a mecca for fishermen thanks to record catches of sea bass, with some reportedly weighing over five hundred pounds. The size of the fish has gone down over the years, but the pier is still popular among fishermen, locals, and tourists, and the small aquarium at the pier's end provides education and entertainment for adults and children alike. With its octagonal roundhouse, the Manhattan Beach pier is the oldest of its type still standing on the West Coast, and it's been declared a historic landmark by the State of California.
Like most coastal cities in California, Manhattan Beach experienced a boom after the Second World War, and the year-round population grew steadily. The area did not become a mass-market tourist destination and beach cottages were still the preferred lodging for visitors, so a hotel was never built downtown. After the demise of the Red Car light rail line in 1954, day-trippers from downtown LA preferred closer beaches in Santa Monica and Venice. Manhattan Beach remained a quiet community until the late 1960’s, when a new generation discovered the virtues of the area and came to stay. Fine restaurants and chic shops sprang up to cater to their tastes, celebrities moved in, and suddenly downtown Manhattan Beach was famous.
Though the city has always been primarily a hotel and residential community, it did have one industrial enterprise in the form of the Metlox Pottery factory, which opened in 1927 at the corner of Manhattan Beach Boulevard and Morningside Drive. This factory produced one-of-a-kind pieces like the ceramic sign for the Pantages Theater in Hollywood as well as colorful dinnerware and ceramic art pieces. In the 1950’s, the factory produced a famous line of Disney figurines, and at one time over 500 people were employed there. The factory closed in 1989, but the site remained vacant for years due to an ownership dispute and concerns about environmental damage from the factory. In the late 1990’s a plan was put forward to redevelop the area, and in 2004 ground was broken for the Metlox Plaza, an area of fine restaurants and upscale shopping. Adjacent to that plaza is downtown Manhattan Beach’s first hotel, Shade, which welcomed its first guests in late summer, 2005. The management and staff at Shade are proud of our community and its history, and we look forward to welcoming you to experience the past, present, and future of Manhattan Beach.
Plan Your Hotel Wedding in Manhattan Beach, CA
Seeing the change and growth that Manhattan Beach has achieved in its history makes us feel honored to be a part of it – and we would be thrilled to help you experience it as well. Book your stay online today at our Manhattan Beach hotel, or if you'd like to plan your hotel wedding here, simply reach out to us to start discussing the details. We can't wait to hear from you, and are excited to help you experience everything that our hotel and our community have to offer.