The M Malibu

Malibu & Pacific Palisades


This recently modernized, 18-room motel offers a minimalist cool vibe with comfy beds draped in crisp linen, slate floors in the bathrooms, plus coffee makers, bottled water and simple breakfast snacks. Second- and 3rd-floor rooms have ocean views. Light sleepers should gear up with earplugs (provided) to combat Pacific Coast Hwy traffic noise.

Still, it's not bad value for the area, especially since the beach is just across the highway and hiking trails begin just behind the inn. There's no restaurant, but the wonderful natural-food store Pacific Coast Greens is right next door. All that and free parking.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Malibu & Pacific Palisades attractions

1. Malibu Pier

0.62 MILES

The pier marks the beginning of Malibu’s commercial heart. It’s open for strolling and license-free fishing (note the brackets for your rod and reel) and…

2. Adamson House

0.91 MILES

Up on a bluff overlooking Surfrider Beach is this gorgeous Spanish-style villa, which used to belong to the Rindge family and is awash in locally made,…

3. Malibu Lagoon State Beach

1.02 MILES

This salty marsh is where Malibu Creek meets the ocean, attracting migratory birds and their human admirers. It underwent a major native-species…

4. Malibu Colony

1.26 MILES

Malibu has been celebrity central since the 1930s, when money troubles forced landowner May Rindge to lease out property to her famous Hollywood buds…

5. Legacy Park

1.33 MILES

On gently rolling hills across from Malibu City Hall and next to the Malibu Country Mart, this 15-acre park is a microcosm of six SoCal landscapes all in…

6. Pepperdine University

2.42 MILES

Self-assuredly holding court on 830 acres atop a grassy slope down to the ocean where deer graze at sundown, this private, Christian institution has views…

7. Frederick R Weisman Museum of Art

2.43 MILES

This art museum on the Pepperdine University campus hosts temporary exhibits of mostly 20th-century art (Claes Oldenburg, Dale Chihuly, Roy Liechtenstein…

8. Malibu Hindu Temple

4.11 MILES

This house (or, more precisely, these houses) of Hindu gods sneaks up on you as you drive up Malibu Canyon, but you won’t miss the ivory towers located 6…