Time in the Harbor

Cruise 90 years back in time for a night aboard the still-and-always glamorous Queen Mary.


Install yourself in a history-heaped stateroom of an iconic British ocean liner

Stroll the shop-lined Belmont Shore, and pop in for creative, highly craveable seafood at Chef Rigo Bonilla’s essential Roe.

Have yourself gently gondoliered through the canals of Naples Island, where you may idly speculate about waterfront home values.

This summer in Long Beach:

As always, your stay, meal and local experience are booked for you in a tap.

Get the full story for the weekend.

Long Beach, CA | Through August, 2026

Why here?

There’s something about faded grandeur.

When the Queen Mary took its maiden voyage in 1936, it was the jewel of Cunard-White Star line. There were (and are) exquisite Art Deco details throughout the interior: intricate woodwork, large-scale art pieces, and a dining room with a mural of the Atlantic’s European and American shores. During a voyage, there was a small crystal that moved across the scene to mark the ship’s progress in real time.

The Queen Mary no longer sails. Her staterooms are now hotel rooms, and the ship, which sits unmissably in the harbor, makes for one of the most interesting ways to spend a night in Long Beach.

Do the accommodations show some wear? Yes, but that’s history for you. Will your room be spacious? No, it’s a cabin on an ocean liner built nearly a century ago. Are the walls thin? Incredibly so.

But these things are pretty easily offset.

Walk the Queen Mary’s beautiful old promenade. Poke around the engine room, get a drink at the observation lounge, and, well, feel the place.

It was used as a troop transport during World War II (carrying more than 15,000 at once — still a record). Winston Churchill planned the D-Day invasion on board during one crossing. It’s bigger than the Titanic. It has 10 million rivets.

So go to Long Beach this weekend. Traipse the decks of the ship, have seafood at the terrific local favorite Roe, and take an evening gondola ride through the canals of Naples Island.

And don’t mind the tight quarters. The history is giant.

This summer in Long Beach, discover…

The stay.

The Queen Mary

We just wrote a novella about this above, but you stay here for the experience.

Amazing Art Deco details, and the ship itself is very wanderable via a self-guided tour that’s included with the room.

You’ve got reservations for two on Saturday night.

Belmont Shore

Disembark from your hotel and rove along 2nd Street, a couple of blocks from the ocean. It’s the main small business drag, and it traces along the edge of the Pacific; a mile-and-a-half stretch of boutiques and stores, art studios, pastry shops.

It’s light on the kitsch, heavy on authentic Long Beach feel. There’s a world class dog beach up the block too.

The day.

The find.

Blue Windows

A favorite in the Belmont Shore neighborhood. It’s a gift shop ostensibly, but full of singular pieces and well-designed wares. Jewelry, stationery, clothing, Long Beach-specific things.

A great stop-in that’s in the heart of the 2nd Street stretch.

The food.

Roe

A local seafood-go-to for more than a decade. Executive Chef Rigo Bonilla makes the menu here; coastal cuisine, craft cocktails, and a stellar wine dinner program too.

There’s Peruvian scallops brightened with fresh wasabi and sour yuzu, clams and mussels in jalapeño–white wine butter, and poisson cru with coconut milk, habanero and heirloom tomatoes.

They also have a stand-alone fish market, with poke, chowders, and hand-cut fish prepared daily.

You’ll have reservations, with a pre-paid food and drink credit.


Signal Hill

Secretly one of the hands-down best views in Southern California.

Venture a bit inland and you’ll discover Signal Hill, which is actually a separate city. But interestingly, it’s entirely surrounded by Long Beach; a municipal island of sorts.

The stand-out feature is the hill. Drive up the steep grade to the top, and find a small, very nice park that serves as an observation deck. There are arresting views looking south to the ocean and north to Los Angeles.

The tucked away.

A Gondola through the Canals

Tour Naples Island in the best way possible: propelled by a charming gondolier.

Naples is an altogether stunning neighborhood that lives as its own sovereign-feeling island in Long Beach. It’s marked by mid-century and Mediterranean-inspired architecture, much of it perched close to the narrow waterways that course through the place, and it’s something to see.

Exert absolutely no effort while slipping along the channels and under bridges through an unexpectedly aquarian section of this city.

Tour starts at dusk .

The evening mood.

This Overnight includes:

  • Pre-paid dinner at Roe. 7pm on Saturday evening.

  • A private gondola tour of the Naples Island waterways, Saturday at dusk.

    Now booking for Saturday overnights through September 5, 2026

All booked for you in a tap.

So how does this work?

No payment is needed just yet. Request your reservation below, and we’ll make sure the weekend is ready on our end: then we’ll email you a secure payment link along with meal reservation times and event details (unless you’re on a strict schedule, let us arrange these to ensure all the components flow together nicely). You just arrive.

Once you’re booked, we’ll send you all the key details: check-in, addresses, and reservation notes.

For now, just let us know you’d like us to get going.

See here for a full list of photo credits for this story.