Added the beloved day of January 21, 2009

Ooh! Who doesn't love a makeover? We do, especially those that are just eye-popping perfect. So we're delighted to start another Pretty Patrol series: Masterful Makeovers. Turn fug into fantasy, we say. Make it pretty. Whatever you do, just make it pretty.

Our first masterful makeover stop is The Penthouse, formerly known as... gasp... Toppers (Doesn't that sound like a strip bar?). If any of you are familiar with the SaMo coast (i.e., Santa Monica, CA) and the Third Street Promenade, the name Toppers might ring a slight bell. For those who don't, imagine a hotel bar with chintzy tables, thin windows that rattle, the aroma of stale nacho cheese and a 360-degree view wasted on happy hourlings sloshing margarita pitchers to football. Ew. Stale nachos. OK, Toppers wasn't really about the decor, but about the cheapo apps and post-work gossip fluttering under the radar of high-decibel blowhard bosses. However, its amazing views of SaMo and the Pacific were utterly under-fabulized. More eyes fell on the salsa bar than on the lovely vistas. That's just wrong.

Thankfully, all that sticky, what-did-I-sit-in fug is gone, long gone. The old Toppers is completely unrecognizable, and rightfully so. The owners of the Huntley Hotel, on which Toppers so unimaginatively sat atop as a self-described namesake, totally seized the potential of the space and performed a masterful makeover, leaving no traces of the former uggo-ducko behind.

Although the transformation was completed last year (and we dare not commit the fugment of posting the before pictures), we finally busted our beautiful little selves over to The Penthouse to have a bubbly brunch in one of their champagne cabanas (pictured). The view is as lovely as it gets in La La, and the interior was wonderfully airy. The old salsa bar has made way for a more adult bar for cocktails, and a cozy fireplace setting flanks the inner section. The penthouse floor of the Huntley finally lives up to its name in peacefully chic style, and it couldn't be prettier. Bravo, Huntley Hotel!

- See more fabulous photos of The Penthouse