Holidays Close to Home: A Bel Air Season Planner for Hotel Bel-Air, the Getty and the Skirball
From now through the first week of January, the Getty Center, the Skirball Cultural Center and Hotel Bel-Air each have an off-peak window built into their published schedules. At the Getty it's Saturday after 6 p.m., when parking is free and the galleries stay open until 9. At the Skirball, general admission is free every Thursday. At Hotel Bel-Air, the holiday movie nights fall on a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the week before Christmas, ahead of the holiday weekend.
When you live this close, you can treat the season as a string of short visits instead of one big outing.
The Getty Center keeps a schedule that rewards people who live nearby. It's open 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and on Sunday, stays open until 9 p.m. on Saturday, and is closed Mondays. Admission is free with a timed-entry reservation. Parking is the real cost: $25 a car during the day, $15 after 3 p.m., $10 after 6 p.m., and free on Saturdays after 6 p.m. The lots are cashless.
That makes Saturday evening the cheapest visit of the week, and two of the season's best Getty events fall right in it.
Weekend daytime visits work for other reasons. On Sunday, Nov. 15, Bricia Lopez hosts Oaxacan Recipes and Remembrance, with a talk at 5:30 p.m. and a tasting from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $135. For children, free drop-in collage workshops run 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 22 and Dec. 13, and free serigraphy demonstrations are at 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on the same days. Both still require a timed-entry reservation. The free Center Garden Tour runs every day. Saturday departures run from 10:15 a.m. to 5 p.m., the widest window of the week.
Living nearby makes it easy to put off a visit, and several shows end sooner than you might expect. Here's the Getty's exhibition schedule for the Center, sorted by closing date:
| Exhibition | Last day |
|---|---|
| Charles Ross: Spectrum 14 | Nov. 29, 2026 |
| Every Minute Is History: Five Views of Los Angeles | Jan. 3, 2027 |
| Instante/revelación: Moments in Mexican Photography | Jan. 3, 2027 |
| The Holy Family at Home | Jan. 10, 2027 |
| Reggie Burrows Hodges: A Theater of Passions | Feb. 28, 2027 |
| Joshua Reynolds's Portrait of Mai and 18th-Century Portraiture | Mar. 14, 2027 |
| The Making of a Medieval Manuscript | Mar. 14, 2027 |
Spectrum 14 has been on view since September 2024 and closes the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The two Jan. 3 closings fall on the first Sunday after New Year's Day, and the Getty is closed on New Year's Day itself. If Five Views of Los Angeles is on your list, plan to see it in December.
A few minutes farther along Sepulveda, the Skirball uses a different off-peak lever. General admission is $20, with $15 tickets for seniors, full-time students and children 2 to 17. It's free for everyone on Thursdays. Visitor parking is free during regular hours. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends, and the box office closes at 4:30. A free Thursday therefore runs from noon to about 4:30, which fits a long lunch break or a school pickup.
The Thursday rhythm breaks over Thanksgiving. The Skirball is closed Thursday, Nov. 26, and Friday, Nov. 27, so the free Thursday before the holiday is Nov. 19.
These Skirball exhibitions run through Feb. 28, 2027:
Common Ground stays up through Jan. 2, 2028, so you don't need to fit it into this season.
The busiest Skirball day of the season is a Sunday. The Hanukkah Festival runs noon to 5 p.m. on Dec. 6, with music, storytelling, food, art-making and a community candle lighting. The museum opens at 11 a.m. that day. Tickets are $23 general, $18 for seniors and full-time students and $16 for ages 2 to 17. Members and children under 2 get in free, and parking is free. The following Friday, Dec. 11, at 7 p.m., the This Friday Sabbath Reading Series presents an evening of musings on the seventh night of Hanukkah. Tickets are $20 general, $15 for seniors, full-time students and ages 2 to 17, and free for members.
Hotel Bel-Air's holiday program has two options that work well for people who live nearby, and both avoid the busiest dates.
The first is new this year. According to the hotel's holiday announcement, Thanksgiving dinner is available to go for the first time. It serves up to 12 guests for $975 and includes a whole organic roasted turkey, winter truffle risotto and a pecan pie. The festive page sets the order deadline at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 24, through In-Room Dining at 310-887-2580. Extra sides and desserts can be added. If you'd rather go in, Thanksgiving Day seating in The Restaurant runs 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at $295 per adult and $95 for children 12 and under.
The second is the weeknight movie series on the Front Lawn. Movies Under the Stars runs three nights:
General admission is $100 a person and includes a snack station with popcorn, candy and spiked hot chocolate. A private fire pit for up to six costs $1,000.
Weekend afternoons are for tea. Holiday afternoon tea in The Living Room is served Fridays through Sundays at 3 p.m., Dec. 4 through 27. It starts at $140 a person and includes a glass of champagne. From Dec. 19 through 25, The Restaurant serves a new holiday dessert inspired by the hotel's resident swans.
The three schedules line up most usefully on the holidays themselves. The Getty closes every year on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day, and it closes early on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. The Skirball is closed Nov. 26 and 27 and Dec. 25. Hotel Bel-Air's biggest services fall on exactly those days.
| Date | Getty Center | Skirball | Hotel Bel-Air |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Closed | Closed | Thanksgiving, 11 a.m.–8 p.m. |
| Fri., Nov. 27 | Open | Closed | Regular service |
| Thu., Dec. 24 | Closes early | Open | Christmas Eve dinner, 5–9 p.m. |
| Fri., Dec. 25 | Closed | Closed | Christmas Day, 11 a.m.–8 p.m. |
| Thu., Dec. 31 | Closes early | Open | New Year's Eve in The Restaurant and Bar & Lounge |
| Fri., Jan. 1 | Closed | No closure posted | New Year's Day brunch, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. |
At the hotel, Christmas Eve is a five-course dinner, with carolers from 6 to 9 p.m. Christmas Day is a four-course meal, with Santa visiting from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and carolers from noon to 3 p.m. Both are $275 per adult and $95 for children 12 and under. On New Year's Eve, The Restaurant serves à la carte from 5:30 to 10 p.m. The Bar & Lounge runs from 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. with a $150-per-person minimum spend, live piano until 9 p.m., then a jazz band and a midnight champagne toast. New Year's Day brunch is à la carte from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Glen Centre directory lists The Taco Stand at suite 2958 with the note "OPENING FALL 2026." What Now Los Angeles reported in July that the shop was planned for 2958 Beverly Glen Circle. The same directory lists Jayde's Market at that suite number, open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Stop by on a weeknight in December and see what's new at the top of the Glen.
I've lived in Bel Air since 2000, and I know these places as a neighbor. If you're planning a season of hosting at home or thinking about where your household goes next, I'd be glad to talk it through. Desirée Lapin: Let's Connect.
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Desirée Lapin | CA DRE# 1763593
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