100% I would choose La Zebra. The beach is much bigger/wider/deeper (never sure how to describe that--I mean it's larger in the sense of side to side frontage, but also deeper in the distance between chairs and the water--and the people walking by at the water's edge). And the property in general is more open to the sea/sun.

Kanan is very cool in many ways, and I would definitely recommend going for a pre-sunset cocktail at their roof bar (great photo ops at magic hour with sun in your face and sea in the background) and maybe dinner in a nest, but I like my beach to be a bigger part of my experience, and Kanan has this whole stick/nest structure they've built on the beach in front of the pool, which has a whole other structure that you have to walk around to get to the sand from your room. The pool itself is a waist-deep affair with a bar, but kind of in a "grotto"/manmade cave--which is kind of cool, but completely separated from the beach, which is only 50 feet away. I never understood that design choice. The rooms were very nice, but a bit odd in that the bathroom had glass walls and open at the top. Curtains offered some visual privacy to the room, but it was awkward as I was staying with my 18 year old nephew. Having said that, it was 2018 when I slept there, so they may have changed that part--check recent pictures to see. If you do stay there and want a view of the ocean from your room, choose a higher floor and more on the south end of the property, so you can see around the pool/nest thing.

Anyway, La Zebra is a classic. Beautiful rooms, great food, all open to the beach. Much quieter as it's farther from clubs (Kanan is more in the heart of the party zone). More grown-up, maybe?