The historic Lafayette Hotel & Swim Club in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood is now under the ownership of locally based hospitality group CH Projects (also known as Consortium Holdings). The two-acre Colonial-style property, which was built in 1946, has officially reopened following a $31 million restoration led by Brooklyn-based design firm Post Company.
The revived hotel embodies a “feeling of nostalgia for the days when the property served as a hedonistic pleasure dome for Hollywood elite and their hangers on,” says Post Company partner Ruben Caldwell. “It’s a bit of our collective ode to the Grand Hotel. This is a space where unique whims are rewarded and you can scratch any itch.”
To reposition the address as an all-encompassing oasis and allude to the site’s glamorous history, the material palette is characterized by “exuberant maximalism,” as Caldwell puts it. The refresh also draws inspiration from the eclectic layering of Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens’ 1861 novel Great Expectations. Honed stone, silk fringe, mohair banquettes, and brass detailing animate interiors with a nostalgic narrative that weaves through each of the diverse onsite spaces. “Ornate detailing is the continuous thread through the hotel,” Caldwell adds.
Upon arriving at the 139-room Lafayette Hotel, a bright and airy lobby bar heralds guests, immersing them in natural light via the atrium. The space nods to many of Europe’s grande dame hotels and bars.
Five of the hotel’s eight F&B venues are also now open. Beginners Diner pays homage to a traditional diner from the 1940s, while the Gutter two-lane bowling alley and game room takes inspiration from Henry Frick’s personal bowling alley in the basement of the Frick Museum. The interior of Quixote, an Oaxacan-inspired restaurant and Mezcalería, was created from a decommissioned Catholic church in Mexico, and the Pool Bar features a stone patio, striped chaise lounges, and brightly colored umbrellas that recall the Amalfi Coast in the 1980s.
Beginners Diner
The remaining three venues—the European-style Le Horse continental room, Lulu’s Jungle Room jazz bar and nightclub, and the pared-back Mississippi Room music venue—will debut in Q4 2023.
“As stubborn advocates for the city, we are obsessive about creating experiences for the community that both celebrate our weird, wonderful pockets of subculture and provide elements of escapism,” says CH Projects founder Arsalun Tafazoli. “A hotel is the pinnacle of hospitality, the most complex canvas on which people can socialize and connect deeply and we hope this new incarnation of the Lafayette Hotel & Club reflects our mission to honor tradition while making something new and surreal to discover.”
More from HD:
4 Up-And-Coming Designers Share Their Pulse on the Industry
Striking Architecture Defines This Zhejiang Hotel
Industry Leaders Discuss the Obstacles of Running a Business
