The Lafayette Hotel & Club: San Diego’s Most Glamorous Comeback
An Old Hollywood fever dream where poolside glamour, maximalist design, and California cool collide.
Why DNA Hotels Loves It
● One of America’s most spectacular hotel revivals, transforming a fading Hollywood icon into a design destination for a new generation.
● Maximalist interiors by Post Company prove that luxury doesn’t have to whisper—it can sing, dance, and steal the spotlight.
● More than a hotel: a collection of bars, restaurants, entertainment venues, and one of California’s most iconic swimming pools.
A Hollywood Legend Reborn
When The Lafayette first opened its doors in 1946, it quickly became one of Southern California’s most glamorous addresses. Bob Hope was the hotel’s first official guest. Frank Sinatra checked in. Ava Gardner stayed. Katharine Hepburn passed through. Local lore even claims Marilyn Monroe may have visited. At the center of it all was the hotel’s legendary swimming pool, designed by Olympic champion and Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller, who famously took the first dive. Like many great hotels, The Lafayette’s fortunes rose and fell with the decades. It served variously as an office building, a radio station, and even a film location—most memorably appearing in Top Gun. By the early 2020s, however, the hotel had lost much of its original sparkle. That changed dramatically when San Diego hospitality group CH Projects acquired the property and embarked on an ambitious $31 million restoration. Reopened in 2023 as The Lafayette Hotel & Club, it immediately became one of the most talked-about hotel openings in America.
Maximalism at Full Volume
Forget minimalism. The Lafayette embraces personality at every turn. Brooklyn-based design studio Post Company approached the restoration with fearless confidence, creating a hotel that feels like a city-sized film set. Leopard prints mingle with florals. Zebra stripes meet velvet banquettes. Hand-painted murals cover walls. Custom wallpapers feature jungle scenes, kimono-clad women, and fantastical creatures. Every corner reveals another surprise. The lobby sets the tone immediately. Crystal chandeliers hang from ornate ceilings. Heavy drapery frames intimate seating areas. A dramatic circular bar sits beneath a soaring skylight, anchored by a statue of Atlas. By day it feels glamorous. By night it becomes pure theatre. Remarkably, despite the abundance of color, pattern, and texture, the hotel never feels chaotic. Everything belongs to the same wonderfully eccentric universe.
A City Within a City
The Lafayette isn’t simply a hotel with a restaurant attached. It’s an entire world. Across the property, guests move between a collection of venues that have quickly become destinations in their own right. Beginner’s Diner channels classic Americana with chrome details, neon signage, and comfort food inspired by the hotel’s 1940s roots. Quixote may be one of California’s most extraordinary restaurant spaces, built around elements salvaged from an abandoned church in Mexico and serving contemporary Oaxacan cuisine beneath dramatic arches. Then there’s The Gutter, where guests can sip cocktails while bowling and playing shuffleboard, and Lou Lou’s Jungle Room, a glamorous jazz club infused with old-school nightlife energy. Every venue has its own identity, yet together they create a vibrant social ecosystem that keeps both locals and travelers coming back.
Rooms Designed for the Main Character
The 139 guestrooms and suites continue the story upstairs. Canopy beds, velvet sofas, dark wood paneling, custom lighting, and richly layered textiles create spaces that feel cinematic rather than merely decorative. Burgundy carpets, tropical motifs, animal prints, and handcrafted furnishings give each room a distinct personality. This is not a place for bland hotel uniformity. The attention to detail is extraordinary. Diptyque amenities elevate the bathrooms, Sferra linens ensure a luxurious night’s sleep, and custom stationery printed with the guest’s name adds a playful touch. Even the minibars are different, stocked with fresh citrus, cocktail ingredients, and recipe books so guests can mix their own drinks before heading out—or deciding never to leave the room.
The Pool That Started It All
At the heart of the property lies the Weissmuller Pool, still one of the most iconic hotel pools in California. Surrounded by palms, striped parasols, checkerboard paving, and leopard-print loungers, it feels part Palm Springs, part Amalfi Coast, part vintage Hollywood fantasy. By morning it’s calm and sun-drenched. By afternoon cocktails begin to circulate. By evening the entire scene glows beneath the California sky. Nearly eighty years after opening, it remains the social and visual centerpiece of the hotel—and one of the main reasons people book a stay.
North Park’s Most Entertaining Address
Set across an entire city block in San Diego’s creative North Park neighborhood, The Lafayette feels perfectly at home among independent cafés, craft breweries, galleries, and music venues. It attracts a crowd that values originality, creativity, and character over corporate predictability. Yet many guests discover something unexpected: they hardly leave the property. That’s perhaps The Lafayette’s greatest achievement. It has become the rare hotel that functions as a destination in its own right—a place where design, dining, nightlife, history, and hospitality come together to create something far more memorable than a place to sleep. For a city long dominated by chain hotels and convention-center stays, The Lafayette represents something different entirely: a return to personality, glamour, and pure escapism.
