San Diego’s historic Lafayette Hotel and Club reopened this week after being closed for renovations since last October.
From the outside, the historic hotel maintains its signature, white columns. But as soon as you step inside the lobby you are met with bold colors and lots of patterned furniture.
“We were very intentional about respecting the history of this place and respecting what it does for the local community and the local culture here,” said MarQuies Willis, director of sales and marketing for the Lafayette. “We worked with thousands of designers and architects and people to sort of really bring the beauty of this place alive.”
The original cost estimate for this remodel was $26 million, but the final tally for the first phase of the project was $31 million.
“The idea that you want to come into a space and actually be almost visually stimulated wherever you see,” Willis continued. “Peer into a bit of a new age as well, but also understand we want to be able to elevate the community and bring something really cool to North Park.”
The Lafayette is the first hotel owned and developed by CH Projects, the hospitality group is known for its restaurants including Polite Provisions in North Park and Born and Raised in Little Italy.
“We’ve done really well in the restaurant space and all of our spaces are really eclectic,” Willis said.
The lobby bar is the epicenter of the hotel, sitting between a 24-hour diner, retail shop and pool.
“We restored the pool. We redid the tiling. We actually didn’t touch it too much because this is one of the very instrumental, focal points of the property,” Willis said. “This pool was actually designed and built by the very first Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller and it was important that we kept a little bit of his spirit in the pool as well.”
Willis describes the theme of the hotel as "community."
“We create spaces that people can actually come together and have a place that gives them a little bit of escapism, but also a stay-cation is good for the local community as well.”
Day passes for the pool will be available soon. For locals thinking about taking a staycation, room rates for the hotel's 139 rooms start at $299 dollars a night.
Phase two of the hotel's renovations is expected to be completed at the end of 2023. That includes a meeting space, entertainment venue and a jungle-themed bar.
