An exuberant urban oasis with viral potential, San Diego’s The LaFayette is the first hospitality concept from CH Projects, the company behind hot local restaurants like Youngblood and Born & Raised. Built in 1946, the Colonial-style hotel and club, situated on two and a half acres in the city’s North Park neighborhood, once hosted the likes of Lana Turner and Frank Sinatra.
The pool at The LaFayette.
That’s not to say its heyday has passed. Recently restored by Brooklyn-based Post Company, the property now features 139 rooms alongside bungalows designed for group travel. There are a half dozen dining options including a 24/7 diner and a “jungle room” with live entertainment, decoratively inspired by 1920’s New York nightclubs; a game room with a two-lane bowling alley—modeled, somewhat ambitiously, after the basement of the Frick Collection; and a swimming pool, originally designed by Olympic gold medalist Johnny Weissmuller, at the hotel’s beating social heart.
A guest room at The LaFayette.
The producer Swizz Beatz even created the hotel’s official soundtrack, which plays throughout the day on a custom-built speaker system designed by Devon Turnbull. Needless to say, we’re listening.
Sean Santiago is ELLE Decor’s Deputy Editor, covering news, trends and talents in interior design, hospitality and travel, culture, and luxury shopping. Since starting his career at an interior design firm in 2011, he has gone on to cover the industry for Vogue, Architectural Digest, Sight Unseen, PIN-UP and Domino. He is the author of The Lonny Home (Weldon Owens, 2018), has produced scripted social content for brands including West Elm and Streeteasy, and is sometimes recognized on the street for his Instagram Reels series, #DanceToDecor
