Need to know
Rooms
139, including 18 suites.
Check–Out
11am. Check-in is at 4pm, but both are flexible, subject to availability. There’s an extra fee to check-out after 3pm.
More details
Rates at the Lafayette are room-only, but breakfast options at Beginner’s Diner range from wholesome Americana classics like buckwheat pancakes, eggs Benny, and biscuits and gravy to downright decadence – wagyu sirloin and eggs, we’re looking at you.
Also
The hotel has four ADA Classic Queen Rooms, which have been specially adapted for guests with reduced mobility.
At the hotel
Gym, games room with a bowling alley, shuffleboard and pool tables, and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV, Marshall Bluetooth speaker, bar cart with spirit collection, cocktail-making kit and curated snacks, Smeg kettle, Blue Bottle instant coffee, hairdryer, clothes steamer, and Diptyque bath products.
Our favourite rooms
Swing for a suite if a bath tub is non-negotiable. Otherwise, skip all sunlounger drama with a Poolside Room – you’ll have your own patch of patio and a fan-back front-row seat.
Poolside
The pool club is Fifties-postcard-pretty, with its palatial cabana, candy-striped parasols and swaying palms. Designed by Olympic gold-medalist swimmer (and, weirdly, literally Tarzan) Johnny Weissmuller, this heated, Junior Olympic-size pool has been the scene of many a gossip-stoking party since its mid-century heyday. If pools could talk…
Spa
Watch this space – a sauna, steam room and cold plunge are set to open this summer.
Packing tips
High-quality headphones and your most hipster ‘you probably haven’t heard of them’ voice, for when you inevitably build a playlist of all the local bands and long-forgotten jazz maestros you’ve discovered.
Also
It’s been a fair few decades since Bob Hope stepped up to the mic there, but the OG clamshell stage is still being put to good use at Lou Lou’s, the hotel’s historic live music venue. Catch a line-up of local bands, or join the weekly jazz supper club.
Pet‐friendly
Furry friends (except cats, sorry Felix) are welcome, so long as they weigh in under 45lbs. You can bring up to two pets a stay, and there’s an extra fee of $100 each. See more pet-friendly hotels in San Diego.
Children
All ages are welcome, but this is a stay very much geared towards the grown-ups.