Lafayette in is more than just a hotel, it is the social heart of the city. The hotel’s reputation proceeds it, as I learned from the the man at passport control and my taxi driver, when I told them where I was staying for my first visit to San Diego. Built in the 1940s, it has been reimagined by the owner Arsalun Tafazoli, who was born and raised in the city and is now considered a local hero.
He is transforming the night life of San Diego with this hotel and many other bars and restaurants including Polite Provisions, Raised by wolves and Leila. Staying at Tafazoli’s first hotel feels pretty special. Growing up, he knew about the hotel and its reputation but he tells me and my travel companions: “Nobody gave it the love and attention it deserved until now.
” There is a lot of heritage here for the locals to soak in. “Originally built as entertainment centre, it was intended to be a city within a city,” Tafazoli shares. The hotel feels like a movie set that has come to life Drawing his design influences from his obsessive love of film, the hotel feels like a movie set that has come to life.
David Lynch’s influence on the interior of the hotel includes an in-house 24-hour Diner replicated from Twin Peaks. While a bowling alley in one of the many bars is a direct reference to the final scene of There Will Be Blood, and the night club, Lou Lou's, in the basement, was the location for Top Gun. At weekends the hotel is packed with the locals who want to be part of th.
