The Lafayette Hotel

A longstanding symbol of San Diego’s history, The Lafayette Hotel is a Colonial-style hotel built in 1946. The Lafayette’s complete overhaul—its first proper restoration since it was built—was designed by CH Projects and Brooklyn-based Post Company. Custom lighting is used throughout the 2.5 acre property to convey mood and transport guests to different worlds, depending on where they are within the hotel. Grand chandeliers don the lobby to convey the grandeur of the main entrance, while neon glows within Beginner’s Diner to signal the eatery’s 24/7 service. Globular lights surround Lobby Bar’s custom Atlas sculpture, acting as a beacon for thirsty guests in search of and tables are accented with fringed table lights. Quixote relies heavily on candlelight, backlit iconography and stained glass fixtures to capture a moody, reverent tone. In The Gutter, the hotel’s cocktail lounge and bowling alley, custom overhead lighting was designed based on archival images of the basement game room housed within New York’s Henry Frick Museum.