A Coronado Hotel That Feels Like a Secret Worth Finding

Lucía Torres · 2026-08-07

Coronado Island hasn't welcomed a new independent design hotel in over two decades. That dry spell finally ended in May when The Baby Grand opened its doors on Orange Avenue, directly across from the Hotel Del Coronado. Housed in the former La Avenida Inn building, this $17 million, 31-room project comes from San Diego's CH Projects—the same team behind The Lafayette Hotel & Club and a portfolio of more than two dozen bars and restaurants across the county, including Morning Glory and Born & Raised. Brooklyn-based Post Company handled the design, reuniting with CH Projects after their collaboration on Lafayette. "We wanted The Baby Grand to feel less like a hotel you check into and more like something you stumble upon, like you discovered it halfway reclaimed by time and decided to stay," said CH Projects Founder Arsalun Tafazoli. "It's our attempt to create a social, slightly surreal gathering place on Coronado where history isn't polished over, but left visible and alive, and where people can move through spaces that unfold slowly, connect, and make their own version of the story." ### A Landscape of Wild Wonder The clearest evidence of that discipline is the entry sequence. What was once a 6,000-square-foot asphalt parking lot is now a dense, overgrown landscape with mature plantings, gas-lit torches, statuary half-swallowed by greenery, and a two-story waterfall—all engineered to look like no one built it at all. That's a much harder design problem than it sounds. Manufactured wilderness usually announces itself through symmetry or overly clean sightlines. Here, the planting and hardscape are staged with enough asymmetry and layering that the eye can't immediately locate the design intent, which is exactly the point. Guests move through a central oasis and encounter the property's pieces, including a private lagoon, an outdoor bar, and the Greek open-fire restaurant Night Hawk. > "The design is theatrical, but never overly choreographed—there's a sense that it's still unfolding and evolving." — Leigh Salem, Partner, Post Company Night Hawk itself pushes the expedition-camp idea into its dining architecture. Trellised planting and tented structures overhead nod to Coronado's early beach-culture tent cities, while sculpted rock formations and running water blur the line between built environment and landscape. ### Inside the Lobby: A Threshold Between Worlds Inside, the former check-in area has been reworked as a literal threshold between the property's two registers—outdoor discovery and interior excess. Vintage tapestries referencing Pompeian wall paintings run the perimeter, framed in custom trim beneath a fabric ceiling that lifts toward a central chandelier. A high-gloss custom check-in desk anchors the room and doubles as a backbar, shifting from coffee service to cocktails over the course of a day. It's a small but telling move: the room isn't zoned by function so much as by time. Scattered statues and artifacts complete the "fragments left behind" theme—and one conceals the entrance to Fallen Empire, a reservation-only oyster and champagne bar tucked behind the lobby. It's a hidden gem within a hidden gem, the kind of spot that rewards curiosity. ### The Guest Rooms: Designed to Be Remembered The guest rooms take a familiar exterior-corridor hotel layout and layer it with enough material density that the plan disappears. Schumacher wallpaper in tropical scenes wraps the walls under a wood ceiling lacquered in a high-gloss "dead salmon" finish—a color choice specific and slightly perverse enough to read as intentional eccentricity rather than a default mood board. Oxblood trim and parquet flooring set a warm, saturated base, while a custom iridescent clamshell bed becomes the room's central sculptural object. The supporting cast—mirrored surfaces, vintage lighting, and layered textures—keeps the eye moving without overwhelming the senses. Each room feels less like a standard hotel stay and more like stepping into a carefully curated collection of moments. ### Why It Matters For travelers who've grown tired of cookie-cutter properties, The Baby Grand offers something increasingly rare: a place that feels genuinely discovered. It's not just a place to sleep—it's a destination in its own right, with dining, drinking, and wandering built into the experience. Whether you're a design enthusiast, a food lover, or simply someone who appreciates a good story, this hotel delivers on every level. So if you find yourself on Coronado Island, skip the predictable chain stays. Walk across the street from the Del, push through the overgrown entry, and let The Baby Grand unfold its secrets one at a time. You might just feel like you've stumbled onto something special—because you have.