Hotel Z, a boutique hotel in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, is getting ready to undergo a renovation and rebrand as Stellen San Diego Gaslamp under new ownership at 521 Sixth Ave.
Portland, Oregon-based Stoa Lodging purchased the property for a reported $25.2 million, according to Boutique Hotelier. Stoa plans to renovate the hotel and reopen it as Stellen San Diego Gaslamp by March 2027, while keeping the property open during construction. The renovation will also introduce the hotel’s first food and beverage outlet, a cafe serving coffee, light food, and evening cocktails.
The renovated hotel will have 100 guestrooms, up from the current 96, with eight of the largest existing rooms being divided to create four additional rooms. All guestrooms will be renovated with new furnishings, artwork, laminate wood flooring, and an accent wall treatment designed to resemble natural plaster. The lobby will also be updated as part of the project.
The new cafe will occupy part of the existing lobby and will be open to both hotel customers and locals. The food and beverage concept will be locally driven, although additional menu details have not been announced. The lobby will also feature taller, storefront-style windows, while the exterior will be repainted off-white and updated with metal louvers.
Stoa Lodging plans to bring the property into the Series by Marriott collection when it reopens, with Evolution Hospitality managing the hotel. The building originally operated as a single-room-occupancy hotel called the Baltic before J Street Hospitality converted its 221 small apartment units into 96 guest rooms. It later became Hotel Z and was known for its pineapple-themed branding.
“As a Southern California native who’s spent years in San Diego’s hospitality industry and walked by this property more times than I can count, the chance to help write its next chapter is genuinely exciting,” Taylor Jacobs, founder and principal of Stoa Lodging, said in the news release. “Its proximity to the Convention Center, Petco Park, the waterfront, and some of the city’s best dining and entertainment makes it an ideal base for both leisure and business travelers. At the same time, with the continued momentum of downtown as a place to live and work, we saw an opportunity to create something that really becomes part of the neighborhood fabric.”
