The Lafayette Hotel, a San Diego hotel undergoing ongoing improvements, is adding a new Turkish-style spa and swim club at 2223 El Cajon Boulevard.
CH Projects, which owns the Lafayette, has started construction on the spa, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. CH cofounder Arsalun Tafazoli confirmed the project with the UT, which is expected to cost approximately $2.8 million and take about six months to complete. The new facility will be part of a membership-based swim club that also includes the hotel’s existing pool and an improved gym, with membership pricing still being determined.
The spa is planned to include a sauna, wet steam, and a hammam, a type of steam bath historically associated with Middle Eastern, North African, and Ottoman cultures. The hammam will feature imported marble walls. The project is part of the Lafayette’s $31 million renovation, which began before the hotel reopened more than three years ago.
Another part of the original renovation plans, Le Horse, remains on hold. The upscale continental fine-dining restaurant was initially expected to open by the end of 2023, but that timeline was later pushed to early 2024. Tafazoli said the project was put on indefinite hold because CH Projects is focusing its resources on other projects, and he does not expect Le Horse to open anytime soon.
CH Projects has recently concentrated on hotel projects, including a major renovation of the Pensione hotel in Little Italy and plans for a 68-room hotel and wellness center in the neighborhood. The company also opened Baby Grand, a boutique hotel in Coronado, about four months before the article was published. The Lafayette itself has more than six dining and drinking venues.
The planned swim club will be available to residents through a membership program combining access to the pool, gym, and new spa. CH Projects had not determined membership pricing at the time of publication and was still calculating the program’s operating costs. The spa is the latest addition to the Lafayette as the hotel continues work on elements of its renovation.
