Local Spotlight: The Baby Grand

A former 1950s roadside motel in Coronado has been transformed into a 31-room boutique hotel with a completely different look and feel. Meet The Baby Grand, a new hospitality destination that trades the usual California coastal aesthetic for bold patterns, vintage details, lush landscaping, and theatrical interiors.

Located at 1315 Orange Avenue, just a short distance from the waterfront, The Baby Grand officially opened in May 2026. The project was developed by San Diego-based CH Projects, with interiors by Brooklyn design studio Post Company, the same team behind the redesign of The Lafayette Hotel in San Diego.

From a 1950s Motel to a 31-Room Boutique Hotel

The property occupies the former site of La Avenida Inn, a roadside motel dating back to the 1950s. Rather than simply updating the existing property, the team reimagined the entire space as a hotel built around discovery, layered design, and unexpected details.

The result is a 31-room property that feels more like a collection of carefully designed spaces than a conventional hotel. Its interiors combine vintage-inspired furnishings, rich colors, patterned surfaces, artwork, and custom-made features.

A Maximalist Approach to Interior Design

The Baby Grand takes a different approach from the light, neutral interiors often associated with California hotels.

Guest rooms feature custom iridescent clamshell beds, tropical wallpaper, high-gloss wood ceilings, oxblood-colored trim, parquet floors, and vintage artwork. Animal-print seating, marble surfaces, and decorative details add to the layered look.

The bathrooms are just as detailed, taking up nearly half of each room's footprint. They include mosaic tile floors, fluted marble consoles, glass-enclosed showers, and clawfoot soaking tubs.

Rather than following one particular design era, the interiors bring together different textures, patterns, and vintage-inspired elements to create a space that feels collected over time.

The Former Parking Lot Becomes an Outdoor Escape

One of the property's biggest transformations happened outside.

What was once a 6,000-square-foot asphalt parking lot has been turned into a landscaped outdoor setting with mature plants, gas-lit torches, statues, planted trellises, and tented structures.

The grounds also feature a lagoon-style pool, sculpted rock formations, and a dramatic waterfall. The design creates a more secluded atmosphere and gives the hotel a garden-like setting despite its location along Orange Avenue.

Night Hawk: Open-Air Dining with a Greek Influence

The outdoor setting is also home to Night Hawk, the hotel's Greek-inspired restaurant.

Integrated into the landscaped grounds, the restaurant features open-fire cooking, rock-formed seating, and an atmosphere that feels connected to the surrounding environment. Its concept draws on Greek food traditions, with an emphasis on fire, fresh ingredients, herbs, citrus, and Mediterranean flavors.

The restaurant adds another reason to visit the property, even if you're not staying overnight.

A Different Take on California Hotel Design

The Baby Grand is a departure from the familiar coastal look of white walls, light wood, and neutral furnishings. Instead, it embraces color, pattern, vintage references, and a more layered approach to interiors.

From the clamshell beds and detailed bathrooms to the landscaped grounds and hidden bar, the property brings together several distinct experiences in one relatively small space.

It's an interesting example of how an older property can be reimagined through design, giving a familiar building type an entirely new identity.

The Baby Grand offers a different kind of hotel experience in Coronado. Its transformation from a 1950s roadside motel, its maximalist interiors, and its outdoor dining and hidden bar make it worth knowing about beyond its accommodations.

For anyone interested in hotel design, unique hospitality spaces, or interesting California destinations, The Baby Grand is one to add to the list.