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San Diego Dreaming
A tribe-owned historic hotel is a luxurious surprise
San Diego is one of those wealthy oceanside towns that's beloved by its residents but a hard sell to travelers. It suffers a bit from being lovely but generic, much like its more famous neighbor, Orange County (the O.C.). It's more suburb than city. McMansions, malls, and ugly skyscrapers have mowed over many of the older, historic mission-style buildings that make Santa Barbara (in contrast) such a desirable destination.
Which is why it's a bit of a wonder to ponder the survival of the 11-floor, 270-room Beaux Arts-style hotel by architect Harrison Albright, the U.S. Grant. Built in 1910 by Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., to honor his Civil War hero and 18th US President father, the luxury hotel has rolled with the punches. It once housed Turkish baths filled with seawater pumped in from the Pacific Ocean in underground tunnels. The same tunnels were used during Prohibition to transport alcohol for the rip-roaring speakeasy that is now the hotel's Celestial Ballroom. If only the portrait of President Grant, commissioned for the hotel and still hanging in the lower mezzanine even though it was once shot through the eye, could talk: The image of bohemian San Diego might not be so completely overshadowed by the surfers, golfers, and hot tub executives of today.
The US Grant, once marked for tear-down, was finally added to the Register of Historic Places in 1979. Still, it fell into disrepair and was only recently reborn as what might be one of the most unusual luxury hotels in the U.S. After a $52 million renovation completed in October 2006, the hotel is now owned by the
Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and managed as one of the Starwood Luxury Collection. Its filled with artworks that range from drip paintings by Parisian artist Yves Clement (used as the headboards in the guest rooms), to bronze sculptures of contemporary and historic tribal life by Johnny Bear Contreras, to contemporary paintings by San Diego artist Marie Najera. And so far, 13 U.S. presidents have slept here, from Woodrow Wilson to JFK to George Bush, Sr.
Which is why it's a bit of a wonder to ponder the survival of the 11-floor, 270-room Beaux Arts-style hotel by architect Harrison Albright, the U.S. Grant. Built in 1910 by Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., to honor his Civil War hero and 18th US President father, the luxury hotel has rolled with the punches. It once housed Turkish baths filled with seawater pumped in from the Pacific Ocean in underground tunnels. The same tunnels were used during Prohibition to transport alcohol for the rip-roaring speakeasy that is now the hotel's Celestial Ballroom. If only the portrait of President Grant, commissioned for the hotel and still hanging in the lower mezzanine even though it was once shot through the eye, could talk: The image of bohemian San Diego might not be so completely overshadowed by the surfers, golfers, and hot tub executives of today.
The US Grant, once marked for tear-down, was finally added to the Register of Historic Places in 1979. Still, it fell into disrepair and was only recently reborn as what might be one of the most unusual luxury hotels in the U.S. After a $52 million renovation completed in October 2006, the hotel is now owned by the
Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation and managed as one of the Starwood Luxury Collection. Its filled with artworks that range from drip paintings by Parisian artist Yves Clement (used as the headboards in the guest rooms), to bronze sculptures of contemporary and historic tribal life by Johnny Bear Contreras, to contemporary paintings by San Diego artist Marie Najera. And so far, 13 U.S. presidents have slept here, from Woodrow Wilson to JFK to George Bush, Sr.
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