If you know CH Projects‘ work – Born & Raised, Ironside, Polite Provisions, The Lafayette Hotel & Club – you already understand that they don’t do ordinary. Their newest property, The Baby Grand Crown City, is a 31-room boutique hotel on Coronado Island, and it picks up right where their best work left off.
Built to Feel Discovered
CH Projects partnered again with award-winning design studio Post Company – the same duo behind The Lafayette’s transformation in North Park – to build something that defies easy categorization.
What was once an asphalt parking lot is now a 6,000-square-foot layered world of overgrown landscaping, gas-lit torches, and partially hidden statues, conjuring the feeling of a place quietly reclaimed by nature.
Founder Arsalun Tafazoli described the vision as wanting it to feel “like something you stumble upon” – not a hotel you check in to, but one you discover.
A Lobby That Sets the Tone
Step through the entrance and the experience starts immediately. Musical icon Swizz Beatz developed an original soundscape for the space, and you feel it before you see anything else. Vintage tapestries, a dramatic central chandelier, and carefully placed artifacts fill the room with a sense of history that’s very much intentional.
Look closely and you’ll find a statue concealing the entrance to Fallen Empire – a reservation-only champagne and oyster bar hidden behind the lobby.
Inside: solid-brass booths upholstered in red mohair, built-in champagne buckets, an ornate mosaic floor, and a painted bar inspired by “The Raft of the Medusa,” heaped with Kumamoto oysters, scallop crudos, and uni tartares.
Night Hawk: Fire, Smoke, and Greek Flavors
Outside, integrated directly into the landscape through rock-formed booths and banquettes, Night Hawk is an open-fire Greek restaurant with serious atmosphere.
The menu channels fire cooking through citrus, olive oil, wild herbs, sea salt, and smoke, paired with a curated selection of Greek wines and cocktails. Dramatic in the best way.
The Rooms
Each of the 31 guest rooms is anchored by a custom iridescent clamshell bed, with Schumacher tropical-print wallpaper, high-gloss wood ceilings, oxblood trim, and parquet floors.
Custom chaises, marble tables, and a curated mix of vintage art and sculpture round out the space – nothing feels matched or manufactured.
The bathrooms take up nearly half of each room’s footprint: mosaic tile floors, fluted marble wash consoles, glass-enclosed showers, and clawfoot soaking tubs. Opening rates start at $350.
See you there!
Whether it’s dinner at Night Hawk, a clandestine evening at Fallen Empire, or a full stay, The Baby Grand Crown City just moved straight to the top of our Coronado list.
📆 Opens Thursday, May 14, 2026
📍 1315 Orange Ave, Coronado
ℹ️ Find more details here
See you there, San Diego!