Two San Diego hotels awarded prestigious Michelin recognition

The much heralded Michelin Guide’s star ratings for restaurants are now being handed out for hotels — they’re called “keys” — and two properties in San Diego are the first in the city to secure the prestigious accolade.

North Park’s LaFayette Hotel and Club, which underwent a much publicized $31 million makeover two years ago, and the more under-the-radar Orli La Jolla, a small boutique hotel, are among 37 U.S. properties to be designated Key hotels by the Michelin Guide.

Michelin’s Key honors for lodging in the U.S. were introduced in 2024, and in October, three dozen more hotels in the U.S. were added to the list. Judged by Michelin inspectors, the selected Key hotels are determined to be the best of the best in each of five categories — architecture and interior design, quality and consistency of service, overall personality and character, value for the price, and a significant contribution to the neighborhood or setting.

In its latest announcement, Michelin describes the LaFayette as an “iconic San Diego institution decked in retro glamour.” In addition to its history marked by Hollywood legends, the reimagined hotel on El Cajon Boulevard has an Olympic-sized pool, bowling alley and eight bars and restaurants, the guide points out.

The Orli La Jolla, part of which is housed in a 1913 building designed by architect Irving Gill, is characterized as a “unique homestay-meets-hotel concept” that “marries modernism with old-school charm” and features “bespoke room designs and a lush courtyard.”

In all, there are more than 300 one-, two- and three-key hotels in the U.S., and the LaFayette and Orli are the only two in San Diego that have made the cut, with one key each.

Orli’s selection came just as the Draper Avenue property was celebrating its three-year anniversary, said Max Waitt, who is co-owner with his sister Hailey.

“We feel like this honor is reflective of our amazing guest services team, who goes above and beyond for most everything,” Waitt said. “We’re on the other end of spectrum of the LaFayette, as we have just 13 guestrooms, so it feels like you’re in a wealthy friend’s high-end guest house. When you step into the Orli, it’s like a true sanctuary with exceptional design and finishes.”

Five years ago, the Waitts acquired the property and invested $5 million in a reimagination of the Orli. The historic front building houses seven guestrooms and a lounge area, and the annex, added in 1985, has six guestrooms, Waitt explained.

CH Projects co-founder Arsalun Tafazoli, who already has received considerable recognition for the LaFayette renovation, said the Michelin Key rating is validation of what was the firm’s first hotel venture. It has long been known for its many popular restaurants such as Born & Raised and, more recently, Leila.

“We came at this as outsiders and we had a lot of weird ideas and some more institutional folks in the hotel space were dismissive and didn’t think it would work,” Tafazoli said. “But two years in, to see the support from the city and acknowledgment on a national level and now this, it’s surreal.

“As someone born and raised in this city, I would go by it and I thought the foundation is so special but no one is giving it the attention it deserves so to now bring it on a national level is very special. It is pretty cool overall, and we can now feel an element of relief.”

A little more than a year ago the 139-room hotel was named the best new hotel of the year by Esquire magazine.