From Imig Manor to The Lafayette

San Diego’s Imig Manor Hotel opened in 1946, boasting Hollywood celebrity Bob Hope as its first guest. The San Diego press reported this on June 28:

The west coast’s first large postwar built hotel, Imig Manor, officially opened today. Costing $2,000,000, the hotel has 180 units under its block-square colonial-style roof. In the center is a large patio with a swimming pool and two outdoor dining and dancing halls. Twenty-two shops line the block and one-half of corridor on the main floor.

Despite its lavish $2 million cost, not all the press was positive:

Add “Who Said the War’s Over” department: At a preview dinner for the “working press” at swanky Imig Manor last night, reporters were required to buy their own drinks at prevailing prices from the hotel’s bar.

Below is a contemporary shot of how the hotel, now named The Lafayette, looks today:



The Long Beach Press-telegram gave a bit more background on Larry Imig himself, on June 29, 1946:

Larry Imig, 31-year-old former sailor, last night formally opened his new $2,000,000 hotel, Imig Manor, built with a fortune he made in a construction business that began after he traded a car for a vacant lot 10 years ago. The 180-room hotel located on the edge of the business district, has a large swimming pool, nighclub, 700-seat dining room, bars, coffee shops and a shopping center. Imig will live in a half-block long penthouse atop the three-story structure. Imig received a medical discharge in 1935 after three years as a naval enlisted man on the U.S.S. Langley and got a job as an auto salesman in San Diego. After he had been at his job a year, a woman offered to trade a vacant lot for one of his cars and convinced him he could make a profit by building a house on it and selling it. In the following 10 years, he built 2000 homes and obtained enough money to finance half the construction of his new hotel.

Below are panels from a vintage brochure, showing interior views of the property and a map of the area:







How the diner looks today:



…and the pool:





The Mississippi Room and Circle Bar (above) are now Lou Lous’s Supper Club:





Consortium Holdings, who now owns the hotel and has been pumping money into the property at a feverish pace, has done a beautiful job of honoring the history of the hotel while bringing it into the 21st century for a whole new array of patrons. The photos in the brochure makes the hotel look a bit staid and stuffy; today, the property is vibrant and creative. Good job, CH!

See more Lafayette Hotel photos at my main website.

Breakfast at the Lafayette

Back at the Lafayette Hotel & Club in the North Park hood of San Diego; this time it’s for breakfast. Mar Mar and I read the weather reports (and looked outside to confirm) and decided to brave Hurricane Hilary. The storm had already been downgraded from a 4 to a 1, and the weather map showed that it was not touching down near our area. Full steam ahead.



This time I tried the Chocolate Hazelnut Boozy Milkshake; it slightly edged out my previous choice, the Banana Coconut version. Mar Mar got the coffee in the branded mug (nice touch!).



I got the Banana Bread Pudding French Toast and Mar Mar got the Buckwheat Pancakes with blueberries lemon whip. For decadence, get the French Toast; if you want to feel like you’re being semi-healthy with more fiber, you’ll enjoy the pancakes. The bacon (not pictured) was typical of a diner; a little greasy and limp, but still serviceable. The Chateau doesn’t need to worry about my allegiance on that one.



The biscuits and gravy were just the way I like them; lots of sausage pieces and a good thick hearty gravy. None of that cheap runny crap.



Each time I visit (and there have been a lot of visits) I notice more details, like the monogram on the booths:



The detailing on the edge of the overhead lights:



There are no photos of the staff, but so far every experience has been positive. The waitresses have been fantastic. Still more to report from the Lafayette, but now I need to head to work!

See more Lafayette Hotel and Club photos at my main website.

Lounging at The Lafayette, Pt. 2

The Mississippi Room at the Hotel Manor (now The Lafayette) was where guests could hear the big bands, drink, dance, and do all the things that made life fun back in the fifties. This souvenir photo is from November 1950. Yes, in the day before selfies, people paid for souvenir photos. This lounge was where my Aunt used to hang out at night when she was done her shift as a waitress. Apparently, when Jack McLean joined the Navy in mid-1943, his orchestra was taken over by Jimmy Kennedy, owner of San Diego’s Paris Inn (downtown on the corner of 1st and C), where they had been playing.



Based on this hanging banner, it would appear that the Mississippi Room will be making a comeback, but isn’t quite ready just yet.



The lobby bar gets packed at night with the local hipsters.



At first glance, I loved the decor; at second, something about it just seems a little too “off the shelf” and manufactured. I’m not quite sure that it will age well.



Now we arrive at the initial destination: Beginner’s Diner.



The copy on the menu reads as follows:

This thing. here, this isn’t a diner. The real diner is dead. Beginners Diner is the Smithsonian ode to the diner because the craving for better and cheaper that created the diner wound up killing it off in the end. We long to see the true diner in the wild, but are only really able to experience it in the films and our imagination. So sure, the diner survives, but it survives as a twisted and perverted and idolized version of itself. And in the end, the idea of the diner will outlive all of us in places like Beginner’s Diner, because as Ringo (a.k.a. Honey Bunny) says in Pulp Fiction, “The days of me forgetting are over, and the days of me remembering have just begun.”



Interesting copy; it serves to justify the higher prices (probably smart to condition the customer that way), but fails to note that there are some traditional diners that still exist “in the wild.” I know…I’ve been there. If you’re going to write smart-ass copy, do your research before you make a claim. Back to Beginner’s Diner…



With Mar-mar, my partner in crime. We were ready to try the tater tots.



The hit of this visit was the Boozy Milkshake (I chose Banana Coconut). Just the right amount of booze, it also came with a good amount of leftover in the metal mixing container. Nice touch!



I ordered the French Dip. I was happy with my choice as far as flavor goes; however, for $22, I would have expected the sandwich to be a little more about the meat and less so on the bun. The tater tots were good, but Station Tavern is not going to lose me as a customer any time soon.



The apple pie was good, but lacked the flavor I would expect from a diner. Nice plate though!



Overall, Beginner’s Diner gets an A+ on presentation, but a C+/B- on the food. Still worth the trip, and let’s keep in mind…they just opened. Hopefully in time things will improve.

Here’s a sound clip from youTube of the Jack McLean orchestra playing “When the April Showers Reach Hawaii,” circa 1947. You can imagine yourself sipping a cocktail at the Mississippi Room while you listen to it.



Is there more to come from this story? Of course! See more Lafayette Hotel and Club photos at my main website.

Lounging at The Lafayette, Pt. 1

Opening on July 1, 1946, The Lafayette Hotel was originally known as Imig Manor, after its owner, local businessman Larry Imig. It became a place for celebrities (Bob Hope, Ava Gardner, Frank Sinatra, and Lana Turner) to escape Hollywood and hang out at the Johnny Weissmuller designed swimming pool as well as the 100+ guest suites. A recent $31 million renovation has given new luster to the Colonial mansion styled building, located along El Cajon Boulevard in North Park. The above shot is how the façade looked in 2014; below was taken after the remodel.



The Red Fox Room was a steakhouse that was once located on the front left corner of the hotel, since 1959. The restaurant moved across the street a few years back to make way for a different concept.



It is now Quixote, an upscale Mexican eatery.



Early press releases said the name of the restaurant/bar would be Mama Intento, and the base paint of the sign confirms that. However, the neon over it and the hotel website no longer reference that name.



The entrance:



The lobby. Wow! The experience when you enter is not what you would expect from the Tara Plantation exterior. It is more akin to the Jungle Room at Graceland (I’ll leave that up to you as to whether that’s good or not).



The famous Weissmuller pool:



More to come on this place!

See more Lafayette Hotel and Club photos at my main website.

Making Lemonade in San Diego

In the last month I have seen way more of the inside of a hospital than I would care to see in a lifetime. In this day and age though, acting as a patient advocate is a necessity if you want to make sure that those you care about are getting the best treatment possible. So what does a person do to make lemonade out of this lemony-situation? Naturally I turn to my camera. Can't complain about the view from the patient's 11th floor room. You can pretty much see all of San Diego.

The early morning drives in the dark (attempting to catch Doctors when they make their initial rounds for the day) caused me to pay attention to signage and other landmarks that I typically don't notice during the day. This neon sign for El Cajon Boulevard is a beauty, and celebrates what was once known as U.S. Route 80, the principal automobile route from San Diego to El Cajon, the Imperial Valley, and points east.



Along the way you can see Rudford's Restaurant (ate here once many moons ago after a night on the town):



The infamous Red Fox Room, which was just about the only place my late Aunt cared to dine:



The Red Fox Room was an old inn in Surrey, England and dates from around 1560.



The room was dismantled in 1926 and shipped to the U.S. for actress, Marion Davies, where it was completely rebuilt as her "Ocean House."



During the 1950's, this property was sold and the Red Fox Room was again dismantled and placed in Storage.



It is from this source that the Red Fox finally found its resting place in the Lafayette Hotel.



It's always good to stop and smell the roses; or in this case, the Fox.

See more Daveland North Park in San Diego photos at my main website.