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.

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.