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Sè San Diego

Downtown’s latest luxury hotel is a masterpiece of contemporary art

Wandering into this sleek, chocolate- and silver-coloured space is like entering a modern gallery whose nooks and crannies bear installations that’ll transport you to Asia. It’s also perfectly located above the House of Blues, overlooking downtown’s lively nightlife district, the Gaslamp Quarter.

You’ll enter through a giant, pivoting 900-pound bronze door, into a lobby textured with different materials. Bulging check-in counters covered in swaths of sting-ray skin, ebony columns covered in turquoise beads, a huge suspended multi-tiered silk chandelier and a three-dimensional wave-like wall made of flat stone finns all compete for your attention—and that’s just in the lobby.

Artists were commissioned to custom create almost everything in the 184-room hotel, including the leather-weaved wall paper in the downstairs bar, the elevators’ wood-encrusted walls and the US$500,000 bathroom in Suite and Tender, the hotel’s fine dining restaurant.

Ten-foot ceilings in the basic guestrooms make up for the lack of floor space, but those with a bit more cash should splurge on the Luxe Suites: 1,000 sq.-ft. one-bedroom apartments with balconies, full-kitchens and even bathrooms with a steam shower and a built-in TV in the mirror.

If you can’t afford a stay at the Sè, that shouldn’t stop you from partying at the 7,000 sq.-ft. rooftop lounge and pool deck, Sīrĕn, with private cabanas, lounge chairs, a classy beach bungalow vibe with new DJs every week. Don’t miss the stunning Thursday and Saturday night shows, which start at 9 p.m. and range from tango performances to silk acrobatics over the pool.

Basic guest rooms start at $249.