The Keating

Expressive design, industrial-chic rooms and prime central location in a historic building in the Gaslamp Quarter

During the 19th century, San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter was a byword for vice, housing the Gold Rush's bordellos, saloons and opium dens. Its Beaux Arts and Victorian buildings managed to survive the city's postwar boom, to be revivified in the Nineties and Noughties by preservationists and entrepreneurs such as Edward Kaen. His careful restoration of 1890 former bank turned luxury boutique, The Keating, in partnership with Pininfarina (Ferrari and Maserati's designers) exemplifies the Gaslamp's return as the premier entertainment district in San Diego.

This 5-storey Romanesque Revival building now houses 35 dramatic stanzas and suites, plus ground floor restaurant/bar and late-night ultra-lounge. Style mavens will admire the signature Pininfarina custom-designed furnishings, theatrical spot lighting, and bold racing-car red colour scheme, set against stainless steel, exposed brick walls and high ceilings. Lotus eaters will delight in Frette sheets, walk-in rain showers, double sinks, Bang & Olufsen entertainment systems, Grey Goose cocktails and LavAzza espresso machines. Vice feels almost virtuous.

Highs

• First hotel designed by world-renowned Italian product design firm, Pininfarina Group: ultra-modern interiors contrast with heritage building
• In the heart of the Gaslamp, walking distance to downtown and the Embarcadero
• Friendly, eager-to-please service (some staff enthusiastic more than professional), 24-hr concierge, valet parking
• High-quality fixtures and fittings, really comfy beds
• They've thought of everything in your room, from the Sip and Crave minibar to the multi-adaptor for every conceivable make of mobile phone

Lows

• Often noisy at night as you're in party central (earplugs are provided and windows double-paned)
• All this impressive design and in-room gadgetry commands a high price tag
• No breakfast provided in-house; restaurant and pizzeria not outstanding
• Smaller rooms have open-plan bathrooms (showers can leak onto the floor), which is not to everybody's taste but we liked
• Some style over substance: we found the lighting system initially baffling to operate