Our newest hotel find in San Diego is the brand new
Lyric at Park 12
But this is a new type of hotelthink a mix betweenaa Airbnb and a conventional hotel.
It's a newly emerging category in the hospitality marketcalled Apart Hotels
The Lyric Boutique Suitesare in 11 cities in the US
The company is an AirBnB backed startup.
They feature'Creative Suites ... for the Creative traveller'
with almost 3 times the space of a conventional hotel room.
Jeff and I have never even stayed at an AirBnBbecause I don't like the idea of staying other peoples personal spaces ...
But this cross over sounded intriguingsince it is definitely justshort term apartment rentingnot someone's home.
Even with booking we knew we would be in for a differentfor ustype of experience.
Communications start online.Once our application was acceptedthere was a number to call with our questions.
There is no front lobby or reception at the San Diego Lyric.
The day before our stay we were emailed the code to get into the building.
The building had no outside signageso it began to feel a bit like a scavenger huntlooking for the appropriate place to check in.Fortunately a flip board sign pointed the wayto the kioskto enter our code.
I was definitely feeling out of my travel comfort zonewondering if indeed we would be able to successfully navigatewhat was beginning to feel like a milennial maze.
Our code worked.The door openedand we were greeted by a lovely womanmanning a stand up desk.
She gave us what at the time began to feellike a mind numbing amount of directionsinto the parking garage, elevatorskeyless entry to the roomwhat to do once we got into the roomto turn everything on ...
So we headed into phase twoof finding our way to our'Apart-Hotel'And yes,that is what this new type of Stay's are called.
Lyric at Park 12in San Diego is located in brand new apartment towers.Ours was the shorter 6 floor building in the lower right of this picture.
Parking was three stories under ground.I was already missing the sweet and helpful valets we usually meet.
We found our parking spotand what we hoped was the correct elevator.
Our room was on the top floor of this building which looked out into the courtyard.
On our way up to our roomI was missing more that the valet.
I was really missing a bellman.As a notoriously 'heavy packer'I was beginning to realizeit would take Jeff and Imore that one trip to bring up our belongings.Especially since there wasn't even a roll cart.
We found our room number.Jeff used the key pad with our code.The door opened ....I was already preparing to be highly disappointed ....
But I wasn't disappointed.Quite the contrary.
The room was largeBeautifully decorated.Complete with a kitchenbedroom and large bathand even a washer and dryer.
Our scavenger hunt to find our roomhad payed off nicely.
Our Apart-Hotelwas graciously appointedand fully furnished.
Right down to pour over coffeecomplete with chic and stylish mugs for our morning coffee ritual.
The Lyric brandingwas complete with instructionsanda guide to the best local spots in the neighborhood.
I know the neighborhood guide was a great onebecause our darling daughter lives in the neighborhoodand truly knows all the cool places to go!
Once we did get up all our luggagewe settled in for a cocktail.
How lovely is their beautifully appointed bar!Lucky for usI knew enough to BYOB!As there is no hotel bar or room service.
By bringing our own BYOBwe were able to take advantage of our chic and spacious surroundings.
One of the things that intrigued me about the Lyric brandis their desire to bring the flavor of the citythey are located into their rooms
From local coffeephotographic artwork of the citybooks about the city cultureto curated vinyl recordsfor the record players.
I had music going anytime we were in the room!A complete experience enhancerto be sure!
Our living room at nightwith the original photographic artwork.
Love their choice of leisure reading materials!
The Lyric at Park 12has plenty of shared spaceslike a lovely, if smallpool area.
Indoor rooms perfect for large gatherings.
Our room even came with branded coffee cupsperfect for taking out for our walk.
Love the Lyric branding!
Lyric at Park 12is literally across the street fromSan Diego's Petco Park!
San Diego's gorgeous harboris just one block away!Walking there is always a favorite of ours!
The Lyric at Park 12is located in San Diego's newly emerging East Villagewhich has been in the process of even addingthe most marvelous murals!
Knowing we had such a lovelyApart-Hotelto come back to at nightafter a day of exploringfelt like such a travel luxury!
The Casper beds, with their Frette linenstruly made forone of the most comfortable sleeps I have had!
Look at the size of this kitchen.Not that we used it for more thanmorning coffee.But we would have if our stay was longer.I should have gotten a picture of their gorgeous dishes.
So all in allI was pretty pleased with our first time stay at anApart Hotel.
It was a good value for the price.I really enjoyed the chic and hip stylingextra space extremely comfortable bed.
The location was ideal.
We will definitely keep the Apart Hoteloptions on our travel radar.
I hear there is a new one in East Village to open soon.I think we might need to check it out!
As always my friends
I wish you love and joyas you style your life