The Ivy Hotel

Hotel description

Yes, this is the hotel with the stripper pole. Granted, it’s only in one room (the so very over-the-top Star Suite, complete with fuzzy plush king-size bunk beds and mirrored bedroom floor), but it goes a long way towards illustrating what sort of place the Ivy is. As in, maybe not the ideal place to book Mom and Dad a room while they’re in town visiting Sea World.

For the sort of person who’s into velvet-rope exclusivity, peekaboo showers, and hotel-bar bottle service from suggestively-clad cocktail waitresses, however — and who knows, that may include Mom and Dad after all — the Ivy is just the thing. While some hotel concerns are dialing back the nightlife, this one has it turned up all the way; the Quarter Kitchen restaurant is big news on San Diego’s emerging culinary scene, the Eden rooftop bar is quite often packed (though occasionally chilly, this being San Diego) and the Envy nightclub features tight door control on the outside and go-go-dancing debauchery on the inside.

Of course the little things we expect from boutique hotels everywhere are present here as well: flat-panel HDTVs, iPod docks, top-shelf bath products and luxurious linens. There’s butler service as well, and Cadillac Escalade mega-SUVs available to ferry you and your guests about the Gaslamp district, if need be. A quiet and private place to lay your head it’s not — the Ivy is for travelers who demand quite a bit more.