CH Projects has teamed up with Post Company once again to create The Baby Grand, a new 31-room boutique in Coronado.

Characterised by lush, overgrown landscaping veiling a layered world of private lagoons, secret jewel box bars, sculpted rock formations and open-fire dining, The Baby Grand seeks to offer a new Coronado hospitality experience.

“We wanted The Baby Grand to feel less like a hotel you check into and more like something you stumble upon, like you discovered it halfway reclaimed by time and decided to stay,” comments Arsalun Tafazoli, founder of CH Projects. “It’s our attempt to create a social, slightly surreal gathering place on Coronado where history isn’t polished over, but left visible and alive, and where people can move through spaces that unfold slowly, connect, and make their own version of the story.”

CH Projects and Post Company envisioned The Baby Grand as a social hub and neighbourhood gathering place for the island. Once an asphalt parking lot, the 6,000-square-foot site features mature plantings, gas-lit torches and partially-hidden statues evoking a site reclaimed by nature, while planted trellises and tented structures recall early expedition camps along the Coronado coast.

“We approached The Baby Grand as a deliberate departure from the casual, beachy aesthetic typical of Southern California hospitality,” says Leigh Salem, Partner at Post Company. “From mosaic floors and mirrored walls to iridescent clamshell beds, each element contributes to a rich, cohesive world that feels assembled over time. The design is theatrical, but never overly choreographed – there’s a sense that it’s still unfolding and evolving.”

The hotel embodies CH Projects’ idiosyncratic philosophy: setting a maximalist stage where narrative, spectacle and hospitality converge. Guests move through a central oasis to uncover an outdoor bar and coffee shop, as well as Night Hawk, a Greek open-fire restaurant integrated directly into the landscape through rock-formed booths and banquettes. The menu channels the primal energy of Greek fire cooking through an otherworldly lens, and the cocktail programme draws on Greek essentials like citrus, olive oil, wild herbs, sea salt and smoke, as well as an expertly-curated selection of Greek wines.

The lobby acts as a threshold between worlds. Musical giant Swizz Beatz has developed a transportive soundscape for the hotel, creating a defined atmosphere from the moment guests enter. Vintage tapestries inspired by ancient Pompeiian paintings line the walls, framed by custom trim and a fabric ceiling that rises to support a dramatic central chandelier. The high-gloss custom check-in desk anchors the room, while a back-bar provides coffee during the day and cocktails at night. Throughout the space, statues and artifacts suggest fragments left behind from another era, including one that conceals the entrance to Fallen Empire, a hidden oyster and champagne bar tucked discreetly behind the lobby.

Here, intimate, low lighting sets the stage for an almost clandestine evening. The reservation-only jewel box bar features mirrored walls; solid-brass booths upholstered in red mohair with built-in champagne buckets and padded armrests; and an ornate mosaic floor depicting life under the sea. Along one wall, a painted bar inspired by “The Raft of the Medusa” serves as both cocktail bar and raw bar, with heaped displays of ice showcasing fresh selections like Kumamoto oysters, scallop crudos and uni tartares. The beverage menu treats champagne not just as a celebration, but as a tool of culinary production, leaning heavily into grower champagnes, rare vintages and champagne cocktails.

Guestrooms are characterised by CH Projects’ now-signature ornate and transportive style. The centrepiece of each room is a custom, iridescent clamshell bed. Schumacher wallpaper featuring tropical scenes wraps the walls, paired with high-gloss wood ceilings, oxblood trim and parquet flooring. Furnishings include a custom chaise, animal-print stools, marble tables and a curated mix of vintage artwork and sculpture, as if assembled over time. Careful not to eschew form for function, each room is also outfitted with integrated reading lights, mirrored custom cabinetry and an oversized in-room bar.

Occupying nearly half of each guest room’s footprint, ensuites are revealed through pocket doors, and feature intricate mosaic tile flooring leading to fluted marble wash consoles, glass-enclosed shower rooms and clawfoot soaking tubs. Finished with bold wallpaper, marble, jewel-toned mirroring and custom light fixtures, it’s a theatrical expression of bathing.