The Pearl Hotel

A 1959 motel by the local architect Robert Platt, converted into a 23-room hotel that keeps its mid-century lines rather than disguising them. The centrepiece is an art moderne oyster-shaped pool, beside which sits Ponyboy, the hotel's bar and restaurant. Rooms carry artwork referencing the Japanese ama, the women who dived for pearls, alongside ceramics and block prints by local makers. The setting is Rosecrans Street, a working thoroughfare running through Point Loma towards the naval installations and the Cabrillo peninsula, rather than a beach front; Liberty Station, Shelter Island and Sunset Cliffs are all short drives away. The property is small enough that the pool area doubles as its social centre, and downtown San Diego lies roughly four miles east.