Hotel Joaquin

Hotel Joaquin opened in 2018 in North Laguna, in the shell of the former Motor Inn Laguna Beach, a 1960s motel rebuilt to the floorboards over two years by owner Paul Makarechian. Its 22 individually designed rooms are the work of Robert McKinley, and the property, the third in the Auric Road collection, has its own restaurant, Saline, and a private cove below.

The place

In North Laguna, on the coast highway above the water, with a private cove reached by a stairway down from the property and the galleries of the town's art colony a short drive south.

The concept

Paul Makarechian bought what was then the Motor Inn Laguna Beach, a dilapidated roadside motel, and had every room taken apart down to the floorboards over two years before reopening it in 2018 as Hotel Joaquin. It is the third address of Auric Road, his small collection of what the company calls petite resorts, alongside Korakia Pensione in Palm Springs and Sonoma Coast Villa. Robert McKinley designed the 22 rooms individually rather than to a template, using vintage furniture, custom pieces, books, artwork and a record player in each, with Italian linens and Salt & Stone amenities. The scale is the point: 22 keys is small enough to run as a house rather than a hotel, and nothing of the motel identity was kept.

Dining & wellness

Saline is the restaurant and bar, open daily to guests for breakfast and lunch with an all-day poolside menu and a cocktail list built around ocean-inspired drinks, house spritzes and zero-proof options. There is a pool; no spa is documented.