The Keating
by Pininfarina
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Road Trip: San Diego. Crash at The Keating. Rock at the Casbah

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Every now and then, as your troubles collect at the door and your mailbox brims with bills, you need to fire up the engine and slide down the freeway, out of Los Angeles and in to another adventure. This particular night's excursion took us on a Road Trip to San Diego, and a place unlike any before it, called The Keating hotel.

Nestled in the middle of the Gaslamp Quarter, we parked the car in front of this, a corner brick building on 5th and F Streets, and went inside, where we were instantly enveloped in a swath of the hotel's deep red motif that runs throughout. "We've been expecting you," they said, and indeed they were. They knew the name on the reservation before we said it, and true to their custom, had already been up to our room to prepare an extra bed, turn on the welcome music, and ready the necessities.

But these necessities are far from the norm. According to Todd Gabello, the Keating's Director of Sales and Events, they are "the only hotel in the city with Bang and Olufsen equipment and a state-of-the-art espresso machine in every Stanza."

The Stanzas, which means suites in Italian, are inspired by sports cars of the past. The Keating was designed by the Pininfarina group, who also do Italian cars, and the chair in our room, for example, was modeled after a Ferrari concept car.

Gabello said that this is where "SoCal meets SoHo," and our room embodied the look and spirit of a high-end loft, which we talked about as we ran our hands over beautiful brick walls.

After exploring everything we could in the room, which included testing the limits of the volume control on the Bang and Olufsen stereo, taking pictures inside our full pull-out closet, toying with all possible track lighting combinations, and channeling our inner Hef's by trying on the bright red robes while filling cup after cup with potent espresso, we ventured out into the night.

Our adventure du jour took us to a local bar called the Casbah, to see the debut performance of DJ Adam Freeland's new band, appropriately named Freeland. The show featured some rarities unseen back home, including free and available parking and no line to get in. We tried to use our newly minted press credentials to get inside for a word with the manager, but we were simply told that there wasn't one on duty. Infused with confidence from our Keating experience, we managed to talk to the band instead.

"San Diego is a large city with a small town feel. It's a new melting pot, where people are open to every culture. You don't feel that it's a big city in the attitude," Gabello told us," and "it's a great energy to watch it transform from Friday at noon to Friday at midnight."

"Everything is connected here," said Francesca Albanese, our stunning Italian hostess who coordinated our stay. "You can stay on the property and go to the lounge, restaurant, and your room without stepping outside."

We asked our new Italian friend to describe the hotel in her native tongue. Of course, she gave it back in English. Sneaky, those Italians. Trying again, she said "fantastico, moderno, sophisticado, functionale, and sexy."

Sexy is the same in any language, apparently. As is its definition: The Keating.

THE DETAILS:
The Keating Hotel
432 F St.
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619.814.5700
Web: thekeating.com