California’s four-star, 512-room Omni San Diego Hotel opened in April 2004. With a total investment of $124m, the hotel is located in the Ballpark District of San Diego, adjacent to the new $294m PETCO Park – the home stadium of the San Diego Padres baseball team.
A sky bridge connects the ballpark directly with the hotel, which is the only hotel in North America to have a direct physical connection to a sporting facility. The hotel opened the day before the Padres first game of the season.
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Construction of the hotel started in 2002, with the project securing the largest hotel construction loan that year at $104m.
THE HOTEL
The hotel sits on a relatively small plot of land of just 42,394ft². The 32-storey hotel covers a total area of 600,728ft² and offers 27,000ft² of meeting space, including a 9,750ft² ballroom and four hospitality suites overlooking the pool terrace. There are 21 meeting rooms, a theatre with a capacity of 1,055ft² and a banqueting space of 790ft².
The top 11 floors consist of 37 luxury ‘Metropolitan Condominiums’. Each apartment is priced between $1.2m and $2.8m and feature panoramic views of San Diego Bay, the ballpark and the city skyline.
The condominiums have their own private park-side entrance, indoor parking and a pool terrace on the 22nd floor. Of the 511 guest rooms and suites, 237 are deluxe rooms, 241 are premium rooms and 14 are junior suites.
There are also 13 one-bedroom suites, four terrace suites, the Tony Gwynn suite and the President Jimmy Carter suite.
ROOMS
Deluxe rooms are 360ft² with either one king-sized or two double beds. Premium rooms have 360ft² of living space with views over San Diego Bay. The Get Fit rooms also have a motorised treadmill, a ‘Get Fit Kit’ and healthy snacks in the refreshment centre.
The 520ft² junior suites come with a king-sized bed, one bathroom and a separate intimate living room with a sleeper sofa. The one-bedroom suites have 640ft² of living space with a king-sized bed, one bathroom and a separate spacious living room area with a full-sized sleeper sofa.
Terrace suites are on the pool level and have a private outdoor terrace, upgraded amenities, a Murphy bed and a large living room with an entertainment centre. The Tony Gwynn suite has 1,600ft² of space and a one-bedroom suite located on the 20th floor with a kitchenette, wet bar, separate dining area, living room and a private balcony.
The 2,200ft² President Jimmy Carter suite is a top-of-the-range, one-bedroom suite located on the 21st floor with a full kitchenette, wet bar, separate dining area, living room and a marble foyer entryway. This suite also has a private balcony.
FACILITIES
With the aim of achieving an ‘urban resort’, the sixth floor is an elevated garden terrace with outdoor dining (The Terrace Bar and Grill), spa and heated swimming pool (the hotel has two swimming pools). The outdoor terrace has its own stone fireplace.
A street-front seafood restaurant, McCormick and Schmick’s, provides sweeping views of San Diego through a three-storey glazed window. A second dining option, Morsels, serves pastries and gourmet coffees.
SKY BRIDGE
The Omni Hotel and PETCO Park are connected by an 80ft-long suspension bridge, positioned 30ft above the ground. Unlike most suspension bridges, which either have catenary cables running vertically or a central post with cables running in both directions, the sky bridge has an 80ft-tall concrete column with cables spreading from a single mast.
The column is clad in aluminium and is embedded in a glass enclosure on the side of the Omni Hotel, close to the hotel’s external escalators.
DEVELOPERS AND CONTRACTORS
Omni Hotels cooperated on the development with land developer JMI Realty, which was appointed master developer for the Ballpark District, with responsibility for the urban planning and development of the 26 blocks surrounding the ballpark.
The architect for the project was Hornberger + Worstell Associates, a San Francisco-based design company. Magnusson Klemencic Associates Inc (Seattle) was the structural engineer for both the hotel and the sky bridge. The general contractor was Swinerton Builders, also of San Francisco. All interior woodwork for the hotel was undertaken by Montbleau & Associates of San Diego. Dynalectric Co was contracted for all electrical engineering.
