La Valencia Hotel, La Jolla, California (Credit: La Valencia Hotel)
La Valencia Hotel, La Jolla, California (Credit: La Valencia Hotel)

The iconic La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla, California, will celebrate its 90th anniversary in December. Famous greats like Madonna, Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Bono, John Lennon, and Theodore Geisel (better known as “Dr. Seuss”) have stepped through this legendary pink hotel, which sits high on a hill with views of the Pacific Ocean. Back in the day, the hotel’s cozy, dark Whaling Bar was also a perfect celeb hideaway.

To honor its 90th anniversary, La Valencia has announced that it will offer 20s-themed hotel packages around what it’s calling a Gatsby Gala on December 15 to benefit the La Jolla Historical Society. (The 20s are an apt theme as the hotel opened in 1926.) The Gatsby Gala will feature vintage automobiles, live music, flappers, craft cocktails, punchbowls of bubbly, and lots of food. Guests are encouraged to dress in period attire!

As for the packages, here are the two anniversary-inspired options now on offer for guests:

1. “The 1926 Experience”

  • 2 nights, double occupancy in a suite or villa
  • 2 tickets the Gatsby Gala
  • 1 bottle of Dom Perignon
  • 2 commemorative gifts
  • 2 nights valet parking
  • Breakfast for 2
  • Available: 12/14 – 12/16
  • Cost: $1,926 (plus tax)


2. “Party Like Gatsby Experience”

  • 1 night, double occupancy in an ocean-view room
  • 2 tickets to the Gatsby Gala
  • 2 anniversary-logo party gifts
  • 1 night valet parking
  • Available: 12/15/16 only
  • Cost: $790 (plus tax)

 

Jenna Pilant modeled the 1950s at La Valencia as modern day version of the "Pink Lady" (Credit: La Valencia Hotel)
Jenna Pilant modeled the 1950s at La Valencia as modern day version of the “Pink Lady” (Credit: La Valencia Hotel)

Nine decades of La Valencia
All year long, La Valencia has hosted events, music, curated food, and craft cocktails commemorating each decade that’s passed since the hotel opened in 1926. Story boards displaying all nine decades are hanging in the hotel’s Sevilla Wing.

“This Pink Lady gets better with each decade and she is the ideal date for a playful, romantic and adventurous seaside escape at a truly classic California luxury boutique hotel,” said Mark Dibella, Managing Director of La Valencia.

La Valencia even worked with Jenna Pilant, a former model and television-host-turned-#stylecrazed-upholstery-artist to model some period-appropriate fashionable attire like a 50s pink polka-dotted bathing suit by the pool; a 60s Jackie-O-type A-line dress for tea on the terrace; and a bellbottomed pantsuit accessorized with a headband and love beads to pay tribute to the 70s.

The La Valencia Hotel today
Today the 20s remain alive and well at La Valencia Hotel, with terraced gardens, fountains, Spanish mosaics, and décor. The hotel has 114 completely renovated guest rooms and villas overlooking Ellen Browning Scripps Park and the Pacific Ocean. Even the dining options at La Valencia were enhanced as part of the hotel’s recent $10 million renovation, including at The MED, an oceanfront restaurant and terrace featuring American cuisine and the adjoining La Sala Lounge and Café La Rue, a European bistro.

And one day, I think we all should aspire to stay in their new top floor penthouse, the ICON Sky Suite. The lavish suite has 180-degree ocean views with retractable windows for that ocean breeze, hardwood floors, unique black-and-white period photography, and designer mosaic tiles. Oh, and eight rain shower heads and dual sink marble vanity. Yes, please!

This is a sponsored post, but as always, the views expressed are my own.


For more on the La Valencia Hotel’s Gatsby Gala, check out this page.

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