The Whale
It has been a year and the Hotel Laguna is still dead. There it sits like some rotting whale carcass. Stripped of anything of value and discarded as trash. The small scavengers nibble around the edges while the big carrion eaters ceaselessly circle, waiting for it to ripen.
It is hard to believe that the terms of the former lease specified that the premises be maintained in first class condition. First class sure isn’t what it used to be. It’s a shame. What a jewel the hotel could be, if only it had been properly maintained and modernized along the way. There are plenty of examples on the shores of the French Riviera.
Just imagine a luxury, oceanfront hotel with none of the conditions presently associated with coastal development in California and a location so unique and special that there is no other place like it, anywhere.
The rooms don’t need to be big, just charming and luxurious. If you’ve ever seen modern amenities installed in an 800-year-old Italian farm house, you get the picture. The cottages at Crystal Cove are a good example of people’s desire for the authentic experience. Those old shacks are booked solid, months in advance.
You couldn’t build the Hotel Laguna today. Anything requiring a coastal permit could result in the loss of development grandfathered from current regulations. They’d never give you a permit. It’s a big box, right on the beach. There’s a private beach club, development on the bluffs, and a bag stuffed full of pre-existing exemptions. If you ever did get a permit, it would be loaded with restrictions and coastal access requirements.
A thorough, first class restoration would do wonders. There’s so much to work with. No public hearing required. The hotel could be open by summer 2021. This may have been what the filmmaker and old pottery guy had in mind when they tried to lease the hotel. That hasn’t happened.
Some folks ascribe the lack of progress to the fault of the “yokel melon farmer” owners of the property. They can’t be that big of a yokel. They own almost an entire block of oceanfront property in downtown Laguna Beach. Maybe they’re just dubious of tenants.
The message seems to be a consistent, “Show me the money.” Rumor has it that this means $5 million down and $100,000 a month, for starters. That could be reasonable. It all depends. Do you see a dead whale or a living jewel? Sure, it looks like a money pit, but so does a gold mine.
J.J. Gasparotti moved to Laguna Beach with his family when he was 11 years old. He has loved it ever since.
