POINT LOMA – The Bay Club Hotel & Marina has a new look and new appeal on Shelter Island.
The boutique hotel’s recent renovation included its restaurant, with updated menus, and a name change – back to the Bay Club Bar & Grill. Renovations included relocating the hotel’s interior bar to enhance bay views.
The improvements also included a new coffee grab-and-go option.
Re-imagining the Shelter Island Drive boutique hotel property involved reducing the restaurant’s interior space. Enhancements across approximately 10,000 square feet of the hotel included replacing or improving lighting, flooring, furnishings, fixtures, and finishes, as well as associated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing improvements.
Also renovated were the hotel lobby and front desk, along with its meeting rooms, restrooms, and management offices. Existing wall finishes, lighting fixtures and outlets, flooring, and doors throughout the hotel were removed and replaced.
Natalie Zaas, director of sales and marketing at The Bay Club Hotel & Marina, noted that it was opened in 1985, just as the marina was being built, before it was decided to build a hotel onsite.
“It’s independently owned by four Point Loma families and is not part of a larger chain,” said Zaas, adding that an earlier hotel remodel was performed in 2014.
“They changed the name to the Quarterdeck Restaurant & Bar,” she said. “In this most recent renovation, which took about three months, the upper dining room was turned back into more of a lounge where people can sit in the comfortable chairs near the fireplace.”
Added Zaas of the hotel’s remodel: “Any time with a hotel and restaurant, you get a lot of wear and tear, a lot of people in and out. We just needed a refresh. We put in new floorings and wall coverings, all-new furniture and televisions, a facelift to refresh all of the interior.”
Zaas said the hotel’s restaurant and bar lounge is open to the community for all three meals daily, with happy hour offered from 2-6 p.m.
“That’s something we’re promoting now, doing an extended happy hour,” she said. “We’re open to anyone. We get a lot of marina tenants, boaters, hotel guests, and a lot of locals. We also get very busy on nights that Humphreys (nearby) has concerts. Mostly people will come for drinks and dinner before the shows, and they’re in concert season through November.”
Zaas said the hotel can accommodate small groups and has private dining banquet rooms available to accommodate larger groups, offering catering menus.
Describing the restaurant’s cuisine, Zaas said: “With the renovation, we did all new seafood-centric menus. We did add some tacos and more Mexican flavors. We’ve always had a cocktail menu. But they’ve added some new craft cocktails, including a couple on happy hour with some tropical drinks, including a good mai tai that’s very popular, and some other classic cocktails as well.”
The Bay Club Bar & Grill is open for breakfast from 7-11 a.m. and is closed for an hour before lunch between noon and 2 p.m. Happy hour follows that from 2-6 p.m., culminating with dinner that lasts until 9 p.m. Weekends and concert nights are the busiest times for dinner, especially during summer.
Zaas said the hotel’s restaurant and bar are a community hub. “We have a lot of locals who have been coming here for years,” she said. “They know the bartenders and the servers. We do have a lot of hotel regular guests who come several times throughout the year. Our biggest meal is breakfast, which people enjoy before they head out for the day. Lunch and dinner are where we get more locals, people coming for lunch meetings.”
Zaas added that the hotel has a big drive market, with a lot of guests coming seasonally from Arizona, Nevada, and Los Angeles, but also from the East Coast or other countries during summer.
Of the property’s revamp, Zaas said: “The main thing is just to know that we’re here, we’re open, we’re remodeled, and it’s a fresh look. If people haven’t been here in a while, they’ll enjoy the new look and menus. When people come here, they love the view, and they come back.”
The Bay Club Hotel & Marina
Where: 2131 Shelter Island Drive
Info: bayclubhotel.com.
