500 West

500 West Review

An $8 million renovation in 2004 transformed San Diego's historic 1924 Armed Services YMCA Building into this hip, urban boutique hotel. Catering to the style-conscious, the hotel has tiny rooms big on quality, with flat-screen TVs, platform beds, Michael Graves-designed lighting, and a postmodern decor. It has mostly single rooms and very few doubles, and all rooms share European-style detached private bathrooms. Weekly tenants can use a kitchen equipped with a Viking range and Sub-Zero fridge; there's also a common area with tables and vending machines. The YMCA gym is still downstairs, and may account for the sometimes-funny smell in the lobby; guests can use it for $5 a day.