Every room at Inn by the Sea La Jolla is booking again after nearly nine months of construction that replaced room furnishings and finishes. The Village hotel at 7830 Fay Ave. finished the last phase of its two-part renovation over Labor Day weekend, wrapping up work that started in late 2025.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the property tackled the redesign in two phases: first the bottom three floors, containing 87 rooms, then the top two floors with 44 more. General Manager Scott Blaul told the paper the timing was deliberate, coinciding with the hotel's shoulder period when demand typically dips. New corridor carpeting now runs across all five floors, tying the freshly redone rooms together.
A Coastal Look For Guest Rooms
The overhaul went well beyond a soft-goods refresh. Rooms had their carpeting, wall vinyl, paint, furniture, bedding, mattresses and cabinets replaced entirely, per the same account. The new look leans hard into the neighborhood's setting, with blue-colored walls, wavy carpet patterns, and cabinet finishes meant to evoke beach sand — a design language a September 16 episode of a podcast on the property's history described as a complete, high-end coastal redesign. Bathrooms also got more space carved out for toiletries.
Inn by the Sea is a 131-room property. The hotel had gone just over 10 years without updating its furniture and other hard case goods, the Union-Tribune reports — notably longer than the industry norm, since hotel brands typically plan furniture refreshes every eight to 10 years and refresh decorative items, textiles and fabrics every six to eight years.
Lobby And Pool Are Next
Blaul said front-facing features including the front desk, lobby area, pool, elevator and public restrooms are slated for an update next year, with that construction expected to run around November or December 2027 and take less time than the room renovation did, per the Union-Tribune's reporting. Guests can find more details at innbytheseaatlajolla.com.
Blaul isn't just running the hotel — he also serves as President of the La Jolla Village Merchants Association board of directors.
Part Of A Wider La Jolla Building Boom
La Jolla Cove Hotel Guts Lobby in an 18-month project launched in early 2026 that involves enclosing its main lobby, adding a bar, and renovating guest rooms.
Direct visitor spending across the county still reached $14.4 billion last year, sustaining roughly 1 in 8 local jobs.
La Jolla's hospitality roots run deep — hospitality in the Village dates back to 1893, when the 80-room La Jolla Park Hotel opened near Prospect Street, according to the Times of San Diego, laying the groundwork for the seaside resort scene that continues to reinvent itself today.
