San Diego to open the 'world's first beer hotel'

The sprawling 100,000 sq-ft, $26 milllion Stone Hotel, set next to the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens – Liberty Station venue, will feature a bar-style lobby where guests will be welcomed with a complimentary Stone beer on arrival. The hotel will also also offer in-room 'beer growler' service, with draft beer delivered in a jug. 

The rooms will reportedly offer floor-to-ceiling windows, a balcony and be designed with “state-of-the-art energy efficiency and water-saving features”.

• The best hotels in California

Other facilities at the hotel will include a 10,000 sq-ft rooftop garden, a pool deck, an acre of outdoor event space and an 8,000 sq-ft ballroom. The hotel’s beer theme will also be depicted on its front driveway with an image of beer flowing from a tap.

• The best themed hotels in the UK

The “microbrewery” is said to be the 10th largest brewery in the US, known for its popular beers such as Stone IPA, and the second most visited attraction in San Diego after the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

The Stone Hotel will be the latest in a host of other quirky and unusually themed hotels around the world, from character themed-hotel suites, such as the Hello Kitty suite in Taiwan, to animal-themed ones, such as the Giraffe Manor in Nairobi, Kenya where giraffes can often be seen poking their necks through the windows of the property, to football-themed hotels including Cristiano Ronaldo’s Pestana CR7 in Madeira, which is full of references to the Portuguese footballer in the form of wall-mounted football shirts and caricatures in rooms.

Earlier this year, Žalec, a small town in Slovenia, announced plans to build “Europe’s first beer fountain” which would spurt out drinkable beer. Costing an estimated €350,000 to build, local councillors hope the fountain will become a popular attraction and increase tourism in the region, known for its hop plantations.