Stone Brewing Co. Planning to Open Hotel

Just when you thought San Diego couldn’t be any more absorbed with craft beer, Stone Brewing Co. will expand its beer empire by adding a hotel.

The $24 million initial investment will break ground this year, with plans to open by the end of 2014. Once completed, it will be the first hotel in San Diego owned by a local brewery.

“We just thought it would be cool,” said owner Greg Koch in a statement. “Plus we simply need more room for ourselves—the hotel will include a lot of new office space and a barrel-aging room…and more parking.”

The specialty 48-50 room hotel will be located across the street from Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens. The space will also house the brewery’s headquarters.

And you can expect the space to look similar to the lush Escondido restaurant, said Stone spokesperson Sabrina LoPiccolo.

“We have the industrial meets organic and we’ll definitely be bringing that into the hotel,” she said. “There will be a little garden area in the hotel…. we’ll definitely tie in the Stone look.”

Although nothing is finalized yet, LoPiccolo said a few ideas being thrown around for the hotel include beer taps in every room and a bar where people check in. There will also be two acres of outdoor event space, which could be used as a wedding venue for the ultimate craft beer couple.

“It will definitely echo the whole idea that Stone specifically can be a whole destination here in North County and encourage people to come and have people stay,” LoPiccolo said.

The beer behemoth’s expansion doesn’t stop there. A Stone bistro will open at San Diego International Airport this summer and the Liberty Station restaurant opens its doors in April. Plus a new packaging hall will be operational by spring, which allows the brewery to expand its production.

Think that’s all? Not even close. Soon, Koch and co. are planning to go international. The group is currently searching for a location abroad and has a request for proposal to open a brewery in Europe.

“We were in negotiations for a spot in Berlin, but now we’re back to square one,” said LoPiccolo. “It’s something we’d like to do in the future, but because of all the things we have going on it’s in the back burner.”

And with five huge projects, it’s obvious the brewery team is busy.

“It’s a great problem to have,” LoPiccolo said. “We’re always running to the next thing.”