Hotel Karlan San Diego–a DoubleTree by Hilton showed off its multimillion-dollar renovation this summer after it underwent a rebrand in late 2016. The 174-room resort remodeled its guest rooms, added more meeting and event space, upgraded its spa with a new fitness center and refreshed the pool area with cabanas. A highlight of the project is the debut of a new dining concept: Asado Grill, and gastropub Black Horse Pub.
“As for meeting spaces, Hotel Karlan gained six distinct meeting spaces, totaling more than 14,000 square feet, as well as prefunction space and our signature venue, Karlan Lawn,” explained Sabrina Schroeter, director of sales and marketing, Hotel Karlan. “Additionally, the hotel features a 4,000-square-foot ballroom with vaulted ceilings and three of our meeting rooms come with patios, located in the Asado Pavilion.”
The property’s new elevated casual restaurant, Asado Grill, is helmed by Executive Chef Josh Phillips. According to Schroeter, chef Phillips grew up cooking alongside his mother, the then-Western Region Vice President of the National Association of Catering Executives, and his father, an avid fisherman.
“At the age of 16 I was surrounded by chefs in my home kitchen watching their camaraderie and how easily they were putting dishes together; I wanted to be a part of that,” Phillips said.
When there is a special request for seafood or a specialty menu to create, Phillips will often return to his roots with seafood. Located in North County San Diego, the resort has ample access to fresh seafood as well as local produce and plenty of home town craft beer.
“We believe in using local products as much as possible; some of our dishes have been created with that in mind, for example the fish used for our fish tacos varies depending on which fresh fish was caught locally,” Schroeter said. “We carry a selection of eight local draught beers and having a relationship with these breweries give us the ability to create tastings or food pairing events depending of what the groups are looking for.”