The Cat’s New Pajamas

TIMING IS EVERYTHING. When the Evans Hotel family took a hard look at the 10,000 square feet occupied by the storied Cannibal Bar in their Catamaran Resort Hotel, they knew they could do better. “There’s a lifespan for almost every retail entity—nightclubs are no different,” says managing director Bill Evans. “The Cannibal Bar was fun, but it really didn’t make sense to devote that much space to an operation that was in use only a fraction of the day for a fraction of the week.”

So the owners of the Pacific Beach resort—Bill, his mother, Anne, and sister, Grace Cherashore—decided to create a world-class spa, restorative salon and health club in the space that for many years boasted live music.

Of late, new Evans Hotel ventures contain a special attention to detail, which translates into a brand of design sophistication. Other local Evans properties include the Bahia Hotel and The Lodge at Torrey Pines.

To create the Catamaran spa, the Evanses hired Kristine Smith, of Kristine Smith Design Interiors, and Bill Hughes, a San Diego– area consulting architect. The duo created an Asian/Pacific motif that fits well with the existing Polynesian-style grounds, built in the 1950s by the late William D. Evans.

Combining the recreation facilities of the hotel with the new spa treatments and rituals has given the Catamaran a whole new attitude. The spa is managed by Darcie DeBartelo, corporate director of spas, who moved over from The Lodge.

Smith focused on creating clutterless walls for the spa by choosing to make the floors a focal point. “After settling on the use of mosaics as the vehicle, lots of research went into finalizing the actual designs,” she says. “I wanted motifs that were gender-appropriate.

Both the fan and koi motifs lent themselves to the use of the iridescent glass tile from Oceanside Glasstile.” Extensive use of bamboo in the public areas is another floor treatment that adds to the spa’s Asian feel.

Most of the furniture pieces (including the custom pavilion in the lounge) were produced in Bali by Warisan. The pieces offer a wide variety of interesting materials such as coconut dowels (cabinet doors in the lounge and toilet partition doors), cinnamon bark (table top in the retail area) and sliced coconut shell in black resin (table tops). All the furniture is solid teak.

Architect Hughes was instrumental in creating the spa as a building within a building. The emphasis was on making the facility soundproof, even though it’s surrounded by the noisy back-of-the-house area of an operating hotel.

Other design tidbits show the team’s flair for style and adventure. Bill Evans had a collection of antique goddesses and Buddhas, so Smith created wall niches and lighting to display them throughout.

The painstaking detail of the mosaic work was executed by Delos Mosaics in North Hollywood. “I worked with them on the Lodge project, and they are amazing craftsmen,” Smith says. “I am very pleased with how they interpreted my designs in their medium.”

The attention to detail goes to more mundane objects, too. Countertops are a quartzbased material with mother-of-pearl from Verona Marble.

The hair salon incorporates a private garden with a dancing interplay of light and tropical plants. A 900-square-foot workout area has the best of both worlds: state-ofthe- art equipment fully integrated with video entertainment, as well as floor-to-ceiling windows open to an interaction with Mission Bay, only steps away. The whirlpool area offers a private relaxation pavilion with views of the beach and 4,000 square feet of outdoor lawn ready for yoga and Pilates classes.

To place a quality spa within steps of Mission Bay and the nearby Pacific Ocean with such design sophistication and stateof- the-art equipment continues to add to the Evans reputation. And, of course, the timing was right.
 

	Shake it up, baby: An action beachhead for more than 40 years, the Catamaran’s Cannibal Bar offered live music, tropical décor and dancing.
	Shake it up, baby: In the new Catamaran spa, interior cabañas framed in mahogany and furnished with teak chaises offer sophistication and serenity in the lounge.
	Style and Stride: The spa’s design theme is shown en route to the saunas.
	Style and Stride: The focus is on highly stylized Asian/Pacific floor patterns, while a strip of tile as wainscoting weaves throughout. Few spas in California are situated on the water. Hotel guests, spa club members and the public will find the latest in workout equipment, with a view of Mission Bay.
	Top of the line: Elegant mahogany cabinets and bamboo flooring are standard throughout the spa, including the gift shop.
	Top of the line: A spa specialty is a luxurious Vichy shower treatment atop a custom teak table. The spa is comfortably designed for couples as well as singles.

Photographs by Peter Malinowsky/Insite

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