A World War II-era building in Morro Bay just opened its doors to guests as a hotel named The Q Inn.
“This is all original up here other than the fans, so we kept the truss and the panels up top and kind of kept it open so you can get the feel of the old building,” said Orion Solu, co-owner of The Q Inn and son of Joan and John Solu, who also own the building.
The boutique hotel sits on Main Street and overlooks the smokestacks and Morro Rock, but it’s the building’s history that makes it unique.
“An original World War II Quonset hut, there used to be 65 of these in Morro Bay and we’re down to about four, maybe four and a half or five of these,” Joan Solu said.
Joan told KSBY News that Morro Bay was a training base for the military during the war, and after that, the hut was used by fishermen and Boy Scouts, also serving as a wedding hall and even a retail space.
“Original arches that are inside of your room, there might be somebody’s writing on there," Joan said. "That’s a piece of the history, there might be some detail on there, some paint of when the fishermen were here, that’s all original to the building and to its uses over the years.”
Solu said while inside the building back when it was a retail space, she had the idea to preserve it and convert it into a hotel.
“John came down and he said, 'I get it,' and we brought out our partner in, Brian Harvey of BJ Harvey construction,” Joan said.
The three split responsibilities, with Brian and John handling logistics while Joan worked on the design.
“And you wouldn’t believe how many times we had to change things because she (Joan) says, ’That’s not my vision, take that down and do it again,' so that’s how we did it, and you know we had fun doing it," John Solu saidm adding that the total cost of the project was around $1 million.
He says materials removed to make the patio and doorways were reused in some arches.
“There is no availability, nobody makes Quonset huts anymore, so we basically maintained everything possible, maintained the character of what the building looked like back in 1941,” John Solu said.
The 10-room hotel has a remote check-in process and has already seen a few guests since Friday’s opening.
You can find more information about the hotel here.
