A little South Beach in San Diego

A 44-room hotel that aspires to be the über-hip habitat on the San Diego shore is to open July 15 near the Crystal Pier at Pacific Beach.

With room categories such as Sweet Suite and Surf Pad and a restaurant menu with headings such as “way cool” and “getting warm,” Tower23 Hotel sounds a bit like ‘50s beatnik meets the beach.

The hotel, named for a nearby lifeguard tower, sits atop a 12-foot-high bluff along the beach boardwalk. The three-story, $16-million structure, on a site formerly occupied by a parking lot, shops and a cafe, uses plenty of glass to showcase the view.

Promotional literature describes Tower23 as a “minimalistic but playful, creative study for the urban beach resort.”

“Compare it to the Shore Club or the Delano,” hotel mainstays in Miami’s style-conscious South Beach, said Robert Watson, president and chief operating officer of San Diego-based Bond Urban Habitat, a company formed to manage the hotel.

Tower23, at 4551 Ocean Blvd., will have neither a nightclub nor a conventional swimming pool. But a 5,000-square-foot oceanfront deck on its second floor will have elements of both: a wading pool with a waterfall and fiber-optic illumination at night, teak tables and chairs, and food and bar service. The deck will be open to “hotel guests, friends and invited people only,” said Brett Miller, a hotel co-owner and chief executive of Bond Urban Habitat.

The 400-seat Jordan restaurant, with a lounge, sushi bar and outdoor patio, will offer a diverse menu. Its décor will include a 70-foot-long wall designed to evoke a wind-swept sand dune, washed by changing colors from LED lights.

Watson expects the typical guest to be “young at heart — someone who enjoys great architecture, design and personal service.”

Bypassing the front desk, guests will be ushered to their rooms and checked in there by radio. Most rooms will have ocean views, and all will have balconies or terraces, high-definition TV, video on demand and mini-bars whose contents can be personalized.

Introductory rates vary from $199 per night for five so-called Spirit Pads (with obstructed ocean views) to $700 for two 850-square-foot Sweet Suites. The latter are equipped with two-person whirlpool tubs that, besides bubbles, offer aromatherapy (scents ejected by the jets) and what’s dubbed “chromatherapy” (light fixtures that alter the water’s color).

For information: (866) 869-3723, www.tower23hotel.com.