Downtown San Diego’s only rooftop theater is moving from one hotel rooftop perch to another. Operations at the Manchester Grand Hyatt ceased on December 31, 2025. The first show at the new Rooftop Cinema Club Little Italy will be February 26 atop the Porto Vista Hotel.
The new site will be a slightly smaller footprint, offering roughly 130 seats. There will still be a lounge, a cocktail bar and a cold-weather viewing option that includes a personal woodburning heater and a two-person love seat.
A theater spokesperson said Hyatt had planned to convert the former Rooftop Cinema Club area to outdoor meeting space, and that the departure was amicable.
“People are going to be blown away by the beautiful, unobstructed views of the bay up on top of the Porto Vista,” a spokesperson said. “And Little Italy is a vibrant, walkable community that is constantly buzzing.”
Guests at Rooftop Cinema Club listen to movies through personal high-fidelity headphones shown on massive LED screens.
Rooftop Cinema Club is a chain of 11 rooftop movie venues in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Entrepreneur Gerry Cottle started the brand in 2011. He entered the U.S. market in 2015 and opened in San Diego in 2018.
“I have a passion for entertainment,” Cottle told The San Diego Sun in 2023. “And I think what we do with rooftop movies is excellent, different and comfortable. We’re changing the way people are experiencing open-air cinema.”
There’s a dearth of movie theaters in downtown San Diego. Besides the Rooftop Cinema Club, there’s Digital Gym Cinema, which shows indies and second-run movies, in the UC San Diego Park & Market building in East Village.
Rooftop Cinema Club shows mainstream second-run movies. The February 26 premier will be the Oscar-winning La La Land.
Initially, Rooftop Cinema Club Little Italy won’t serve hot food, and guests will be allowed to bring in their own meals.
For more information, go to: RCC Little Italy. SDSun
