Hyatt has nicely been growing its hotel portfolio in the Los Angeles area in recent years. Along those lines, Hyatt will be getting its first property in Santa Monica, though it’ll come at Marriott’s expense. I first wrote about this a few weeks ago, but wanted to provide an update, as the hotel is now…
Continue reading: New Hyatt Centric Delfina Santa Monica (Former Le Meridien)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Oof, yea it’s even on the wrong side of the 10 Freeway ️. Much prefer the LXR Oceana (they upgraded me to a board room as a Hilton Silver after refusing to upgrade the DYKWIA Diamond in front of me which was hilarious), but it’s usually too rich for my blood
I like the Hyatt Centric concept - stay in the heart of destination cities in a "cool" hotel for a more affordable rate than an Andaz. It seems like the brand standards for interior quality is pretty lax though, as most seem to be barely better than a Hyatt Place and maintenance is low (scrapes and worn out items galore).
I stayed there just before Covid and it was really tired then. Must be fairly awful now. Location is really good within walking distance of the beach, shops and dining on Main. As well as The Promenade. I’ll try it after the renovation for sure and see how much of a difference it made.
Can't blame the owner for switching. Le Meridien is one of the most obscure Marriott brands. You hardly ever see any properties covered or promoted, even by Marriott in promotional emails.
Sorry to say it but these days, I'd rather be south of the 10 in Santa Monica. Downtown has emptied out quite a bit and just isn't what it used to be until you get north of downtown. South of the 10 gives you access to Main St and Ocean Park, as well as not being far from Venice
I could be wrong, but isn't Hyatt Centric the Hyatt brand equivalent to Marriott's Delta and Hilton's Doubletree? A conversion brand for properties that may be older.
I stayed here a few years ago, when it was still an SPG property. I thought it was nice, and the location was very walkable to the beach. The shower in my room didn't work, but they comped me like 16,000 Starpoints, which I thought was pretty generous.
I noticed the owner has an extensive portfolio of properties, including some Kimptons and several properties under other Marriott brands. This is, I think, their only Hyatt property. I wonder if more of their properties will convert.
I stayed there back in 2000 as a Sheraton 4 points property and I loved the ocean view suites and balconies
Many other occasions through the years
In 2001 after 9-11 it became 49 dollars a night with an upgrade to a suite as an SPG plat
Eventually they became a Sheraton and doubled tripled the prices to 300 ish a night and up
The hotel had some issues with plumbing and other small concerns after all historically it once was once a holiday inn.So the bones were just meh
Even when it was taken over by Sheraton they never spent enough to fix the hard product
The bathrooms remained untouched
I like the hotel but the biggest issue was noise
The hotel has poor soundproofing
During the hot months because the hotel had individual hvac units that were as loud as jet engines it did drown out some of the surrounding street noise
If they fix that the property it could be a jewel
Of a centric.Not fully certain 16 mil is enough
And unlikely to ever be as nice as Centric Melbourne in Australia
Stayed there end ‘01 when it was a whatever. Don’t recall any issues and it was an easy walk to Santa Monica Place. Finding a park space was occasionally problematic. Don’t recall room issues. Virgin Atlantic was using it for crew layovers.
Ben - Would you kindly consider dropping the jargon "full-service/limited-service" and "lifestyle-brand" as they are meaningless to regular people? By your own explanation here, this brand is meaningless, so please don't just use Hyatt's meaningless jargon and instead explain what features the hotel has/will have. Thanks!
“Designed to connect guests to the center of a destination”? Really? Check out the location of the Hyatt Centric Cambridge (UK). If you book expecting to be in the center of Cambridge, you're going to be in for a mighty surprise (and about a 35-minute brisk walk)!
Full service/limited service is a pretty commonly used term, and the first way I would describe different hotel brands.
Maybe average OMAAT readers are much better versed in hotel jargon than I am, and maybe full vs. limited service matters more to them than to me. But what does a full-service have that a limited-service property doesn't? A concierge (would never use one, I have the internet)? Bell staff (I can carry my own bags)? A restaurant (most limited-service properties have free breakfast that's passable, I can get a nicer breakfast elsewhere)? A spa (really don't care)? Is this guaranteed at every "full-service" property? As Ben's post says, the "Centric" brand is poorly defined. When I book a hotel, I'm concerned about location, view, room size, cleanliness and service (I'll interact with the front desk at any property, are they helpful or not?). "Full/limited" service, whatever that means, just doesn't make a difference to me and given how non-descriptive the terms are (along with "lifestyle" brand, wtf), I'd prefer Ben drop them.
Stayed there recently. The location is not really that good (quite a walk to the beach, would not walk there at night), and the rooms could definitely use a thorough renovation. Did not find it a good value.
Stayed there as a Sheraton in fall 2001 on honeymoon - mostly as friends had a condo about a block away from W Pico and we ate many meals there. It was ok though parking spaces were hard to find some day, even for a compact. At the time, parking was free….
Reasonable walk to Santa Monica Place (since fully remodelled and 3rd Street Promenade and fast access to PCH and I10 for excursions.
At the time, it was a Virgin Atlantic crew stopover hotel and, a few hours after arriving, we found some of our economy class cabin crew lounging around the pool which was a nice sheltered area to catch some rays.
I recall a small room but a nice balcony view out over the Pacific.
Might give it a look next time in L.A. to see how it’s changed.