Given how spread out Los Angeles is, Hyatt has a pretty limited footprint in the area. They have:
- The Andaz West Hollywood, which is my “go to” hotel, though not everyone wants to be in West Hollywood
- The Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, located in Century City; that’s great if you want to be in Century City, though it’s also one of the most sterile parts of LA
- The Concourse Hotel LAX, which is in the process of being converted into a Hyatt Regency; ultimately it’s an airport hotel
- The Hyatt Place & Hyatt House LAX, which are two more limited service properties near the airport
View from the Andaz West Hollywood
Hyatt has nothing in downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica, etc. So their footprint was limited to begin with.
Well, Hyatt’s Los Angeles footprint is about to shrink even more, as the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Century City will be closing as of March 1, 2016. The last night you can book a stay here is February 28, 2016.
Why is the hotel closing? Because the entire building is undergoing a $2.5 billion overhaul as they’re adding two 46-story residential towers and lots of new retail space. While there will be a hotel when the complex reopens, it won’t be a Hyatt Regency anymore.
When completed in early 2018, the 49-year-old landmark will be remodeled in hopes of becoming a five-star hotel, with the total room count reduced to 394 from 726, according to Woodridge Capital Partners, which is leading the project.
Under the makeover plan, an open-air lobby will connect public plazas and fountains to a central two-acre garden surrounded by restaurants and about 100,000 square feet of retail space.
The hotel is now operated by Hyatt Hotel Corp. but a new operator, yet to be announced, will take over once the hotel renovation is completed.
The hotel employs about 500 workers, who will be offered a chance to apply for their jobs once the hotel reopens.
That’s quite a reduction in room count, so clearly they’re going for a luxury operator (as if that wasn’t evident by the overhaul costing $2.5 billion). There used to be a Park Hyatt in Century City (which was converted into an InterContinental), so it would be ironic if the new hotel were a Park Hyatt, just a few blocks from the original.
More realistically, given that this area is huge with the film industry, I’m guessing a Four Seasons or Ritz-Carlton is more likely.
I think it’s time for Hyatt to really look for some new hotels in the area. Once the Century Plaza closes, they’ll have a single non-airport hotel in the Los Angeles area.
Have you stayed at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza before? Are you sad to see it close?
I've always loved the Century Plaza Hotel. I stayed there with my family for a week 2 years in a row in 1969 and 1970. I was in high school back on Long Island in NY and i thought the place was just glorious. It was my first introduction to California. We still have pictures of my family eating breakfast outside under that wonderful California sunshine. I hope they dont change it too much. For...
I've always loved the Century Plaza Hotel. I stayed there with my family for a week 2 years in a row in 1969 and 1970. I was in high school back on Long Island in NY and i thought the place was just glorious. It was my first introduction to California. We still have pictures of my family eating breakfast outside under that wonderful California sunshine. I hope they dont change it too much. For now. If and when I do return to LA someday...to drive the coast highway again, now as an adult, the room rates of the Century Plaza, as it now stands would unfortunately be beyond my budget. But at least i have rich memories.
I heard from some LA developers that Hyatt is moving into the LA Live area and is opening a Park Hyatt in downtown LA. I believe it will be located across from the Convention Center/Staples Center on Fig, but they've just started construction, so it's a few years out. I think it's projected to open in 2017 or 2018. There's been no official word from Hyatt yet, but I've heard it's definitely happening.
Technically the LA Area has a few more Hyatts than the one listed above. I don't think anyone SoCal native (like myself) would really dispute that the Long Beach Hyatt Regency (decent property) and Hyatt Centric is in the LA area. It might not be what tourists think of LA, but it's definitely in the urbanized part of LA county.
Now Valencia (near Magic Mountain), Ontario (by the Ontario Mills mall), and the various...
Technically the LA Area has a few more Hyatts than the one listed above. I don't think anyone SoCal native (like myself) would really dispute that the Long Beach Hyatt Regency (decent property) and Hyatt Centric is in the LA area. It might not be what tourists think of LA, but it's definitely in the urbanized part of LA county.
Now Valencia (near Magic Mountain), Ontario (by the Ontario Mills mall), and the various Orange County properties (Anaheim, Costa Mesa, etc) can be a stretch in saying that they are "LA", but I mean they are still in the metro area.
I used to love the Park Hyatt before it became a IC. Used to stay there every week back in 2006/07. I still drool over their room service hamburger :)
At the end of the day, I don't think Hyatt will be able to survive on their own. Seems like a combination with Hilton might be the best solution to compete.
The Hyatt at SFO has a funny story. For years it was a Hyatt LAX then was reflagged as a Radisson, then the Concourse Hotel and now back to a Hyatt Regency ?!
The rumor mill on the Hyatt street is it may likely be a Ritz Carlton
I've heard no on a Park Hyatt but then it one point we all thought Starwood
was being bought by Hyatt (eek) We saw where that went
St. Regis would be welcome too if that were to happen
I disagree with your perception that the Hyatt Century Plaza is in a sterile I assume you mean...
The rumor mill on the Hyatt street is it may likely be a Ritz Carlton
I've heard no on a Park Hyatt but then it one point we all thought Starwood
was being bought by Hyatt (eek) We saw where that went
St. Regis would be welcome too if that were to happen
I disagree with your perception that the Hyatt Century Plaza is in a sterile I assume you mean undesirable area
It is a few miles from West Hollywood and all hot spot action without the noise of Sunset Blvd, walking distance to Beverly Hills and across from an excellent shopping mall with some really nice popular restaurants.Having Equinox to train at was sensational for those like myself that like to workout
As a Lifetime Diamond the hotel has been extremely generous to me upgrading into suites and making sure I was well taken care of by their seasoned team members some who span over 20 years with the hotel going back to the days when it was a Westin and others who hailed from the former Park Hyatt LA
I imagine in time Hyatt will find a new way to bring back to LA a Hyatt Regency, Grand or Park
In the meantime its off to the former Park Hyatt now a InterContinental until the Waldorf opens down the road and eventually I will settle on something to call home when in LA
Think I speak for many that this is a huge loss for Hyatt customers and Los Angeles
The Iconic hotel and its past VIPs that stayed there included Hollywood royalty and past Presidents of the United States
Century Plaza will be missed! Happy Holiday Season all
Hyatt Gold Passport Ambassador
"Flyertalk.com"
Although I've never stayed there, I find this hotel to be a great example of modernist 70's architecture, actually designed by Minoru Yamasaki who designed the World Trade Center. I wouldn't imagine they will change much at all on the exterior. The Los Angeles Conservancy (of which I am a member) fought a huge battle to save the hotel last year when the planning process for the huge project behind the hotel was being considered...
Although I've never stayed there, I find this hotel to be a great example of modernist 70's architecture, actually designed by Minoru Yamasaki who designed the World Trade Center. I wouldn't imagine they will change much at all on the exterior. The Los Angeles Conservancy (of which I am a member) fought a huge battle to save the hotel last year when the planning process for the huge project behind the hotel was being considered by the City of Los Angeles. Ultimately, it was agreed that the hotel would be saved. After losing the Ambassador site to demolition, preservation advocates were not about to give up on this one.
I miss the old Century City with the two beautiful live performance theaters, the huge movie houses and terrific restaurants. Every time they "improve" things, they seem to make it worse.
Hyatt does need to up their game in LA for sure. I've stayed at the Hyatt House LAX and it is the dump of the century.
Glad this Hyatt is being overhauled. It's a depressing, concrete block that hasn't looked modern since Century City stood in for the future in a forgotten Planet of the Apes sequel. The hotel has also been a crime scene more than once, with the suicide of a Hollywood executive and the murder of a flight attendant.
Hyatt's limited footprint in places like LA is a big reason why I can't use them as any kind of loyalty program, as opposed to very opportunistically, yeah, might as well get some points on a promo. I'll look up options somewhere and instantly it's sad trombone compared to Hilton, and the places where they DO win out, like Hong Kong, I'm not usually interested in any of the chain options.
I've actually heard rumors that the hotel will reflag as a St. Regis...which will be a return for St. Regis to the Century City location since the old one was shuttered and converted into condos back in 2008 or so.
This is where a larger chain really makes a difference.
Hyatt's website shows 16 properties in LA area .... compared to 25 SPG and 91 Marriott for a total of 116 post-merger.
This news hit the wire back on the 8th. At 394 rooms, that's more than the former Park Hyatt, which was not "converted" but simply reflagged. Too many for a Park. With just over a year left on IHG's contract with Sumitomo, speculation should be concentrated on whether the 361 room Intercon will return to a Park (also with too many rooms).
2 new Hyatt Places are opening soon, one near Hollywood/Vine and the other in Pasadena.
A chunk of century city is being redeveloped, some if the mall is being shuttered, a office tower was recently flattened so this is not entirely unexpected. Visiting that Hyatt on many occasions either to stay or simply for drinks, I was always struck by the staff there. A large number of them are long time employees who know the history and culture of the hotel, not to mention the regulars! I do hope once...
A chunk of century city is being redeveloped, some if the mall is being shuttered, a office tower was recently flattened so this is not entirely unexpected. Visiting that Hyatt on many occasions either to stay or simply for drinks, I was always struck by the staff there. A large number of them are long time employees who know the history and culture of the hotel, not to mention the regulars! I do hope once it reopens a lot of them will be re- emplyed. After all, a hotel is only as good as it's staff.
I have spent many nights there and it is my buddy's favorite place to stay for out of towners. The Equinox gym access for Diamonds is awesome since they have a full gym with classes. The buffet is awesome at the restaurant as well. So true that Hyatt doesn't have enough presence in Los Angeles. I would love to see something in San Fernando Valley or in Downtown LA like a Hyatt Regency. Hyatt Regency...
I have spent many nights there and it is my buddy's favorite place to stay for out of towners. The Equinox gym access for Diamonds is awesome since they have a full gym with classes. The buffet is awesome at the restaurant as well. So true that Hyatt doesn't have enough presence in Los Angeles. I would love to see something in San Fernando Valley or in Downtown LA like a Hyatt Regency. Hyatt Regency Valencia is not near anything. I hope there is an announcement soon!
@jason
Where?
I don't think "hilarious" is really the word you're looking for there.