Living it up in LA

Luxury hotel operator Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, now part of the AccorHotels Group, has announced the signing of definitive agreements for the revitalisation and management of the historic Century Plaza Hotel, located in the heart of Century City in Los Angeles. The iconic, crescent-shaped hotel has hosted generations of Hollywood celebrities, foreign dignitaries and every US president since its opening in 1966. The hotel is currently closed for a meticulous restoration and refurbishment and is slated to reopen as Fairmont Century Plaza, Los Angeles, in 2018.

The addition of a landmark hotel in a strategic US market supports AccorHotels’ goal of brand growth and expansion, particularly in the luxury space. The signing of this project follows AccorHotels’ 2016 acquisition of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, along with sister brands Raffles and Swissôtel, which broadened the company’s luxury hotel offerings and footprint in North America.

The approximately US$2.5 billion (RM11.08 billion) mixed-use redevelopment project includes approximately 394 guest rooms and 63 branded residences within the original iconic tower, along with two new 46-storey luxury residential towers with 290 luxury residences, plus approximately 100,000 sq ft of boutique high-street shopping and expanded parking facilities.

Originally designed by Minoru Yamasaki, Fairmont Century Plaza will be transformed by world-renowned lead architecture firms Pei Cobb Freed, Gensler and Marmol Radzinger, and internationally acclaimed design group Yabu Pushelberg. The team will restore the hotel’s renowned lobby, connecting it to a series of public plazas and fountains that lead into a central two-acre (0.81ha) garden, surrounded by restaurants and retail boutiques.

The beloved Los Angeles landmark resides on a six-acre site within one of the most prominent neighbourhoods in the world. Built on the former backlot of 20th Century Fox Studios, the hotel faces the famous fountains at the intersection of Avenue of the Stars and Constellation Boulevard. The property is surrounded by over 10 million sq ft of class “A” offices, residences, restaurants, retail and entertainment venues, and is adjacent to Beverly Hills, one of the highest-grossing retail areas in the US.

Fairmont is expanding its strong partnership with Woodridge Capital, a Los Angeles based multidisciplined real estate development and investment company. The two companies have previously worked together successfully at Fairmont San Francisco and Fairmont Orchid in Hawaii.

Fairmont Century Plaza will add to Fairmont’s broad presence in California, joining an unrivalled collection of spectacular hotels and resorts that include the brand’s flagship hotel — the one that started it all — the iconic Fairmont Miramar San Francisco; Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa; Fairmont San Jose in Silicon Valley; Claremont Club & Spa, a Fairmont Hotel in Berkeley; Fairmont Heritage Place Ghirardelli Square, San Francisco; Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows in Santa Monica; and Fairmont Grand De Mar in San Diego.

With more than 70 hotels worldwide, Fairmont continues to expand globally with recent openings including Fairmont Quasar Istanbul, Fairmont Chengdu in Western China and Fairmont Fujairah in the Middle East. New luxury hotels scheduled to open later in 2017 include Fairmont Amman in Jordan, and Fairmont Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Fairmont will also open the newest and most state-of-the-art hotel in Austin, Texas, later this year.

This article first appeared in the “live it!” segment of The Edge Financial Daily, on Jan 26, 2017. Subscribe to The Edge Financial Daily here.