Upgrading the face value

Deirdre Newman

The Hilton is the latest hotel in the city to revamp its look in the

hopes of attracting more business clients to its facilities.

The $15-million face-lift began in October on the heels of

multimillion dollar renovations by the Westin South Coast Plaza and

the Holiday Inn.

To keep up with the changing needs and moods of their visitors,

hotels have to perpetually enhance their appearances to stay

competitive, said Dan Pittman, spokesman for the Costa Mesa

Conference and Visitor Bureau.

“The hotels understand they need to improve their own products to

stay competitive and I think the fact that new hotels come [on-line]

gives our hotels the incentive to continue to do the kinds of

upgrades and renovations that are needed,” Pittman said. “It’s

certainly not static.”

The Hilton has gone through an identity crisis since it opened in

1997. It was owned by two different chains before it became a Hilton.

The renovations, which are in the final stages, imbue it with an air

of elegance.

The entire hotel has been renovated including all of the guest

rooms, the meeting facilities and the restaurant / bar area.

Highlights of the renovation include gold carpeting in the lobby with

colorful nautical and plant motifs and comfy leather recliners in all

the rooms.

“We want to keep it up to the standards that Hilton expects and we

want to be competitive with the hotels that we’re competing against,”

said Shannon Young, marketing coordinator. “We want, of course, to be

a nicer, more suitable hotel. It’s a beautiful hotel. The renovations

have made it better.”

All 484 guest rooms have been upgraded and two more suites have

been added. The 48,000 square feet of meeting space has also been

spiffed up and wireless Internet access is now available in this

area.

One of the most dramatic changes awaiting visitors is in the open

restaurant area where four 32-foot petrified palm trees have been

installed to bring the beach atmosphere indoors. The new restaurant,

called the Bristol Palms, a California Bistro and Bar, will include

more than 500 square feet with a wine bar, hand-thrown wood fire

pizza and a coffee bar, the Java Coast. It is expected to open at the

end of the month.

Before the Hilton’s face-lift, the Westin started its renovation

with the addition of Pinot Provence restaurant in 1998 and finished

with the upgrading of its guestrooms in the spring of 2000.

The $13-million face-lift was part of its renovation plan and just

happened to coincide with the Westin’s new guestroom design, so all

the rooms received a makeover from wall covering to carpet to new

furniture.

The hotel experienced an immediate upsurge in guests, said Bill

Allison, director of marketing.

“The economy in those days was still strong and we saw an

immediate response,” Allison said. “People just fell in love [with

the hotel], especially business travelers with the [new] beds and all

the work areas with ergonomic chairs.”

In 1999, before the rooms were renovated, the occupancy was 68%.

For 2000, with the new rooms, it jumped to 73%.

The Holiday Inn, which was renovated almost two years ago is also

reaping the reward of becoming more competitive, said general manager

Joe DeDio.

“With the market being a little soft, we’ve been able to maintain

and even do better than some of the other properties around us,”

DeDio said. “It has helped us immensely.”

The hotel also underwent a total transformation including removing

balconies outside the rooms to make the rooms five feet larger and

added glass to the facade to make it appear more modern.

After the upgrades, the hotel’s occupancy increased from 70% to

74%, DeDio said. The renovation also enabled the hotel to win a slew

of awards from hotel associations.