Hyatt heralds 2003 success

Jenny Marder

One year ago, a sprawling $120-million luxury resort opened on Surf

City’s coast with promises of increased tourism and a financial

windfall for its company and the city.

As 2004 begins, officials at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach

Resort & Spa are singing praises to a successful first year. It will

celebrate its first anniversary Jan. 30.

The resort was expected to set itself apart from neighboring

hotels by its luxury and convention center’s capacity.

“We’ve exceeded our expectations,” General Manager Cormac

O’Modhrain said. “We’ve outperformed our original forecast for the

resort in its first year. I think the city should be relatively

pleased with us.”

It is.

Money from the Hyatt is pouring into the city, like a ray of light

in a year darkened by budget reductions, cuts in state funding and

other financial burdens.

The resort provides four sources of income to the city: a hotel

bed tax, sales tax, ground rent payment and about $1.8 million in

property taxes, said David Biggs, the city’s director of economic

development.

Huntington anticipated making $1 million in property taxes, but

that number jumped when the property was reassessed.

The city, which expected to make about $700,000 in bed tax in the

first year, will receive at least $1.5 million this year, 40% of

which goes to the city and 60% to the redevelopment agency.

Sales tax revenue was anticipated to be $160,000, Biggs said, and

while he couldn’t give an exact number, he estimated that the city

could get as much as $500,000 in sales tax. The city also received

$25,000 in ground rent payment, which will increase to $75,000 in

2004 and $150,000 in 2005.

In 2005, the city will also be eligible to collect 3% of the

resort’s gross room revenue.

Sales tax has been double what the city expected, and restaurants

Downtown have seen increased business, Biggs said.

“I’d definitely say it’s a homerun, after not even a full year

out,” Biggs said, adding that if the Hyatt wasn’t so successful, the

city would have had to cut even deeper into its general fund.

While the hotel targeted mainly leisure guests during the summer,

it’s off-season market was focused on business. On average, the Hyatt

has hosted one large business convention per week all year,

O’Modhrain said. The large conventions, he said, usually consist of

more than 100 people and draw revenues in excess of $100,000.

The 15-acre Andalusian-style resort boasts 110,000 square feet of

meeting and function space, 517 luxurious guestrooms, three

restaurants, an on-site retail plaza and a 20,000-square-foot

cutting-edge health spa.

The hotel also features spacious corridors, open-air vistas,

high-ceilinged ballrooms and ocean views from most of the rooms.

Seaside inspired artwork adorns the resort, as do abstract murals and

colorful Venetian chandeliers.

Over the past year, workers at the resort have processed more than

20,000 job applications, parked about 114,000 cars and forked over

more than $1.4 million in electricity fees, O’Modhrain said. The

hotel has also been the site of more than 150 weddings.

The hotel reached full capacity almost every summer weekend and

received the prestigious four-diamond award from the American

Automobile Assn. The Californian, the resort’s avant-garde

restaurant, was also the only restaurant in Huntington Beach to

achieve four-diamond status last year.

The Hyatt has helped put the city on the map, O’Modhrain said, and

all signs point to continued growth.

“With every day that passes, we set ourselves apart as a

significant destination resort, not just in Huntington Beach, but in

Orange County, O’Modhrain said. “We have wonderful customers that I

think will continue to patronize our hotel, and the more we bring to

the table, the more people will come here.”

* JENNY MARDER covers City Hall. She can be reached at (714)

965-7173 or by e-mail at jenny.marder@latimes.com.