Changing the sheets and so much more

Andrew Edwards

Managers at the newly renamed Hyatt Regency Newport Beach celebrated

the completion of a $13-million renovation project Wednesday, but the

hotel wasn’t alone in its efforts to recast its image.

Several of Newport-Mesa’s big hotels are working on projects that

include major makeovers and efforts to repair wear and tear.

Increased competition from hotels in and near Newport-Mesa is a

partial motivation for renewal efforts, though hotel managers said

it’s a common practice in their business to go for a new look every

few years.

“I don’t think you can go four or five years [without

renovations],” Costa Mesa Conference and Visitor Bureau President Joe

De Dio said. “If you do, you’re kidding yourself.”

De Dio is also the general manager of the Holiday Inn Costa Mesa,

which underwent a $9-million overhaul about five years ago. His plans

call for the hotel to update its look in about six months, with

changes that will likely include replacing lobby furniture,

installing new curtains and buying new bedding.

A much larger project is underway at the Marriott Hotel Newport

Beach, which is in the midst of a $60-million renovation project.

Rhonda Richardson, the hotel’s sales and marketing manager, said the

hotel finished the first phase of its overhaul Feb. 18, reopening 260

of its 532 rooms.

Work at Richardson’s hotel is scheduled to be completed around

December, and the hotel’s new look will include a 13,000-square-foot

spa. When the hotel is ready for travelers to replace work crews, it

will change its name to the Marriott Newport Beach Hotel & Spa,

according to Richardson.

Increased competition from hotels in surrounding cities has played

a role in the timing and motivation to upgrade, Newport Beach

Conference and Visitors Bureau executive director Marta Hayden said.

“There’s more people in the market trying to get awareness,”

Hayden said. “This whole area is really getting a lot of attention.”

Some of the flashier newcomers to the Orange County hotel scene

include the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa and the

adjacent Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort. To the south, Laguna Beach’s

Montage Resort & Spa and the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana

Point are among the new competition.

The building of new resorts in and around Newport-Mesa means

people are more likely to consider staying in Orange County on trips,

creating an imperative for hoteliers to present a strong image.

“I think the destination is getting more presence as the luxury

collection moves in,” Richardson said. “Everybody has reinvested into

their hotels.”

The Four Seasons Hotel Newport Beach recently completed an

upgrade, adding a spa to its facilities in January. The

4,000-square-foot spa cost about $2 million, hotel marketing director

Katie Mitchell said.

However, she said her hotel had intended to make the addition

before the recent wave of hotel construction.

“We had been talking about it for a few years, the knowledge that

we needed a full spa,” she said.

Costa Mesa hotels differ from Newport Beach establishments,

tilting more toward business travelers than vacationers, hoteliers

said.

Michele Ornellas, marketing director of the Ayres Country Inn &

Suites said some of the renovations underway at her hotel were

designed to provide a home-like feel for corporate travelers. At the

Costa Mesa Marriot Suites, a similar strategy was employed for their

$4-million project, general manager Debbie Snavely said.

“They’re on business, they’re away from home, so you want to bring

the home to the hotel,” Snavely said.

An improving financial picture has also influenced the current

wave of enhancements. Hotel rates fell around Newport-Mesa in 2001,

and hoteliers attributed the decline in business to a slacking

economy and a fear of travel, following the Sept. 11 terrorist

attacks. Rates were on the upswing last year, allowing hotels to

undertake new projects

“For so long after 9/11, there wasn’t the resources, or the

demand,” Hayden said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards

@latimes.com.