CITY FOCUS:

A major world luxury hotel brand is coming to Huntington Beach, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced this week.

The upscale W Hotels will open a resort in the upcoming waterfront Pacific City development owned by developer Makar Properties. The nine-story W Huntington Beach, which is scheduled to open in 2010, would feature 250 guest rooms and about 94 private condominiums, according to the hotel company.

The hotel’s cachet promises to bring a young, affluent clientele to Huntington Beach, said Alan Reay, president of Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality Group, which tracks the California hotel market. W hotels in California tend to be in hip neighborhoods like Hollywood or San Diego’s Gaslamp district, he said.

“I think that’s a great addition to the city,” Reay said. “It’s something Huntington Beach does not have right now.”

W Huntington Beach will be the fifth W in California and the 22nd overall.

“W continues to extend beyond the boundaries of everyday travel, offering a magical mix of sexy destinations and sublime design,” said Ross Klein, president of Starwood’s Luxury Brands Group, in a statement. “From Huntington Beach to Hong Kong, Minneapolis to Milan, Hoboken to Hollywood, W Hotels is going global as the influential and innovative lifestyle authority.”

W is not the only hip boutique hotel opening nearby in the next few years.

The 157-room Shorebreak Hotel is scheduled to open in the Strand project on the other side of downtown.

Joie de Vivre Hospitality of San Francisco, a big name in boutique hotels, will run that hotel.

Pacific City and its hotel are being built on Pacific Coast Highway between the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa, and the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort, but Reay doesn’t think competition will hurt any of the players. For one thing, the boutiques cater to a different, more young and affluent, market.

Also, “when you have hotels like that opening up it creates a buzz,” he said. “It really creates new business for the entire area.”