LOS ANGELES —L.A. Tourism wants 50 million visitors by the year 2020 and it’s well on its way to that goal, with 48.3 million visitors in 2017 – a new tourism milestone for the seventh consecutive year.
The 2017 record figure is 1 million visitors higher than 2016’s total, an increase of 2.2%, driven by an all-time high 41.2 million domestic visitors.
International visitation overall grew 0.9% to a record 7.1 million visitors, outperforming both its projected forecast and inbound travel to the U.S. as a whole in 2017.
International markets recording significant gains for Los Angeles in 2017 included Canada with its highest visitor total ever at 747,000, a 5.5% year-over-year increase).
There’s plenty of hotel news coming out of L.A., with recent openings in 2017 and more new hotels to come in 2018. Here’s a look at the newest offerings:
- CAMBRiA LAX (Beach Cities) – Choice Hotels International’s upscale CAMBRiA badge has entered the Los Angeles area with the opening of The CAMBRiA Hotel Los Angeles – LAX. The hotel has 152 rooms and a bistro called Social Circle. The hotel is located about three kilometres south of Los Angeles International Airport.
cambriahotelsandsuites.com - Dream Hollywood Hotel (Hollywood) – The West Coast’s first Dream Hotel has debuted in the heart of Hollywood, at Selma Ave. and Cahuenga Blvd. Designed by the award-winning Rockwell Group, the 10-storey boutique Dream Hollywood Hotel features 179 hyper-chic rooms, unique-to-market dining experiences and an 11,000-square-foot rooftop lounge area.
dreamhotels.com - Kimpton Everly Hotel (Hollywood) – Opened in August 2017, Kimpton Everly Hotel features 216 rooms, relaxed communal spaces and effortlessly cool design. With its light-filled interiors, thoughtfully designed for comfort and ease, Kimpton Everly Hotel is a true celebration of its Beachwood Canyon neighborhood and the laidback California lifestyle. The hotel is steps away from the iconic intersection of Hollywood and Vine with unbeatable panoramic views of the nearby Hollywood Sign, Downtown Los Angeles skyline and the Pacific Coast.
everlyhotelhollywood.com
- Freehand Los Angeles (Downtown) – Sydell Group introduced the Freehand Los Angeles after transforming the 1924 Commercial Exchange Building in Downtown L.A.’s Historic Core. The 13-storey building boasts 226 rooms, ranging from traditional accommodations to high-design hostels (or ‘poshtels’) with up to eight beds. The hotel also features a lobby living room, retail, restaurant and bar offerings in addition to a rooftop pool and lounge.
thefreehand.com - H Hotel/Homewood Suites (LAX) – A dual-branded property under Hilton’s Curio Collection and Homewood Suites badges opened in September 2017 at the site of a former office building near LAX. The H Hotel, L.A.’s first hotel within the Curio Collection, has 168 rooms and boasts an elevated deck and fitness center with nearly 360 degree views of the Pacific Ocean, Downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood. The Homewood Suites Los Angeles International Airport has 122 rooms.
- Hotel Figueroa (Downtown) – Hotel Figueroa is sporting a recent renovation that transformed its Moroccan décor to a new contemporary aesthetic with a touch of Spanish flare. Hotel Figueroa has expanded bathrooms, 57 new suites, a second restaurant, a fourth bar and a garden on the roof. New windows have been installed in rooms to help block out the noise from Figueroa Street. hotelfigueroa.com
- Hotel Indigo Downtown Los Angeles (Downtown) – InterContinental Hotels Group debuted Hotel Indigo Downtown Los Angeles, a hip 350-room hotel in 2017. The 18-storey Hotel Indigo is the flagship hotel at Metropolis, a US$1 billion mixed-use development, which will feature three residential towers, curated retail experience and a rooftop bar. The property is at the heart of downtown L.A., linking the Financial District to L.A. LIVE. Design for the hotel is inspired by its surrounding neighborhood and focuses on prominent narratives from Downtown’s past including Fiesta De Las Flores, the glamorous pre-Hollywood nightlife scene and the underground speakeasies of the Roaring Twenties.
ihg.com/hotelindigo - InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown (Downtown) – InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown is part of the tallest U.S. building west of Chicago as the Wilshire Grand Center. The hotel features 889 rooms, 110 suites and one presidential suite, including a ‘sky lobby’ on the 70th floor. There is nearly 100,000 square feet of meetings, conventions and event space. Wilshire Grand Center is a $1.1 billion project that also includes 400,000 square feet of offices and 45,000 square feet of retail space. Wilshire Grand Center is about 80 feet taller than the U.S. Bank Tower and the hotel is the largest InterContinental in the Americas.
ihg.com - The Jeremy West Hollywood (West Hollywood) – The Jeremy West Hollywood Hotel has moved in on the corner of Sunset and La Cienega and features stunning panoramic views of the Hollywood Hills and Los Angeles Basin. The hotel has 286 guestrooms with two Penthouse Suites that all feature panoramic Hollywood Hills views.
jeremyhotel.com - La Peer (West Hollywood) – Opening in January 2018, La Peer Hotel will feature 105 guest rooms and suites, a rooftop event space, poolside fitness centre and more than 8,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor dining and lounge spaces. In addition, the property’s pool – while in the center of the bustling city – is an escape in and of itself accented by lush landscaping and handcrafted lanterns hanging from above that set the tone for an urban retreat.
lapeerhotel.com - Nobu Ryokan Malibu (Beach Cities) – Nobu Hospitality, famous for Nobu Matsuhisa’s signature restaurants, reclaimed the former Casa Malibu and repurposed it as a ryokan, or traditional Japanese inn. The beachfront property, which is owned by tech magnate Larry Ellison, has 16 custom rooms.
nobuhotels.com
- Nomad Hotel (Downtown) – Sydell Group, which opened Koreatown’s The LINE Hotel in 2014, has opened the Los Angeles outpost of New York’s NoMad Hotel. The NoMad has been redeveloped out of Downtown’s Giannini Place, which was built in 1923 as the headquarters for Bank of Italy (which became Bank of America). The 12-storey hotel has some 250 rooms as well as a rooftop pool. L.A. is the first city where three Sydell Group brands are represented.
sydellgroup.com/nomad/los-angeles - Proper Hotels (Downtown) – Proper Hotels, the new brand headed by former Viceroy Hotels chief Brad Korzen, is slated to enter Los Angeles with a Downtown L.A. property located at the site of the former Case Hotel. The 13-storey property, which was built in 1924, will have 145 rooms and has plans to open in mid-2018.
properhotel.com/downtown-la - Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles (LAX) – The hotel completed its second phase of multi-million dollar renovation with sophisticated upgrades to their 802 guestrooms and suites as well as the hotel lobby area and Sheraton Club. In addition, Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel invested $3.5 million dollars to enhance its 38 versatile meeting and function rooms totaling in 50,000 square-feet of distinctive event space.
sheratonlax.com
- Waldorf Astoria (Beverly Hills) – The Los Angeles area’s first hotel under Hilton Worldwide’s Waldorf Astoria luxury brand is on the triangular corner next to the Beverly Hilton. The newly-built property, with Streamline Moderne design influences, is 12 storeys tall and features 170 rooms.
waldorfastoriabeverlyhills.com - Westdrift Manhattan Beach (Beach Cities) – Making its debut last month as the first Autograph Collection hotel in Los Angeles, the 26-acre westdrift Manhattan Beach boasts 392 luxury guest rooms, a nine-hole golf course, a signature indoor/outdoor restaurant, a CrossFit-inspired fitness centre and more than 35,000 square feet of indoor-outdoor space, including 18 meeting rooms, a traditional ballroom and three large, industrial-chic venues. The property is currently operating as Marriott Manhattan Beach, and is undergoing a multi-million-dollar renovation.
westdrift.com/
For more information, go to discoverlosangeles.com.
