Accor has announced that the iconic Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles will reopen as a Fairmont Hotel later this month. Accor says that ‘the hotel pays tribute to its star-studded history while ushering in a new age of glamour, infusing cutting-edge amenities with pioneering guest experiences’.
Originally deemed “The Hotel of the Future,” famed architect Minoru Yamasaki’s mid-century modern icon returns as the centerpiece of a $2.5 billion mixed-use development project on 6.14 acres, which includes two 44-story towers with 94,000 square feet of boutique shopping and 268 privately-owned luxury residences.
Fairmont Century Plaza’s 16 floors features 63 privately-owned Fairmont residential units, as well as 400 guestrooms, including 49 suites. The hotel is home to an impressive collection of art from around the world, including its signature piece, Laura. Sitting on the front drive at 23-feet tall, the serene mesh sculpture was created by internationally celebrated Spanish artist Juame Plensa.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts tapped industry heavyweight Philip Barnes as Regional Vice President, Southern California and General Manager to relaunch the property, ‘drawing on his decades of experience with openings and repositionings’.
Philip Barnes, Regional Vice President, Southern California and General Manager, Fairmont Century Plaza, said:
Fairmont Century Plaza will once again be THE Los Angeles hotel — just as it was when it opened to worldwide acclaim in 1966. Working with our talented team to ensure the return of a beloved jewel in LA’s crown has been a career highlight. We look forward to welcoming locals and guests from all over the world into a reimagined and stunningly beautiful hotel with an exemplary level of service.
The location has an illustrious reputation of being the place for major Hollywood and world events, including the Emmy Awards, the Grammy Awards and the presidential celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Now as Fairmont Century Plaza, Accor states that ‘the hotel will once again reclaim its place as the epicenter of annual award shows, industry events, fashion and film shoots and monumental art installations’. The hotel features nearly 24,000 square feet of indoor meeting space and 4,000 square feet of outdoor rooftop space. The hotel’s 13,078 square-foot Los Angeles Ballroom is one of the city’s largest ballrooms.
Heather McCrory, CEO, North & Central America, Accor, said:
We are thrilled to welcome Fairmont Century Plaza to Accor’s growing luxury portfolio in North & Central America. The reopening of this Los Angeles luxury landmark is a milestone for both the brand and the city, as Fairmont is trusted to reimagine this storied icon following a $2.5B renovation and development project. The newest Fairmont is a flagship for the brand, offering a one-of-a-kind experience at the center of it all in the famed Century City and setting the standard for future development projects in the region.
International design firm Yabu Pushelberg has transformed the hotel’s design, delivering a modern update to the 1960s nostalgia whilst celebrating Fairmont’s defining quality of grandeur with a Californian twist. The new Century Plaza returns with almost half the number of guestrooms, allowing for a larger, more luxurious footprint with spacious marble bathrooms and a balcony for every guest room and suite.
Fairmont Gold, the brand’s exclusive hotel-within-a-hotel experience, features 70 guest rooms and suites boasting private check-in and checkout; exclusive access to the exquisite Gold Lounge; and dedicated Personal Assistants offering 24/7 concierge service. Even turn down gets a novel upgrade with The Fairmont Gold Bar Cart, an on-demand martini cart that delivers customized cocktails straight to guests’ doors.
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Lumière, crafted by EDG Design, is a traditional French-inspired brasserie that evokes the feeling of being transported to 1920s Paris. Open for all-day service, Lumière is an inviting neighborhood spot that celebrates timeless bohemian glamour with a fresh West Coast perspective. The team is led by visionary hospitality veteran Paul Quinn, Restaurant General Manager, with the menu overseen by Executive Chef Ramon Bojorquez. Featuring local, seasonal ingredients and refined dishes, brasserie favorites include French onion soup, steak frites, seafood towers and magnums of Champagne.
The Bar at Century Plaza is the pièce de résistance of the hotel’s show-stopping lobby, surrounded by a living green wall, floating fireplace and water feature. The lobby also features floor-to-ceiling windows that retract into the floor, creating a gorgeous open space filled with natural light and fresh air. The daring yet approachable menu serves classic cocktails, creative and technique-driven libations, and globally inspired dishes.
The 14,000 square foot Fairmont Spa Century Plaza is reinventing wellness culture with offerings designed to unite ancient modalities of movement with state-of-the-art technologies. Through its doors lie nine treatment rooms designed by Yabu Pushelberg, experiential rain showers, sanariums, aromatherapy steam rooms, a hammam, and a Himalayan salt room. Magdaleena Nikolov, General Manager of Spa, Wellness and Retail, has curated an extensive array of custom-designed offerings, first-to-market products and results-driven treatments. The spa will be home to an evolving collective of world-renowned wellness experts including Dr. Oz Garcia, a biohacker and leading authority on healthy aging, and Dr. Rita Rakus, London-based rejuvenation and anti-aging aesthetic treatment pioneer.
The Rooftop Pool offers unmatched views of Los Angeles, including the Pacific Ocean, the Getty Museum, and the Hollywood Hills. The Pool Bar features whimsical beverages with Southern California flair that can be enjoyed poolside or in one of the nearby cabanas.
Accor states that the Fairmont Century Plaza Los Angeles is committed to driving change towards positive hospitality. The hotel acts to reduce the impact of activities by implementing a number of sustainable initiatives to support the local and global environment. As part of Accor, Fairmont Century Plaza is a member of Planet 21. Built to LEED Silver standards, the hotel features include a rooftop green area, water-efficient landscaping, state-of-the-art recycling and composting programs.
Meanwhile, Accor recently announced the signing of its sixth resort in the Maldives, SO/ Maldives and three new hotels in the United Kingdom and the opening of Mercure Rhodes Alexia, Mercure’s debut property in Greece and ibis Styles Kraków Centrum in Poland.
Featured image by Accor
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