Los Angeles – 27 January 2017
Luxury hotel operator Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, now part of the AccorHotels Group, and Next Century Associates sign definitive agreements for the revitalisation and management of the historic Century Plaza Hotel, located in the heart of Century City in Los Angeles.
The iconic, crescent shaped hotel has hosted generations of Hollywood celebrities, foreign dignitaries and every US president since its opening in 1966. The hotel is currently closed for restoration and refurbishment and is slated to re-open as Fairmont Century Plaza, Los Angeles in 2018.
The addition of a landmark hotel in a strategic US market supports AccorHotels’ goal of brand growth and expansion, particularly in the luxury space. The signing of this project follows AccorHotels’ 2016 acquisition of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, along with sister brands Raffles and Swissôtel, which broadened the company’s luxury hotel offerings and footprint in North America.
Kevin Frid, chief operating officer, North & Central America, AccorHotels, said: “The Fairmont brand was born in California in 1907 and now, after more than a century of building an international portfolio of award-winning properties, we are thrilled to return to our roots and expand our presence in the Southern California region.
“Fairmont Century Plaza is an important project, not just for the city and region, but for our globally-recognised brand as well.”
The approximately US$2.5 billion mixed-use redevelopment project includes approximately 394 guestrooms and 63 branded residences within the original iconic tower, along with two new 46-story luxury residential towers with 290 luxury residences, plus approximately 100,000 square feet of boutique high-street shopping and expanded parking facilities.
Originally designed by Minoru Yamasaki, Fairmont Century Plaza will be transformed by world-renowned lead architecture firms Pei Cobb Freed, Gensler and Marmol Radzinger and design group Yabu Pushelberg. The team will restore the hotel’s renowned lobby, connecting it to a series of public plazas and fountains that lead into a central two-acre garden, surrounded by restaurants and retail boutiques.
Built on the former backlot of 20th Century Fox Studios, the hotel faces the famous fountains at the intersection of Avenue of the Stars and Constellation Boulevard.
With more than 70 hotels worldwide, Fairmont continues to expand globally with recent openings including Fairmont Quasar Istanbul, Fairmont Chengdu in Western China and Fairmont Fujairah in the Middle East. New luxury hotels scheduled to open later in 2017 include Fairmont Amman in Jordan, Fairmont Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Fairmont will also open the newest and most state of the art hotel in Austin, Texas later this year.