Why here?
The age-old desire to go west has been by rekindled by the Golden State, thanks to thriving development in its large cities and dramatic reinventions in its smaller ones. Sleek new hotels like Dream Hollywood (pictured) are debuting in L.A., while Anaheim has turned suddenly hip.
NORTHERN EXPOSURE
• Bookings and hotel revenue rose significantly for fiscal year 2015 in Concord, aka Diablo Valley. Occupancy in the East Bay city climbed by 4.3 percent, year-over-year, to 80 percent, and hotel revenue jumped by 14 percent.
• The Monterey Conference Center will debut its lavish $60 million expansion this spring. The LEED-certified facility will offer more than 40,000 square feet of meeting space.
GIVING BACK
Groups can contribute to the community at the Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, via Impact Experiences -- social and environmental activities that support children, fight hunger and poverty, and protect the environment.
ANAHEIM
Local Update
• Plans are afoot at Disneyland to build a new luxury hotel at the resort, a 700-room property that will be the first new on-site lodging in nearly two decades. The hotel, which will be constructed at the north end of the Downtown Disney parking lot, will offer two pools, a fitness center and a kid's play area, as well as a rooftop restaurant overlooking the theme park. Disney intends to begin construction in 2018 and open the hotel in 2021.
• A 466-room JW Marriott will be built next to the Anaheim Garden-Walk in the Resort District. The 12-story, $150 million project, the first luxury hotel in the city that isn't on Disneyland property, will be within walking distance of Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center. There will be meeting space on-site, but details and a timeline are not yet available.
• Thanks to an Anaheim subsidy designed to lure luxury hotel development, two other high-end projects are in the works. An as yet unbranded, 580-room luxury hotel will replace the Anaheim Plaza Hotel & Suites on Harbor Boulevard. The $208 million property will have two signature restaurants and 50,000 square feet of meeting space, as well as a lounge that overlooks the Disneyland resort. The other hotel, a $225 million, 630-room property, will be built next to the Anaheim Convention Center to replace the Anabella Hotel.
• A $190 million, 450,000-square-foot expansion is in the works at the Anaheim Convention Center, which already is the largest convention center on the West Coast. The new wing will add 200,000 square feet of meeting space to the 1.6 million-square-foot facility. The addition is slated to open on schedule in September 2017 and already is being booked for conventions as early as November 2017.
• A mixed-use project known as the LT Platinum Center has been approved for development on a 15-acre site next to Angel Stadium. Components of the $450 million project include a 30-story residential tower, a hotel, an outdoor entertainment center, retail space and office space. The facility is expected to open for business in 2022.
HIPSTER SCENE
Downtown Anaheim is a revitalized home to craft breweries, cafés and culinary hotspots featuring star chefs like Jimmy Martinez. The Center Street Promenade can be closed to traffic for group events, allowing attendees to soak in the new ambience.
PIPE DREAM
The quest for unique experiences may well lead you to the DesertPipe attraction at the 530-room Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort & Spa. Billed as the "World's First Rotating Barrel Ride," the suspended ball spins while riders slosh, slip, slide and, if they're lucky, surf in the shallow water within.
Meeting Hotels: Anaheim offers more than 17,000 rooms within one mile of the convention center. Among the largest properties are the 1,572-room Hilton Anaheim, 1,030-room Marriott Anaheim, 1,019-room Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, 973-room Disneyland Hotel, 656-room Hyatt Regency Orange County, 490-room Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort, 489-room Anaheim Majestic Garden Hotel, 481-room Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel, 467-room Fairfield Inn Anaheim Resort, 376-room Wyndham Anaheim Garden Grove and 300-room Anaheim Plaza Hotel & Suites.
To find and compare hotels, and send RFPs, visit mcvenues.com.
Convention Center: Anaheim Convention Center; exhibit space, approximately 813,000 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 52; (714) 765-8950
Airport Transit: John Wayne Airport, 15 miles south of downtown Anaheim; transfer cost by taxi, $32. Los Angeles International Airport, 30 - 60 minutes from the Anaheim Resort District; transfer cost by shuttle, approximately $17 (shared) to $100 (private).
Taxes: Total tax on hotel rooms includes a transit occupancy tax of 15% plus, for hotels in the Anaheim Resort District, a tourism improvement district tax of 2%.
Group Venue: Flightdeck, a flight simulation center, is fully able to meet any group's need for speed. Following a lesson that condenses four years of pilot school into a 25-minute demonstration, participants don flight suits, climb into their respective fighter-jet simulator cockpits and engage in an anything-goes dogfight. Eight fighter pilots do battle at a time, while the rest of the group either attend pilot orientation or mingle in a common room, where they can view the battle live on display monitors. Flightdeck also offers a beautiful Boeing 737 flight simulator, where budding pilots can "take off" and "land" at their airport of choice. Catered F&B may be arranged. (714) 937-1511
Contact: Visit Anaheim, (714) 765-8888