Downtown
Hotels Bank on Location |
By Jorge Casuso
March 21 -- When guests first arrive at the Cal Mar Hotel
Suites on Third Street and California Avenue, the first thing staff
does is to open up a map.
“We show guests that they’re walking distance from the
Third Street Promenade,” said general manager Jean Victor
Bertrand. “We show them the places of interest – the
movie theaters, the Apple store, the restaurants.”
The Cal Mar is not alone. The hotel a block north of the Promenade
is only one of the Santa Monica properties that thrive on their
proximity to a world-renown destination that brings millions of
visitors to shop, dine and be entertained in Downtown Santa Monica
every year.
“Our location is a big selling point for us,” said Joshua
Bond, general manager of the Embassy Hotel and Apartments. “All
our marketing mentions we’re two blocks from the Promenade.”
Ellis O’Connor, general manager of the Miramar Hotel, on Ocean
and Wilshire, agrees.
“Location is always a factor when choosing a hotel,”
O’Connor said. “The Downtown makes our area a destination.
It does sway some people’s choices when they come to LA with
the stores and the restaurants. We leverage all of the activities
that are happening.”
“It’s location, location, location,” said Dino
Nanni, general manager of the Shangri-La Hotel on Ocean Avenue Downtown.
“It’s the biggest deal you can have.”
With the “location” undergoing what could be the biggest
management change in two decades under a proposed assessment district,
Downtown hotel managers, and some outside the Bayside, recently
aired some of their hopes and concerns for the booming shopping
strip and its surrounding streets.
The general managers agreed that despite Downtown’s wild success,
Bayside officials must keep a competitive edge if they don’t
want to lose visitors to other thriving commercial strips.
“The Promenade is competing with the likes of The Grove and
Rodeo (Drive),” O’Connor said, referring to the popular
shopping strips in the Fairfax District and Beverly Hills. “We
have to make sure it’s a relevant experience, that the shops
and dining experience are relevant.”
The Grove, said Bertrand, “has attendants, easy access to
the parking structures and nice elevators with views.”
To remain competitive, hotel owners support efforts to boost maintenance,
clean up the alleys flanking the Promenade, lure pedestrians to
surrounding streets and kick up marketing efforts. But at the top
of everyone’s list of concerns is addressing the longstanding
homeless problem that for years has been the major worry of residents
and business owners alike.
“Our biggest issue is the homeless issue,” O’Connor
said. “One of the key factors is safety. You want to be able
to go to a location, walk around and be safe.
“I think we’re doing a good job,” he said. “Walking
around the Promenade is very interactive. It’s pedestrianized.
But we have to pay attention to the periphery. We need to heighten
the attention to maintaining everything. From litter to graffiti,
it has to be addressed.”
Bertrand, whose hotel is down the street from the Miramar, agrees.
“The homeless situation is an issue,” he said. “People
don’t feel comfortable sitting on the benches.”
Paul Hortobagy, who runs Le Merigot Hotel on Ocean Avenue south
of the pier, hears constant complaints about the homeless from guests
who enjoy the Promenade but are shocked by the unfamiliar sight
of persons begging for food or urinating in public.
“I think the Third Street Promenade is definitely an attraction,”
Hortobagy said. “People love to go there for people watching
and eating, but sometimes people come back not very happy that we
sent them there. It’s not a very comfortable situation for
guests, especially if they’re not used to that.”
Siroos Farzam, who opened the Ocean View Hotel 30 years ago, says
the homeless problem has always been a pressing one.
“The homeless issue is the biggest problem in Santa Monica,”
Farzam said. “Security is an issue. You walk the streets,
and it’s scary at nighttime. The homeless sleep on the (hotel’s)
roof, in the corridors. It scares people.”
Farzam would like to see cleaner alleys and more lighting to enhance
the sense of safety.
“The alleys should be cleaner, the alleys are always dirty,”
he said. “The city should take care of this.”
Putting flowers, music, even perfume in the alleys – which
are used to deliver merchandise and dispose trash – would
help discourage the homeless from hanging around the area, Bertrand
said.
“People who are hanging in the alleys, if they decide they
are a more civilized place, they would leave,” Betrand said.
“They should put flowers around the garbage cans and perfume
in the mornings. It should be an extension of the Third Street Promenade.”
Dino Nanni, who runs the Shangri-La Hotel on Ocean Avenue, backs
the ongoing efforts of Downtown officials to boost maintenance and
security on the public streets.
“There needs to be better security, better cleanliness,”
Nanni said. “We need more maintenance and cleaning.”
While guests are drawn to Downtown hotels by the proximity of shopping
and dining venues, hotel managers also think it’s important
to give them easy access to Santa Monica’s other shopping
destinations – Main Street and Montana Avenue.
Bertrand, who also runs the Bayside Hotel on Main Street as well
as the Cal Mar on California Avenue, would like to see closer ties
between the two popular shopping destinations.
“The Tide Shuttle is not promoted as much by the Bayside District,”
Bertrand said. “It would help if there’s better communication
between Main Street and the Bayside.”
Juan Viramontes, the general manager of the Georgian Hotel on Ocean
Avenue, agrees.
“Guests still want to see other areas, like Montana and Main
Street,” he said, “and most of the time they have to
take some form of transportation to get there.”
Hany Sabongy, who runs the Best Western Gateway on 20th and Santa
Monica, provides guests with an hourly shuttle to take them to the
Promenade between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
“We have a van that takes people, drops them off and picks
them up,” Sabongy said. “Downtown is important because
that’s where people want to go at the end of their working
day.”
While the recent closure of Santa Monica Place for a major remodel
will remove one of Downtown’s prime destinations until the
fall of 2009, the new improved mall will give hotel guests a much
needed upscale shopping experience, some general managers said.
Cara Federici, the new director of sales for the Oceana Hotel, has
been sending the upscale guests to Montana Avenue, where they can
shop at the pricey boutiques lining the street.
“The Promenade is so mainstream,” Federici said. “We
push Montana because it’s more upscale and not mainstream.
We get the high-end leisure traveler. They would rather stay in
Beverly Hills and shop on Rodeo.”
But a newly remodeled Santa Monica Place – which will feature
an open-air courtyard, a food court with ocean views and high-end
shops – would offer an attractive alternative for the wealthy
leisure and corporate guests staying at the newly renovated hotel,
Federici said.
“It’s definitely of interest, if they can get more upscale
stores,” she said. “I’m excited by it.”
Nanni, whose Shangri-La Hotel is closed for a major renovation that
will lure high-end guests, also is looking forward to the opening
of a new Santa Monica Place.
“We’re stepping into a whole different clientele, probably
a more upscale industry type,” Nanni said. “The remodeling
of Santa Monica Place is fantastic.”
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