Luxury hotel planned at Pike
Boutique hotel to include 138 rooms, rooftop pool; '09 opening expected.
By Don Jergler, Staff writer
Long Beach Press Telegram
Article Launched:09/26/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT
LONG BEACH - Construction on a new hotel in downtown Long Beach that was slated to be built more than two years ago is now underway - with a new completion date and a different brand.
The new hotel going up at the Pike at Rainbow Harbor shopping and entertainment center by the harbor is part of a new boutique hotel collection called AVIAs that will be better than the one originally planned, an executive with the hotel builder said on Tuesday.
The hotel, which will be situated next to the Pike parking structure, will have upgraded interiors and more services than the one originally planned, and it's set to open in the spring of 2009, an official for hotel builder Wichita, Kan.-based LogeWorks LP said Tuesday.
When it was first announced in 2004 that a long-term lease for the spot to build the hotel was signed, developers on the LogeWorks project said completion was slated for 2005.
The 7-story hotel will feature a rooftop pool, 138 rooms and a bar and a bistro on the ground floor.
Rates will be comparable to the higher priced hotels in downtown Long Beach, said LogeWorks executive Cheryl Doll.
"We are going to be competitive with the top of the market, with Westin (Long Beach) and the others," Doll said.
The hotel was originally slated as a Sierra Suites, but conversations with city officials and a look at the area's growing convention and tourism business convinced company executives that Long Beach was the spot for a boutique hotel, Doll said.
"We are going more upscale," she said.
Not only will be rooms will be more expensive than LogeWorks' Sierra brand hotels, but the hotel will offer bell and valet services, and have nicer amenities, such as bed turndown, she said.
The AVIA will feature an interior tree sculpture that replicates a mini-forest, and indoor lounges with retractable walls. In-room features include spa-inspired bathrooms, high-definition televisions and iPod connections.
The hotel will have the same number of rooms, and the same amount of meeting room space as the one originally planned, Doll said.
Setbacks with construction planning and the process of changing the development to a boutique hotel played a hand in delaying the project, Doll said.
"We were set back about six months by the concept shift alone," Doll said.
The first AVIA hotel breaks ground this month in Savannah, Ga., and is set to open in December 2008. Subsequent openings are planned in Long Beach and Napa.
LogeWorks executives chose the Pike because it's near the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center, and it's near "the nighttime entertainment hub" on Pine Avenue, Doll said.
Tourism officials cheered the thought of bringing a boutique concept to Long Beach.
"It's a great location, and it's also a marketing niche that has not yet been filled in Long Beach - we do not currently have a boutique hotel," said Long Beach Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Steve Goodling.
There are now plans for three boutique hotels in Long Beach.
The Coast Hotel near the Queen Mary is being converted to Joie de Vivre. The conversion to a boutique hotel is set to begin in the winter. The hotel is set to remain open during the change.
The Hotel Esterel, a four-star, 165-room boutique hotel on the Promenade is set to break ground at the end of this year.
Boutique hotels, often smaller and incorporating more intimate interior architectures, are gaining in popularity and are a sign that an area has a strong tourism base, Goodling said.
"The boutique lodging product tends to be edgier, and offer a more intimate feeling," Goodling said.
Don Jergler can be reached at
don.jergler@presstelegram.com or (562) 499-1281.
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