Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows | |
---|---|
Hotel chain | Fairmont Hotels and Resorts |
General information | |
Location | United States |
Address | 101 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica, California |
Opening | 1921 |
Owner | MSD Capital |
Management | Fairmont Raffles Hotels International |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 10 |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 302 (including suites) |
Number of suites | 32 bungalows |
Number of restaurants | 2 |
Website | |
Fairmont Miramar |
The Fairmont Miramar Hotel & Bungalows is a historic five-star hotel located near the beach in Santa Monica, California, not far from the Santa Monica Pier. The property was originally a private estate, built in 1889. It was converted to a hotel in 1921. [1]
John P. Jones, originally from Herefordshire, England, came to California in 1849. He made a fortune through silver mining, and in 1874, bought a three-quarter interest of Robert Symington Baker's ranch near Los Angeles. In 1875, Jones and Baker co-founded Santa Monica. [2]
In 1889 Jones built a Victorian-style mansion as his family's residence, and named it Miramar, Spanish for "view of the ocean". [1] His wife, Georgina, planted a rose garden near the house, and also planted trees along Santa Monica's streets. [3] After John P. Jones died in 1912, his widow sold the family's mansion to King Camp Gillette, inventor of the safety razor, who leased the estate to a military academy at the end of World War I.
In 1921, Gillette sold the property to hotelier Gilbert Stevenson, who converted it into the Miramar Hotel. [1] A new six-story wing was built in 1924, to provide apartments for longer stays at the beach. Greta Garbo was one of the first celebrities to move in, and she lived there for more than four years. [4] In the 1930s, 32 poolside bungalows were built, separate from the main hotel buildings. Jean Harlow was seen dining at the hotel, and Betty Grable performed in the Miramar lounge with Ted Whidden's band. [3] The original 1889 wing was demolished in 1939. [5]
In 1959, the hotel's Ocean Tower, standing ten floors 115.96 feet (35.34 m) high, was constructed. [6] [7] The Miramar was sold to Fujita in 1973. They brought in Sheraton Hotels to manage the Miramar in 1978, when it was renamed the Miramar-Sheraton, and later the Miramar Sheraton Hotel. [1] Fujita sold the hotel to Maritz, Wolff & Co., a Los Angeles-based investment firm, in September 1999 for $90.6 million, [8] and they contracted with Fairmont Hotels to take over the hotel, which was renamed the Fairmont Miramar in November 1999. [1] The hotel's historic bungalows underwent a $18 million renovation in 2002–2003, preserving the original design. [4] [9]
Maritz, Wolff sold the hotel to billionaire Michael Dell's MSD Capital [10] for $210 million in 2006. [11] In 2011, the new owners announced plans to demolish the existing structures and build a new hotel/residential complex on the site. [12] The plans were revised to include a 21-story tower in 2013. [13] However work was held back by concern from community members. This eventually led to a ballot initiative in 2016 that would have limited development, which was defeated. [14] Plans for a scaled-down replacement hotel were unveiled on April 12, 2018. The new building, designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, [15] will be 130 feet tall, the maximum allowable height following new restrictions. [16] The California Coastal Commission approved the redevelopment plans on March 10, 2022. The project still needs approval from the Santa Monica Landmarks Commission and the Architectural Review Board. After that, construction is expected to take 33 months. [17]
A strike by workers at the Fairmont Miramar and 12 other properties in the Los Angeles area began on August 30, 2023. The hotel was originally booked to host Inter Miami CF for their Major League Soccer match against Los Angeles FC, but the club cancelled their reservation in solidarity with the strike. [18]
Canadian Pacific Hotels (CPH) was a division of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) that primarily operated hotels across Canada, since passenger revenue made a significant contribution to early railway profitability. CPR restructured the division as a subsidiary in 1963. In 1988, CPR purchased the Canadian National Hotels chain, making Canadian Pacific Hotels and Resorts the nation's largest hotel owner. In 1998, all CPH properties were branded as either Fairmont or Delta.
Century City is a 176-acre neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles, Century City is one of the most prominent employment centers in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and its skyscrapers form a distinctive skyline on the city's westside.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a global chain of luxury hotels that operates more than 70 properties worldwide, with a strong presence in Canada.
Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging including hotel, residential and timeshare properties. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. The company was founded by J. Willard Marriott and his wife Alice Marriott.
The history of Santa Monica, California, covers the significant events and movements in Santa Monica's past.
The western border of Santa Monica, California, is the 3-mile (4.8 km) stretch of Santa Monica Bay. On its other sides, the city is bordered by various districts of Los Angeles: the northwestern border is Pacific Palisades, the eastern border is Brentwood north of Wilshire Boulevard and West Los Angeles south of Wilshire, the northeastern border is generally San Vicente Boulevard up to the Riviera Country Club, the southwestern border is Venice Beach and the southern border is with West Los Angeles and Mar Vista.
Mandeville Canyon is a small community in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. Its center is Mandeville Canyon Road, which begins at Sunset Boulevard and extends north towards Mulholland Drive, though it stops short of Mulholland and there is no automotive route between the two. Mandeville Canyon Road is said to be the longest paved, dead end road in Los Angeles, at over 5 miles (8.0 km) and as a result is a popular destination for road cycling. From start to finish, the road gains 1,000 ft (300 m) in elevation.
John Percival Jones was an American politician who served for 30 years as a Republican United States Senator from Nevada. He made a fortune in silver mining and was a co-founder of the town of Santa Monica, California.
Loews Hotels is an American luxury hospitality company that owns or operates 26 hotels in the United States and Canada. Loews' hotels and resorts are located in major North American city centers and resort destinations.
Rancho San Vicente y Santa Mónica was a 33,000-acre (130 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Los Angeles County, California given by governor Juan Alvarado in 1839 to Francisco Sepúlveda II, a soldier and citizen of Los Angeles. The rancho included what are now Santa Monica, Brentwood, Mandeville Canyon, and parts of West Los Angeles.
Lewis N. Wolff is an American real estate developer. Wolff had been co-chairman of the Board of Sunstone Investors, Inc. from October 2004 to April 2014. Wolff owned sports franchises. He was most well known for his ownership of the Oakland Athletics and as the co-owner of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer. However, in November 2016, Wolff sold his share in the Oakland Athletics to John J. Fisher, and currently serves as the team's Chairman Emeritus. Wolff is credited with the redevelopment and revitalization of downtown San Jose, California where he was the largest developer of offices, hotels, and parking for many years.
The Fairmont Century Plaza is a 19-story luxury hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, US. The hotel fronts the Avenue of the Stars, adjacent to the twin Century Plaza Towers and the 2000 Avenue of the Stars complex. At the time of its opening in 1966, the Century Plaza Hotel was the highest building in Century City, with views extending all the way to the Pacific Ocean. It was also the first hotel to have color televisions in all of its rooms. The hotel closed for renovations in 2016, and reopened on September 27, 2021, operated by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. It is a member of Historic Hotels of America.
The Town House is a large former hotel property built in 1929 on Wilshire Boulevard, adjacent to Lafayette Park in the Westlake district of Los Angeles, California. After a long career as a hotel it operates today as low income housing.
Brent Bolthouse is an American entrepreneur, event producer, DJ, actor, and photographer. He has appeared on MTV's The Hills.
The Langham Huntington, Pasadena is a resort hotel located in Pasadena, California, that dates back to the Gilded Age.
Catalinas Norte is an important business complex composed of nineteen commercial office buildings and occupied by many leading Argentine companies, foreign subsidiaries, diplomatic offices, and a hotel. It is located in the Retiro and San Nicolás neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts is an international luxury hotel and resort company operating 31 hotels in 16 countries, currently owned by Hong Kong-based Rosewood Hotel Group. It was founded in Dallas, Texas, in 1979 by Caroline Rose Hunt, the daughter of oil tycoon H. L. Hunt. The company was sold by Rosewood Corp. and Maritz, Wolff & Co. in 2011 to New World Hospitality for $229 million, along with five of the properties that were sold for $570 million. Arranged by Perkins Coie, the $800 million deal was awarded “Merger & Acquisition of the Year 2011” by the Americas Lodging Investment Summit.
The Citadel Outlets are an outlet mall in the City of Commerce, California along the Santa Ana Freeway southeast of Downtown Los Angeles, which features the Exotic Revival architecture of a tire factory, whose partial remnants the complex occupies, built in the style of an Assyrian castle of King Sargon II.