Reinvention and innovation are constant forces in California, especially now that the state is experiencing a surging tech-fueled economy and robust demand from visitors worldwide. Evidence of this is especially apparent in the state’s major cities, where new and refreshed hotels and exciting venues are reshaping skylines from San Diego to San Francisco.
“California’s tourism industry continues to invest in the product to enhance the visitor experience and introduce new reasons to visit,” says Caroline Betata, CEO of Visit California. “More than $10 billion has been invested in tourism infrastructure in the past few years.”
For meetings, this investment is bringing many new ways for groups to experience everything that California is known for, whether it’s farm-sourced cuisine or digital innovation. Here’s a look at what’s happening in the major meetings destinations around the state.
Bay Area
While the Silicon Valley is the epicenter of the tech juggernaut, no place in the Bay Area is feeling the reverberations more strongly than San Francisco, where dozens of start-ups and social media giants like Twitter and Yelp are transforming the Mid-Market and South of Market areas. Meetings business in the city is clearly feeling the impact, according to Kenley Moy, senior vice president of convention sales for San Francisco Travel.
“We’re seeing a surge in demand for short-term corporate meetings in the tech sector,” he says. “At the same time, we’re seeing new event venues coming in with state-of-the art technology to serve that market.”
Among these is The Village, a tri-level, 17,000-square-foot space located in the former Pearl Art & Craft Supplies building on Market Street, with sophisticated audiovisual capabilities for product launches and other events. Other new high-energy options in the area include Bespoke, an 18,000-square-foot space in the Westfield San Francisco Centre that can handle high-tech fashion shows, and Tank18, a wine-themed venue with party space that can accommodate food trucks.
The city’s local hotel scene is awash in new brandings and makeovers. Earlier this year, the former Westin San Francisco Market Street became the Park Central Hotel, while the former Mandarin Oriental is now the Loews Regency San Francisco.
In the Fisherman’s Wharf area, a former Radisson has been reimagined as the Hotel Zephyr, with event spaces that include a large courtyard with fire pits and areas for playing classic games. Many of the city’s major hotels have completed extensive renovations, including The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco; Palace Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel San Francisco; Hyatt Regency San Francisco; and Hilton San Francisco Union Square.
New properties scheduled for San Francisco include two for the burgeoning Mission Bay area: the Marriott Mission Bay, set for early 2018, and a 174-room Hampton Inn set to open by the end of the year. The 166-room Courtyard San Francisco Union Square also opened this year. At San Francisco International Airport, a 400-room hotel is slated for 2017.
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In Berkeley, one of the Bay Area’s grand dame properties is underdoing a major transformation. The Claremont Hotel Club & Spa will be reflagged as a Fairmont following a property-wide renovation expected to be completed by the end of the year.
In San Jose, where meetings business is also benefiting from the tech economy, new hotels and event spaces are coming on-line to serve the corporate market, says Ben Roschke, director of business development for Team San Jose, the CVB. The Aloft Santa Clara recently opened, while an AC by Marriott is under construction downtown and set to debut early next year. Across from the convention center, the historic Sainte Claire Hotel was reflagged in July as the Westin San Jose, following a renovation.
As befits its Silicon Valley surroundings, San Jose now offers “wickedly fast Wi-Fi” at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center as well as throughout downtown and Mineta San Jose International Airport, according to Roschke.
“We have the best Wi-Fi experience of any convention center in the country,” he says. “The bandwidth allows thousands of people to be streaming video at the same time. Plus, corporate clients can import their entire network into our system and use the building like it’s their own campus.”
Los Angeles
Much like the Bay Area, the tech economy is having a noticeable impact on meetings business in Los Angeles, according to Darren Green, senior vice president of sales for the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board.
“L.A. is the fastest-growing high-tech hub in the country, so tech has been a real catalyst for our business,” he says. “We’re not just about entertainment anymore. We’ve got a diverse range of groups coming in, including medical, corporate and association. Next year will be our best year for citywide conventions since 2001.”
No longer overshadowed by its more glamorous neighbors, downtown Los Angeles has stepped into the spotlight and continues to dazzle visitors with new cultural attractions, venues, hotels and restaurants.
A lot of the action surrounds the Los Angeles Convention Center, where an ambitious redesign that includes a 100,000-square-foot ballroom is in the planning stages. A 755-room expansion to the adjacent JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. Live is set for 2018. Also near the convention center, the historic Hotel Figueroa, a Spanish Mediterranean-style property from the 1920s, is undergoing a $30 million renovation.
The most extensive downtown hotel project under way is the 900-room Wilshire Grand Center located in a 73-story tower that will be the tallest building west of the Mississippi when it opens in mid-2017. The hotel, operated by InterContinental Hotels Group, will include a rooftop pool deck.
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Downtown’s supply of hip, boutique hotels is also continuing to grow. Among properties under construction are the 148-room Downtown L.A. Proper Hotel, which will be located in an Art Deco office tower on Broadway, and the 350-room Hotel Indigo, which will be part of a retail and residential complex near the Staples Center.
Downtown’s newest cultural attraction is The Broad, a contemporary art museum that opened across from the Walt Disney Concert Hall and Museum of Contemporary Art in September. The museum offers more than 2,000 works from the Broad Art Foundation, event spaces that include a 2,400-square-foot plaza, and a restaurant operated by restaurateur Bill Chait.
Anaheim/Orange County
Few California cities have as much in the works as Anaheim, where the already massive Anaheim Convention Center just broke ground on its seventh expansion and eight hotels have either recently opened or are soon to open in the Anaheim Resort District. In summer 2017, the convention center will unveil 200,000 square feet of new meeting space, including a 10,000-square-foot outdoor balcony and a climate-controlled pedestrian bridge.
“Our business is already up because of all the increased new product, but the convention center expansion is really opening up new possibilities with groups who have not considered us before,” says Harriet Porter, vice president of sales for Visit Anaheim. “The new space will be very meetings-focused, so we can accommodate groups who need a lot of breakout space.”
New group-friendly hotels near the convention center include the Courtyard Marriott Anaheim & Waterpark, which opened in July, and the Hyatt House Anaheim Resort, scheduled to open in December. The biggest project under way is the Great Wolf Lodge Water Park Resort, set to open in Garden Grove early next year, which will include 600 guest rooms and 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
In nearby Huntington Beach, a luxury oceanfront resort named Pasea Hotel & Spa is set for early 2016. The 250-room property will include 34,600 square feet of meeting space, a Balinese-style spa with indoor and outdoor treatment areas, and a rooftop bar.
San Diego
While best known for such iconic attractions as the San Diego Zoo and the USS Midway Museum, San Diego is also home to major education and research facilities that include UC-San Diego and the Scripps Research Institute. As a result, the city is a magnet for meetings business in the scientific and medical sectors, according to Margie Sitton, senior vice president of sales for the San Diego CVB.
“We can really provide rich content for meetings here by working with our business and educational partners in the community,” she says. “Everyone knows about our sunshine, but we’ve got brains to go with our beauty.”
Like other California cities these days, San Diego is a hot spot for new hotels and venues in its downtown and outlying districts. The lively Gaslamp Quarter continues to add excitement; most recently the 90-room Courtyard San Diego Gaslamp/Convention Center, which offers a rooftop bar with panoramic views, and the Hotel Z, formerly the Holiday Inn Express Gaslamp, which was converted into a contemporary boutique property.
In Mission Bay, the Paradise Point Resort & Spa recently added the Sunset Pavilion, which overlooks the bay and accommodates events for up to 1,800 people. In North San Diego County, the Pala Casino Resort and Spa debuted a new bi-level dining and entertainment venue named CAVE, an underground wine cellar and jazz lounge with a selection of over 480 wines from around the world.
Sacramento
California’s state capital is also moving forward with new developments of significance for meetings, including the Golden 1 Center, a $477 million mixed-use arena that will be home to the Sacramento Kings basketball team when it opens in October 2016. The downtown arena, which will also host concerts and events, is a catalyst for other nearby development, including residences, office space, a 250-room Kimpton hotel and retail shops opening onto a large plaza.
“This development is going to be way bigger than basketball,” says Steve Hammond, president and CEO of the Sacramento CVB. “It’s about revitalizing our downtown and adding world-class amenities for our visitors.”
