LOS ANGELES -- Within the last decade, Los Angeles has seen a tremendous revitalization with the addition of a Downtown premiere sports and entertainment center, cultural institutions, hotels, and restaurants. Add to that, already established icons, high-end hotels, unique meeting venues throughout greater Los Angeles and the city becomes one of the most exciting and vibrant locations in the country.
LA’s Westside, known for offering glamorous shopping destinations, sprawling cultural attractions and neighborhoods filled with boutiques and cafés, is also home to some of the region’s most elegant hotels and attractions.
The Getty Center, one of the Westside’s most famous attractions, is home to an extensive collection of sculpture, paintings and other masterpieces of fine art. Housed in a sprawling hilltop complex, designed by famed architect Richard Meier and offering breathtaking views of the LA Basin and the coast, it can accommodate up to 2,000 people in its outside event space. Nearby, the Skirball Cultural Center, which is home to the Noah’s Ark attraction and exhibits tracing Jewish history, is available for events and has organizers on-site as well.
The Westside is also home to the Wilshire Corridor’s famous Museum Row, which features the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Petersen Automotive Museum, the Craft and Folk Art Museum and the Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. New at LACMA is the Lynda and Stewart Resnick Exhibition Pavilion, a unique open air space designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano. The Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust also opened its new permanent home in Pan Pacific Park in 2010.
The Los Angeles Ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel Los Angeles is currently undergoing a $1.3 million renovation. The 25,000 square foot space, one of the largest ballrooms in Los Angeles, will debut in January 2012 with all new carpet, paint and wall coverings throughout the California Level. The Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills has recently completed a $33 million renovation, including all 395 guest rooms and suites, The Ballroom, Windows Lounge, Cabana Restaurant and pool with new private cabanas. The Intercontinental Los Angeles Century City is a taste of true Hollywood style and glamour and features 21 meeting rooms and on-site meeting planners to help with events. SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills features banquet and catering capabilities with exclusive menus by Chef José Andrés, and has more than 30,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space. The iconic Hotel Bel-Air is re-opening October 2011 after 24 months of extensive refurbishment and redesign.
LA’s dynamic Downtown is experiencing a renaissance of epic proportions. The Los Angeles Convention Center, one of the most technologically advanced and architecturally pleasing meeting and exhibition venues in the world, is the site of more than 400 conventions, meetings, trade and consumer shows a year. The Los Angeles Convention Center, which hosts more than 3.5 million people annually, is also one of the nation’s greenest convention centers, with 3,400 solar panels supplying 15 percent of the energy needs of the expansive South Hall (enough to power 2,300 homes). The convention center features 1million square feet of prime exhibit space, including two carpeted special event halls for keynotes, banquets and small exhibits. Plus 71 separate meeting rooms and a 299-seat theatre.
L.A. LIVE is Downtown’s 5.6 million-square-foot sports and entertainment district, located adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center and STAPLES Center. L.A. LIVE is home to numerous restaurants, nightlife options, live music venues, two of LA’s newest hotels (the JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE and the Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles, both opened in early 2010), plus live entertainment and event spaces. The Nokia Plaza, a one-acre open air plaza located in the center of L.A. LIVE, is the ultimate gathering space for festivals, concerts, parties, press events, and more. This space accommodates 1,000 to 10,000 guests, including 2,000 guests for an outdoor reception or 900 guests for a seated dinner, catered exclusively by Wolfgang Puck.
Downtown is also home to some of the most sophisticated hotels in the city. Many hotels in Downtown, including the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Wilshire Grand Los Angeles, the landmark Millennium Biltmore Hotel, the Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza, and the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown have all recently underwent multi-million dollar makeovers. The Los Angeles Marriott Downtown, and the Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens, located in Little Tokyo, have also recently updated guest rooms, restaurants and lobby-areas, while the former Holiday Inn Los Angeles City Center underwent a significant, multi-million-dollar renovation and was renamed the Luxe City Center Hotel in fall 2010. The Standard, Downtown LA, home to “LOFT” meeting spaces, recently reopened The Shop, a 144-square-foot emporium located at street level, which features limited-edition products from Los Angeles designers and new lines from the Standard brand.
Hollywood is inherently exhilarating, glamorous and dazzling – characteristics of the areas venues, restaurants, hotels, and attractions that capture the world’s attention.
The Sheraton Universal Hotel, known as the “Hotel of the Stars,” completed a more than $25 million renovation, finishing in time to celebrate the hotel's 40th anniversary in 2009. In 2007, the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City completed a multimillion-dollar renovation used to revamp the hotel’s 60,000 square feet of flexible indoor/outdoor meeting and event space. The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel & Spa, located at Hollywood & Highland Center, offers 632 distinctive guest rooms, 33 suites, and the unforgettable 3,500-square-foot Panorama Suite. The historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel recently went through a major transformation adding unique venues such as the The Spare Room, a modern day gaming parlor and cocktail lounge and Public Kitchen & Bar, which opened February 2011, replacing Dakota.
In the heart of Hollywood at the Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards, Cirque du Soleil has established a permanent home for its newest production, “IRIS A Journey Through the World of Cinema.” Based on Hollywood’s tremendous impact on
the history of cinema, “IRIS” features a cast of 72 performers bringing together dance, acrobatics and live video.
For even more Hollywood excitement, visit Universal Studios Hollywood’s newest attraction, King Kong 360 3-D. Created by Peter Jackson, it’s the largest, most intense 3-D experience in the world. Universal Studios Hollywood can also host any size meeting or event, complete with plenty of on-site entertainment options.
About LA INC.
LA INC. The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau is a private, nonprofit business association whose primary mission is to market and promote Los Angeles as the premier site for meetings, conventions and leisure travel. Though not part of city government, LA INC. is recognized as the city's official tourism marketing organization. For more information, visit the official visitor information website of Los Angeles at www.discoverLosAngeles.com. Please visit our FaceBook page at facebook.com/LosAngelesFan or follow us on Twitter @discover_LA.
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Media contacts:
Carol Martinez
Vice President, Communications
phn: 213/236-2357, fax 213/425-1457
cmartinez@lainc.us
Beth Brett
Director, Communications
phn:213/236-2397, fax 213/452-1497
bbrett@lainc.us
