Loews Hotels & Resorts is currently in the midst of a major growth and property redesign initiative, reflecting a strong national trend in hospitality renovation. The project touches 15 of the company's 19 properties, including 10 property renovations, three hotel acquisitions, and two new builds, ranging from updates to the building facades and the hotel lobbies, to new color palettes and renovated bathrooms.
With the redesign, Loews Hotels & Resorts puts an emphasis on repositioning the lobby and public spaces as areas for gathering and connectivity. Loews approached this goal by installing media walls with LCD flat screen TVs, increasing WiFi access and making electrical outlets more abundant and accessible. The design upgrades will also allow for more live entertainment and activity, which will encourage hotel guests and locals alike to utilize the public spaces for social interaction.
Beyond this common vision for more connectivity, each property takes a completely unique design approach. All the venues in the Loews portfolio have their own story, history and local character so there are no repeated design ideas from one property to the next.
Renovation highlights include top to bottom upgrades at the newly acquired Loews Hollywood Hotel, the extensive overhaul of Portofino Bay’s 750 rooms and suites, and the first ever, full renovation of the flagship location, Loews Regency Hotel, which is set to reopen early 2014. Below is a complete timeline and overview of the various renovations.
Renovation Timeline
Loews Annapolis Hotel – completed an extensive renovation of its lobby and restaurant in August of 2012.
Loews Coronado Bay Resort – completed a nine-month long transformation that included a complete redesign of its lobby, Bay Terrace, Cays Lounge, Market Café and Market-to-Go in January of 2013.
Loews Philadelphia Hotel – completed a three-month long guestroom renovation in April of 2013. The hotel will undergo a total transformation of its lobby, entrance and restaurant/bar area in the coming year.
Loews Portofino Bay Hotel – completed an immense renovation project that refreshed all 750 rooms and suites with a new Mediterranean-inspired design that enhances the overall guest experience in April of 2013.
Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel – completed a façade renovation in April of 2013 and will finish renovation of a series of rooms adjacent to the pool to create premium poolside cabana rooms, as well as a series of beach-level rooms that will feature residential-style patios, complete with fire pits later this year.
Loews Vanderbilt Hotel – completed an extensive renovation including a complete redesign of the lobby, remodeled corridors, new guest and public bathrooms, and the new Mason’s restaurant and Mason Bar in May of 2013.
Loews Hôtel Vogue – completed a property renovation including redesigned guest rooms, an updated lobby, exterior façade and the addition of the renowned La Société Bistro from Toronto, in June of 2013.
Loews Hollywood Hotel – acquired the historic Hollywood Hotel, home to the former Kodak Theater, now the Dolby Theater, a major partner of the annual Academy Awards ceremony completed in the summer of 2012. Hotel is currently undergoing a renovation of all guestrooms, the lobby, lobby bar, restaurant and meeting spaces, scheduled for completion in November of 2013.
Loews Regency Hotel – undergoing its first-ever full renovation in its 50-year history. The redesign will maintain the traditional elements that helped shape the hotel as a New York Institution, but will be complemented by new modern touches that will still uphold the overall Loews Regency legacy. The hotel is set to re-open in January of 2014.
Loews Boston Back Bay Hotel – acquired the 225-room Back Bay Hotel in Boston in February of 2013 and renovations are scheduled to begin in the fall of this year finished in April of 2014
Related Stories
| Dec 29, 2014
Leo A Daly's minimally invasive approach to remote field site design [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
For the past six years, Leo A Daly has been designing sites for remote field stations with near-zero ecological disturbance. The firm's environmentally delicate work was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
Wearable job site management system allows contractors to handle deficiencies with subtle hand and finger gestures [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Technology combines a smartglass visual device with a motion-sensing armband to simplify field management work. The innovation was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
From Ag waste to organic brick: Corn stalks reused to make construction materials [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
Ecovative Design applies its cradle-to-cradle process to produce 10,000 organic bricks used to build a three-tower structure in Long Island City, N.Y. The demonstration project was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
14 great solutions for the commercial construction market
Ideas are cheap. Solutions are what count. The latest installment in BD+C's Great Solutions series presents 14 ways AEC professionals, entrepreneurs, and other clever folk have overcome what seemed to be insoluble problems—from how to make bricks out of agricultural waste, to a new way to keep hospitals running clean during construction.
| Dec 29, 2014
HealthSpot station merges personalized healthcare with videoconferencing [BD+C's 2014 Great Solutions Report]
The HealthSpot station is an 8x5-foot, ADA-compliant mobile kiosk that lets patients access a network of board-certified physicians through interactive videoconferencing and medical devices. It was named a 2014 Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.
| Dec 28, 2014
Robots, drones, and printed buildings: The promise of automated construction
Building Teams across the globe are employing advanced robotics to simplify what is inherently a complex, messy process—construction.
BIM and Information Technology | Dec 28, 2014
The Big Data revolution: How data-driven design is transforming project planning
There are literally hundreds of applications for deep analytics in planning and design projects, not to mention the many benefits for construction teams, building owners, and facility managers. We profile some early successful applications.
| Dec 28, 2014
AIA course: Enhancing interior comfort while improving overall building efficacy
Providing more comfortable conditions to building occupants has become a top priority in today’s interior designs. This course is worth 1.0 AIA LU/HSW.
| Dec 28, 2014
6 trends steering today's college residence halls
University students want more in a residence hall than just a place to sleep. They want a space that reflects their style of living and learning.
| Dec 28, 2014
Using energy modeling to increase project value [AIA course]
This course, worth 1.0 AIA LU/HSW, explores how to increase project value through energy modeling, as well as how to conduct quick payback and net present value studies to identify which energy strategies are most viable for the project.
