Debuting on September 27, the completely renovated Fairmont Century Plaza will build upon its legacy as a Los Angeles cultural landmark. Originally deemed “The Hotel of the Future,” architect Minoru Yamasaki’s mid-century modern icon returns this fall as the centerpiece of a $2.5 billion mixed-use development project on six-plus acres, which includes two 44-story towers with 94,000 square feet of boutique shopping and 268 privately owned luxury residences. Fairmont Century Plaza’s 16 floors house an additional 63 privately-owned Fairmont residential units, as well as 400 guestrooms, including 49 suites.
The hotel has been the location for major Hollywood and world events, including the Emmy Awards, the Grammy Awards and the presidential celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Now, as Fairmont Century Plaza, the hotel will once again reclaim its place as the home of annual award shows, industry events, fashion and film shoots and art installations.
International design firm Yabu Pushelberg transformed the hotel’s design, delivering a modern update to the 1960s nostalgia while adding “a Californian twist.” Good to know: The new Century Plaza returns with almost half the number of guestrooms, allowing for a larger, more luxurious footprint with spacious marble bathrooms and a balcony for every guestroom and suite.
Fairmont Gold, the brand’s exclusive hotel-within-a-hotel experience, has 70 guestrooms and suites with private check-in and checkout; exclusive access to the Gold Lounge; and a dedicated Personal Assistants offering 24/7 concierge service. Tip: Even turndown gets an upgrade with The Fairmont Gold Bar Cart, an on-demand martini cart that delivers customized cocktails right to guests’ doors.
Lumière, a traditional French-inspired brasserie, is open for all-day service. Featuring local, seasonal ingredients and refined dishes, brasserie favorites include French onion soup, steak frites, seafood towers and magnums of Champagne. The Bar at Century Plaza is the “pièce de resistance” of the hotel’s lobby, surrounded by a living green wall, floating fireplace and a water feature. The lobby also has floor-to-ceiling windows that retract into the floor, creating an open space filled with natural light and fresh air.
The Rooftop Pool offers views of Los Angeles, including the Pacific Ocean, the Getty Museum, and the Hollywood Hills. The Pool Bar serves whimsical beverages with Southern California flair that can be enjoyed poolside or in one of the nearby cabanas.
Fairmont Spa Century Plaza has nine treatment rooms, experiential rain showers, sanariums, aromatherapy steam rooms, a hammam and a Himalayan salt room. The spa will be home to an evolving collective of wellness experts, including Dr. Oz Garcia, a “biohacker” and authority on healthy aging, and Dr. Rita Rakus, a London-based rejuvenation and anti-aging aesthetic treatment pioneer.
Good to know: The hotel acts to reduce the impact of activities by implementing a number of sustainable initiatives to support the local and global environment. As part of Accor, Fairmont Century Plaza is a member of Planet 21, an industry-leading corporate social responsibility program that promotes environmental sustainability in the company’s hotels and communities. Built to LEED Silver standards, the hotel has a rooftop green area, water-efficient landscaping, and state-of-the-art recycling and composting programs.
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts tapped Philip Barnes as regional vice president, Southern California and general manager to relaunch the property, drawing on his decades of experience with openings and repositionings.
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