THE STYLISH W HOTEL IN WESTWOOD IS PART OF A NEW DESIGNER CHAIN THAT AIMS TO PLEASE GUESTS WITH A ‘WHATEVER, WHENEVER’ APPROACH TO SERVICE
The ‘W’ in W Hotel stands for whatever you want it to. Really. At least that’s what the folks who run the hotel say.
But at this point, the name of the former Westwood Marquis might stand for “wishful thinking,” as the owner, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., tries to find success with a new kind of boutique chain hotel.
The W Los Angeles or Westwood, as it’s officially known, has been revamped with more than $20 million in interior and exterior design. The official opening is set for April, although the name change and most of the rooms have been completed since late last year.
The W chain is the brainchild of Starwood Chief Executive Barry Sternlicht. Taking inspiration from independent hotels that have become popular in places like New York and San Francisco, Sternlicht created a personal hotel along the lines of Ian Schrager’s Morgans, Royalton and Paramount hotels in New York. Schrager is credited with inventing the ultra-hip, boutique hotel that W is now copying on a chain level.
‘Wondered, wired, warm ‘
“We have found that a lot of hotels can deliver successfully in one or two areas and might have an amazing sense of style but no technology. Or they may have all the technological amenities but are not necessarily as stylish,” says Teresa Holden, director of marketing. “We have been able to pull a lot of those components together.”
Holden says Sternlicht’s wife came up with the name. “All the words she thought of that she wanted to apply to the hotel just seemed to start with ‘w,’ like wonder, wired, warm, whimsical, witty. They all seem to fit,” says Holden.
For guests, the chain promises the usual upper-end amenities fax and Internet capabilities, large-screen TVs, robes and slippers, and around-the-clock room service.
W likes to tout its 24-hour service. Guests can dial a special “whatever, whenever” line on room phones and ask for just about anything, from a 3 a.m. banana split to a chance to pitch baseballs at Yankee Stadium (a request made recently by a guest staying in one of the chain’s two New York properties).
The Los Angeles W hired movie production designer Dayna Lee to revamp the Westwood Marquis Hotel and Gardens and create a trendy space while maintaining qualities of the hotel it was replacing.
Architect Jon Brouse updated the building along the lines of its modern past and created a dramatic entrance that features a staircase built on glass blocks filled with water.
Pan-Asian design
The design includes concrete walls that remain from three decades ago, when the building was used as a UCLA dorm. Now the concrete fits with the Pan-Asian feel provided by colorful raw silk drapes and cushions, lots of soft suede couches, and a low-key and comfortable lobby, lounges, bar and restaurant.
There are no walls between those areas, and the lobby includes a bookcase stocked with picture books, including “Playboy’s History of the Sexual Revolution” and Annie Leibowitz’s photo book, “Women.”
Some of the tables in the newly opened Mojo restaurant and lounge areas encourage group dining and drinking. The restaurant menu has been designed to take advantage of the nuevo Latino cuisine craze coming out of New York.
The question is whether the hotel can draw visitors and tourists to an area that is experiencing a bit of an identity crisis as new developers and shops move in.
What are its chances of competing against other hip hotels like the Standard and Mondrian in West Hollywood?
Pretty good, says Melissa Mills, a research coordinator for PKF Consulting, a hospitality consulting firm. “A lot of people have already heard about W from the New York properties, and although it’s in a kind of secluded location, it’s a very pretty location, and it’s definitely got that cachet,” she said.
Over the years, the building that now houses the W has been through several incarnations. It was built as a dorm in the ’60s and later transformed into an assisted-living home for retired people. For a while it was owned by Raleigh Studios and called the Carriage House. Most recently it was the Westwood Marquis.
The hotel has 258 suites, and all but two of its 16 floors have been renovated. Rates go from about $209 a night for a one-bedroom suite in the off-season to about $379 during the busy season. Though the W won’t officially open until April, it hasn’t closed since the remodeling started.
It also kept most of the Westwood Marquis staff putting them through grooming sessions with stylist Marcella Washington.
“Any employees who were excited about what we wanted to do, we wanted to keep,” Holden says. “We brought Marcella in to help people understand the intangible thing about image. You don’t need a lot of money to have a sense of style you can still come across as polished and friendly. People who stayed with us before say, ‘It’s like you have a whole new staff, but I recognize the faces.'”
The effect of the changes creates a subdued but friendly environment perhaps a respite for travelers who aren’t looking for the trendy madness of Sunset Boulevard or the stuffy confines of a more business-oriented hotel.
At the W, the sound of children is not out of place in the lobby or lounge area. Nor is the sight of a businesswoman sitting at one of the low-slung lounge chairs talking on her cell phone and sipping an espresso.
Kimberly Wells visited the hotel during a break from classes at UCLA. She liked the way she was greeted and made to feel welcome immediately, even though she had only come to meet friends and check it out.
“I love the little touches, all the pillows and big couches,” Wells said. “If I was from out of town, I would just spend all my time in the lobby, it’s really comfy.”
Other guests like the warm, comfortable rooms. Darrell Black, who books all the travel for Viacom in New York, tries to put all his MTV and VH-1 clients up in the W hotels in New York and Los Angeles.
“I always liked the Westwood Marquis, but since the change, our clients have loved it they like the feel of the hotel,” Black said. “It’s a very chic boutique hotel without actually being a boutique hotel. I like the whole idea of W standing for ‘whatever, whenever, wherever.’ Nothing is ever a problem there, and that’s not always the case.”
