Newporter unveils $14-million renovation

Paul Clinton

The new owners of the Hyatt Newporter have launched a $14-million

renovation of the city’s oldest hotel.

Sunstone Hotel Investors, based in San Clemente, are fleshing out

a plan expected to result in a far-reaching overhaul of the former

Newporter Inn, which was built in 1962.

Managers at the 403-room resort say the work, which is long

overdue, will lift what is now considered a second-tier hotel to a

higher level of luxury and comfort in a marketplace that includes the

five-star Four Seasons and new Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort

& Spa. The Balboa Bay Club is also set to unveil a revamped hotel in

May.

“[The renovation] is so we can be competitive in the marketplace,”

General Manager Bruce Brainerd said. “We’re overdue.”

The hotel’s previous owner, Brainerd said, was unwilling to

provide the funds necessary to properly revamp the Hyatt Newporter.

Wyndham International Inc. announced Dec. 5 that it had sold the

hotel and 10 other hotels all over the country to Sunstone for $345

million. Brainerd said the Newporter is worth about $35 million.

As part of the full-scale renovation, Sunstone plans to gut all of

the guest rooms, perhaps redesign the hotel’s floor plan, remodel the

20,000 square feet of meeting space, possibly change the walkways and

public areas and refocus the look of the buildings to emphasize

Spanish-style architecture from the 1920s and ‘30s, Brainerd said.

Civic and business leaders applauded the announcement.

“Anyway you look at it, it’s still a very old hotel,” Mayor Steve

Bromberg said. “I’m encouraged to hear they’re doing that.”

The last time work was done on the hotel was in 1989, when the

former owners added the hotel’s “Balboa” wing.

The renovation would also include a refashioning of the hotel’s

restaurant, the Jamboree Grill, and sports bar. Hotel managers have

hired New York-based cb5 Restaurant Group, which has submitted

recommendations for that work, Brainerd said.

More details of the plan will be available by May, when the plan

is expected to be set in stone. Hotel managers are still formulating

their plan.

Work is set to begin in September and should take no more than

eight months to complete, Brainerd said. That should set up a

reopening for the tourist season in summer of 2004.

The Newporter was sold, Wyndham officials said, so the luxury

resort hotelier could focus on properties with its own brand.

“With this transaction, we are on track to reach our goal of

becoming a proprietary-branded hotel operating company focused on our

Wyndham brand,” Chairman and Chief Executive Fred J. Kleisner said at

the time.

The Newporter was sold to Westbrook Hotel Partners IV, but is

under Sunstone management.

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment, business and politics. He

may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

[email protected].