Orange County Business Journals
01/09/19

Hotel Openings Down; Construction Up
By Katie Murar

https://www.ocbj.com/news/2019/jan/09/hotel-openings-down-construction/

Three hotels totaling 445 rooms opened in Orange County in 2018, down 54% from the 960 rooms at six hotels that opened in 2017, data from Irvine-based hotel broker-consultant Atlas Hospitality Group show.

The largest was a 164-room Hampton Inn & Suites near John Wayne Airport, followed by the 151-room second tower at Waterfront Hilton Beach Resort in Huntington Beach and the 130-room Lido House in Newport Beach.

The decline doesn’t suggest a loss of appetite for new hotels locally.

There are 14 hotels with 3,128 rooms under construction, nearly double by both metrics from eight hotels and 1,657 rooms at the end of 2017. OC also has 66 hotels with 10,334 reported rooms in planning—up 15% year-over-year on hotel count from 57 and a dip about 800 rooms or 8% on rooms.

The largest hotel now under construction is Wincome Group’s 613-room Westin Anaheim Resort, next to the Anaheim Convention Center.

Atlas said last year’s decline in new hotels and the increase in future projects was echoed statewide.

New properties in California declined 21% to 52 projects while new rooms were down 39% to 6,592. There are 40% more hotels and 37% more rooms under construction, and hotels and rooms in planning are up 24% and 19%, respectively.