The Orange County Register
05/29/19

Lake Forest Getting 3 New Hotels
By Jonanthan Lansner

Lake Forest getting 3 new hotels

Lake Forest is getting three new hotels near the Lake Forest Boulevard exits to the 5 freeway.

The building surge will add 422 rooms to the city that already has 10 hotels. According to the city, here’s what under construction …

TownePlace Suites by Marriott: 112 rooms in 65,000 square feet at 23150 Lake Center Drive.

Springhill Suites by Marriott: 102 rooms in 67,000 square feet at 23600 Rockfield Blvd.

Homewood Suites/Hampton Inn: 208 rooms in 120,000 square feet at 23021 Lake Center Drive.

These hotels may face a cooling hotel market in South Orange County.

Room rates in the first quarter ran $229 a night in the area, down 2.5% in a year, according to CBRE data. Occupancy was down slightly to 71.6%. Countywide, room rates were up 1.5% in 12 months to $195 as occupancy slipped modestly, too, to 78.9%.

Atlas Hospitality shows just three hotels opened in 2018 in Orange County, half of the six in 2017. Last year’s openings had 445 rooms vs. 960 in ’17 — a drop of 54%.

That building decline seems to be a fast-growth industry taking a breather than any actual slowdown. Hotels under construction at year-end were 14 hotels vs. eight in ’17 — a gain of 75%. That lodging will hold 3,128 rooms vs. 1,657 a year earlier — a rise of 89%.