Overhaul of Westin to Cost $10.5 Million

Eager to compete for the upscale market, the Westin South Coast Plaza unveiled a $10.5-million renovation plan Thursday night that will upgrade its lobby, increase its ballroom and meeting room space and make over its guest rooms.

“It’s time for a complete renovation,” said Michael J. Deighton, the hotel’s new manager. “In the last 4 years, a great deal of competition has been added in Orange County. We’re trying to stay on top of the market.”

The Costa Mesa hotel’s major competitors, he said, are the Marriott, Four Seasons and Le Meridien hotels in Newport Beach and the Hilton and Marriott hotels in Irvine.

The 16-story Westin hotel across from South Coast Plaza will start its 9-month renovation Monday.

“The hotel will definitely take on a different character--more elegant and residential in its feel,” Deighton said. “You’ll see it in the finishings and color. We’ll get more into a residential style of furniture, like desk lamps instead lamps attached to walls.”

The hotel has 394 rooms now. Two rooms on the third floor will be turned into an executive room, where companies can hold board meetings or small shareholder meetings. And two rooms on the 15th floor will be turned into an executive lounge catering to corporate patrons.

Lobby renovations, which include doubling the size of the hallway outside the ballrooms, are expected to be completed Dec. 15. The rest of the hotel should be completed--two floors at a time--by Feb. 15, Deighton said.