IRVINE : City’s Oldest Hotel Is Getting a Face Lift

To millions of television viewers, the Airporter Garden Hotel’s claim to fame is its association with the show “Love Connection.”

Producers of the show, which pairs people for dates, regularly interview contestants at the hotel, whose picture and name is displayed at the end of each broadcast.

But in the annals of local history, the MacArthur Boulevard inn has another distinction: It’s the oldest hotel in Irvine.

Since it was built amid acres of farmland 23 years ago, office towers, a major airport and other hotels have been built around the three-story hotel.

The added competition from nearby big-name hotels like Holiday Inn and Hyatt has prompted the owners of Airporter Garden to undertake a $2-million renovation project.

“When this property opened, there were orange groves everywhere,” said Chris Zappia, general manager of the hotel. “John Wayne Airport was just a few hangars. There was nothing else around.

“Over the course of the years, almost every major hotel has popped up within a five-mile radius,” Zappia said.

In an effort to stay competitive, workers have already remodeled all of the hotel’s 212 rooms. They’ve also completed work on the meeting rooms and open spaces. Soon, work will begin on renovating the brick and red tile facade of the hotel.

Landscape work is also scheduled to “increase the greenery” at the front of the hotel, Zappia said. A grand reopening is scheduled for sometime in the spring.

In making the changes, hotel officials said they were careful to retain the hotel’s quirky charms, including the expansive outdoor pool courtyard and the large observation windows with views of the airport.

The hotel has a wide arching entryway as well as two restaurants and a nightclub.

“The is a landmark property,” Zappia said. “It’s not your typical cookie-cutter hotel property. It definitely has its own style.”

Patrons seem to agree.

“It’s nice and airy and bright,” said Lou Martinez, 67 of Fullerton as he ate breakfast with a friend in the hotel coffee shop last week. “It looks like a nice place to visit.”