Sizing Up the Competition

Not many people bother to measure the length of their pool towels.

But at the new L’Ermitage Beverly Hills, guests can rest assured that the thick towels draped across the dozen or so pool-side chaise lounges are “the longest pool towels in the country,” according to General Manager Jack Naderkhani.

In the luxury hotel business, in which hoteliers pamper wealthy clients with every imaginable service and gimmick, no detail or amenity is too small to overlook or brag about. So it’s no surprise, then, that L’Ermitage is trying to distinguish itself with 88-inch-long pool towels and cell phones for every guest as it prepares to reenter the lucrative and highly competitive luxury hotel market of Westside Los Angeles.

“We want to be unique,” said Naderkhani of L’Ermitage, whose owners spent about $65 million to buy and renovate the 124-room hotel on Burton Way that was once mired in bankruptcy. “We want to get away from the old traditions and try something new.”

The league of luxury hotels is a very small one that is dominated by fewer than a dozen properties. Guests can pay more than $2,000 a night for a suite or a private villa at such venerable establishments as the Hotel Bel-Air, the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Peninsula, the Four Seasons hotel, the Regent Beverly Wilshire and--after a four-year absence--L’Ermitage.

A booming economy and large flows of wealthy international travelers have helped fill deluxe hostelries. “On [some] days you can’t get a room in the luxury hotel market,” said Larry Kantor, director of hospitality consulting services for Arthur Andersen.

During the first three months of the year, the occupancy rate at high-end hotels stood at 80%, compared with 70% during the same period last year, according to PKF Consulting.

The strong demand for luxury rooms means that the opening of the L’Ermitage next week will not result in any significant long-term losses for any of its competitors, said Los Angeles-based PKF consultant Bruce Baltin.

“With the market being this strong, [L’Ermitage] should not have a big impact,” Baltin said.

L’Ermitage plans to raise the stakes by offering the latest in high technology in a residential-like setting. Each room features five telephone lines as well as connections to the Internet.

To keep the simple but elegant lobby free of suitcases, luggage will be loaded into a curbside elevator, then whisked away to guest rooms. In fact, L’Ermitage has eliminated everything from the piano bar to employee name tags to set the place apart from traditional big hotels. The uniform for most male employees, for example, features a band-like collar instead of a tie, which “would be too typical,” said Naderkhani, the general manager.

But the high level of service and amenities at L’Ermitage will come with a stiff price tag. The basic room rate at L’Ermitage will start at about $400 a night and shoot up to $3,800 for the Presidential Suite, which is larger than most three-bedroom homes.

The competitors of L’Ermitage don’t seem worried about the arrival of another luxury property on the Westside.

Frank Bowling, general manager of the 92-room Hotel Bel-Air, said the opening of L’Ermitage will only increase the area’s prestige. As for the Bel-Air, where the occupancy rate has been running above 80%, Bowling sees little if any impact. “The Hotel Bel-Air has its own clientele.”

Rivals also promise to match most of the new amenities and services that L’Ermitage will offer its guests. The 285-room Four Seasons, for example, is in the middle of rewiring guest rooms to provide high-speed communications that would allow customers the ability to quickly download photos or videos through the Internet.

“New bells and whistles are always great,” said Carrie Bishop, Four Seasons’ director of marketing, “but before you know it, everybody has them.”