Two San Fernando Valley hotels scramble to reopen; quake-damaged properties face several months' closure.Quake-damaged properties face several months' closure Two major San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. hotels will remain closed for at least another month as a result of damage from the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6. . Meanwhile, a Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. hotel is scheduled to reopen on Feb. 20 and two other properties in Woodland Hills that were closed are operating at or near full capacity. A spokeswoman for the Universal Sheraton in Universal City, a major hotel property in the valley, is closed until about May 1. About 90 percent of the hotel's 446 rooms were damaged in the earthquake but the property did not sustain any structural damage, said the spokeswoman. After closing the hotel immediately following the earthquake, hotel management decided to renovate the entire property in addition to repairing the quake damage, said the spokeswoman. The hotel, built in 1968, is an important property in the Universal City area and had been operating at a 77 percent occupancy rate Noun 1. occupancy rate - the percentage of all rental units (as in hotels) are occupied or rented at a given time pct, per centum, percent, percentage - a proportion in relation to a whole (which is usually the amount per hundred) , well above the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County average of about 62 percent. Last year the hotel had total revenues of about $21 million, said the spokeswoman. The hotel's customers include leisure travelers to Universal Studios and other tourist attractions Noun 1. tourist attraction - a characteristic that attracts tourists attractive feature, magnet, attractor, attracter, attraction - a characteristic that provides pleasure and attracts; "flowers are an attractor for bees" in the area. In addition, the hotel attracts many commercial travelers doing business at nearby entertainment companies. The property also does a significant amount of banquet and meetings business. Universal Sheraton's room rates start at about $150 a night, and its temporary closing will be a boon to other nearby hotel properties. The other property closed for an extended period is the Radisson Valley Center Hotel on Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. in Sherman Oaks. The 215-room, 13-story hotel has been declared unsafe to enter by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. Wes Calverly, the hotel's general manager, said last week the property could reopen by March 1 after repairs are completed and following a reinspection and certification of occupancy by the city. Calverly said there was no major damage to the hotel itself but the adjacent parking structure has to be reinforced. He said the property has not been condemned, meaning that it is not beyond repair and does not have to be torn down. As of last Tuesday Last Tuesday is a Christian melodic punk rock band hailing from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They played their final show on March 10th, 2007. Last Tuesday was formed in 1999 in Harrisburg, P.A. (Feb. 1), the building had been "red-tagged" by the city, meaning that it could not be entered. Calverly said he hoped the building's condition would be upgraded to a "yellow tag," meaning people could go into the building but it could not yet be occupied. He said the hotel's 80 employees have been temporarily laid off but will be called back when the hotel reopens. The hotel, with nightly room rates of about $110, is at 15433 Ventura Blvd. and its customers are evenly divided between leisure and business travelers. The hotel, which until 14 months ago was a Hilton property, is a franchise operation of Radisson Hotels Radisson Hotels & Resorts is a worldwide chain of 435 hotels, with a total of 102,000 guest rooms, in 61 countries. The first Radisson Hotel was built in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1909, and was named for the 17th century French explorer Pierre-Esprit Radisson. International and is owned by an Ohio-based limited partnership. Another hotel that has been closed because of earthquake damage is the Holiday Inn on Pico Boulevard Pico Boulevard is a major Los Angeles street that runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica to Central Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. It is named after Pío Pico, the last Mexican governor of California. in Santa Monica. That property is now expected to reopen on Feb. 20. The Guest Quarters Suite Hotel on 4th Street in Santa Monica has reopened after closing for a week following the earthquake. The two major Woodland Hills properties in the Warner Center that closed immediately after the earthquake were operating at or near full capacity last week. The Warner Center Hilton and Towers is 100 percent open, said Manager Larry Cooper. The nearby 473-room Warner Center Marriott last week was operating at about 90 percent of capacity, said Tom Stroik, the director of marketing. He said it will probably take another week before the hotel is fully operational. Meanwhile, in other quake-related developments, the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau is leading a delegation of tourism-industry representatives to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of this week to discuss the effects of the earthquake with members of the trade and consumer press. Gary Sherwin, a spokesman for the bureau, said representatives from 32 hotels, attractions and other visitor agencies in the county are making the trip. "We are certainly not going to whitewash whitewash, white fluid commonly used as an inexpensive, impermanent coating for walls, fences, stables, and other exterior structures. It varies in composition, being generally a mixture of lime (quicklime), water, flour, salt, glue, and whiting, with other what happened but we want to correct some misperceptions and explain to the geography of Los Angeles," said Sherwin. The trip is being paid for by individual companies, which have received special airline and hotel rates for the event, said Sherwin. He said as of last Tuesday that no city officials will make the trip because they are too busy taking care of post-earthquake matters. |
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