X Games bookings exceed expectations.

WITH ESPN's 2004 X Games just two weeks away, several local hoteliers are more excited about the impact of the event than they were last summer.

This year's games, which will take place from Aug. 5-8 at the Staples Center, the Home Depot National Training Center in Carson and at Huntington Beach, appears to be providing a boost to downtown hotels--as well as putting pressure on Westside properties that already are close to capacity thanks to a strong summer season.

Blocks of rooms for ESPN and X Games staff have been set aside at five hotels: Le Merigot, Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, Millennium Biltmore, the Omni Los Angeles and Torrance Marriott.

The 700-room Millennium Biltmore has contracted for 3,000 room nights, the same number it picked up last year, and is already sold out during the X Games, according to Michael Krouse director of sales and marketing.

Le Merigot has blocked 170 room nights for Aug. 3-10, said Debra Rosenberg Matsumoto director of sales and marketing. She expects nearly all of those rooms to be booked by ESPN's invited guests.

"It's the middle of our season and we will be sold out," she said. "There's a great deal of pressure in the city of Santa Monica because of the X Games and other groups. It's all a good thing."

This dose of optimism is a far cry from last year, when hotel and restaurant operators were grumbling that X Games bookings were not what they expected. The original projected attendance last year was 300,000, but only 187,141 people showed up. This year, the projection is 200,000.

"It's a terrific win for the city of L.A. because August is typically a very slow month for downtown hotels," said Kathy Schloessman, president of the L.A. Sports and Entertainment Commission. "Most people want to be on the beach or the Westside.'"

Maria Elles Scott, manager of event publicity and community relations for the X Games, said ESPN is pleased with Los Angeles as a venue. "X Games IX was extremely successful," said Scott, noting that in 2003 the X Gaines featured upgraded courses and was able to "make athletes happy and get new spectators."

Because the entire event, which offers competitions in youth-market sports such as skateboarding and bike-ramp stunts, will be broadcast live for the first time, all events this year will take place during a four-day period. (Last year, surfing and downhill BMX competitions were a week earlier.) And while there was a general admission charge of $5 last year, this year's event will cost $5-15 per day, depending on seat selection.

LA Inc., the Convention and Visitors Bureau, projects an economic impact of $4 million, roughly the same as last year. While the X Games had only signed on for two years in Los Angeles, Scott said an extension is possible. ESPN is expected to make a decision where next year's games will he held within the next few weeks.

Staff reporter Rebecca Flass can be reached at [phone], ext. 230, or at [e-mail].