Pebblebrook Picks Up Starwood’s W Los Angeles – Westwood for $125M

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

The W Los Angeles – Westwood has become part of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust’s portfolio of luxury assets. In a $125 million transaction, the REIT acquired the 258-room property from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc.

W Los Angeles, known as the Westwood Marquis Hotel & Gardens until Starwood’s rebranding campaign in 2000, carries the address of 930 Hilgard Ave. in the city’s bustling Westwood neighborhood just a stone’s throw from the University of California, Los Angeles, and within easy reach of such thriving West Los Angeles business and retail pockets as Century City and Beverly Hills. In addition to a prime location, the premier all-suite property features 3,300 square feet of meeting space, an upscale spa, a public fitness center and the all-important parking garage.

The property also has the numbers. In 2011, W Los Angeles operated at 84 percent occupancy, outshining the metropolitan Los Angeles hotel market, which, according to a report by Deloitte, experienced an average occupancy level of 72.7 percent. The national average for key U.S. markets was just 61.2 percent.

There’s a new owner in place, but much will remain the same at W Los Angeles. Pebblebrook will move forward with the multi-million-dollar renovations Starwood had planned, and Starwood will continue in its role as manager of the hotel under a 40-year contract. The transaction dovetails with Starwood’s strategy of selling its real estate in an effort to focus on the business of management. Just last week, the hotel company sold the 520-room W Chicago – Lakeshore to Chesapeake Lodging Trust for $126 million.