Another 4-Star Hotel Planned For Anaheim (Goodbye Annabella Hotel)

[TP2000]

A third luxury 4 Star hotel (or 4 Diamond, if you belong to the Auto Club) has just been announced for Anaheim. The Wincome Group, the same developer that announced a couple months ago it would build a 4 star hotel on the old Anaheim Plaza site across the street from Tower of Terror, has announced that they plan to demolish the old Annabella Hotel on Katella. A new 650 room luxury hotel with a price tag of $225 Million and aimed at the convention market and upscale tourists would rise in its place in 2018.

Full story with more photos and renderings is here: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/hotel-696747-anaheim-city.html

This is the new hotel looking south across Katella Avenue, directly south of California Screamin' and the backside of Paradise Pier. The Anaheim Arena is seen off to the left, with the Anaheim Convention Center seen behind the hotel.

The hotel's "luxury brand" has not yet been announced by Wincome (standard practice in the hotel trade), so the project still has the working title of "Anabella Hotel" with the construction and planning documents filed with the city, as the name of the property currently there since 2001.

Judging by the architecture and aesthetic in the multiple renderings, I wonder if it's not a Ritz Carlton? That would be a definite coup for Anaheim.

The Anabella Hotel that sits there now is a sprawling two-story motel complex that was pieced together from three old 1960's motels in the late 1990's and pleasantly remodeled and rebranded as the Anabella Hotel.

This is what the Anabella Hotel looks like now, near the corner of Katella and Disneyland Drive.

If we're lucky that horrible coffee shop on the corner -Tiffy's, will also be demolished with this project.

 

[Phroobar]

Gosh I hope so too. Tiffy's food is barely editable and the service is nonexistent. Avoid that coffee shop at all cost.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Not a fan of the architecture @TP2000, but the scale is right right for the Anaheim Resort District, and another upscale hotel property will be a welcome addition to the area. It's way past time that Disney expands its hotel presence at Disneyland too.

Beyond DLR proper the northern end of Orange County is pretty dry for restaurants, hotels and bars that would attract well-heeled and younger tourists to compete with venues in downtown LA and West Hollywood. A friend here in the Bay Area is arranging a family Christmas event at the Knott's Hotel (his extended family lives nearby). He shared the catering menu with me and we boy did we get a good laugh when we saw they still have ambrosia salad on the menu. We wondered if it had been there since the mid 20th Century. Just sad.

 

[TP2000]

Not a fan of the architecture @TP2000, but the scale is right right for the Anaheim Resort District, and another upscale hotel property will be a welcome addition to the area. It's way past time that Disney expands its hotel presence at Disneyland too.

Beyond DLR proper the northern end of Orange County is pretty dry for restaurants, hotels and bars that would attract well-heeled and younger tourists to compete with venues in downtown LA and West Hollywood. A friend here in the Bay Area is arranging a family Christmas event at the Knott's Hotel (his extended family lives nearby). He shared the catering menu with me and we boy did we get a good laugh when we saw they still have ambrosia salad on the menu. We wondered if it had been there since the mid 20th Century. Just sad.

First, congratulations to you for using "ambrosia salad" in a sentence in the 21st century. I hadn't heard anyone say that in decades!

Don't get me started on the 2010's state of Knott's Berry Farm. It's a weird combination of 21st century attempts at relevance and 1970's schmaltz. Somehow I'm not surprised that their "resort hotel" has ambrosia salad on their menu.

I'm also not a big fan of this architecture in the rendering above. It looks too "corporate upscale beachy", and like something that would have been built circa 2000 in Florida, or maybe Las Vegas. Nothing in that architecture says Southern California, or even West Coast. The green bowed-mansard roofs are really the worst part. What says "classy" in Tampa or Atlantic City doesn't say the same thing in SoCal.

I kept looking at the renderings in the link above and trying to figure out where I'd seen it before, and then it hit me and I Googled up Las Vegas Four Seasons. Yup, the motor court and porte cochere in that rendering reminds me of the Vegas Four Seasons! And the green mansard roofs are also found at that Four Seasons. Hmm.....

Las Vegas Four Seasons porte cochere and motor court

Could this planned Anaheim hotel be a future Four Seasons? I think the chances are slim that Anaheim would get a Four Seasons, but then they are already getting a JW Marriott, and the Grand Californian at least likes to pretend they are in the Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton type of business (Ugly truth is they aren't. 3 minutes spent interacting with the Grand Californian CM's exposes that fact quickly.)

A Four Seasons in Anaheim? I wonder....

 

[FerretAfros]

With all these 3rd party high-end hotels popping up, I can't help but wonder if it's time for Disney to reexamine their Anaheim hotel inventory. They've been operating at 95%+ occupancy for over a decade, yet their only expansion since 2001 has been a handful of DVC units at the Grand Californian. If they're able to find enough guests willing to pay $300+/night to regularly fill up the Paradise Pier Hotel, surely there's a market for an additional Disney hotel

With the new hotels opening in the next few years, I can't help but wonder if they'll begin to hurt Disney's business. If I can stay at a real 4-star place within walking distance for 70% of what Disney charges for it's 3-star-at-best hotels, I'm not sure there's a huge argument in Disney's favor. Unlike WDW, there's no real advantage to staying "on property" in Anaheim, so I'm interested to see how Disney will react to the changing market around them

I never stayed at the Annabella, since (like the PPH) it just never seemed like a good value for what it was. It's a nicely remodeled old motel, but I couldn't justify the price when I could stay at one of the flea bag motels across the street for 1/3 the price. I did get duped into having breakfast at Tiffy's once...I can only hope that it is getting replaced as part of this project, but for some reason I doubt it

 

[Travel Junkie]

With the MiceChat rumors of Disney rethinking Downtown Disney I would imagine they also look at adding additional hotels. They really have been leaving money on the table by not having more room inventory.

Also keep in mind Star Wars land is coming. That will have a huge draw and bring a lot more than locals to the DLR. It will draw people from all over the west and if it opens before DHS's Star Wars land will bring fans from all over the galaxy so to speak. They'll need a place to stay and Disney certainly would want them to stay with Disney.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

A regular poster at Laughing Place who claimed to work for Disney Parks in Asia repeatedly said that DLR hasn't built any more hotels as there is little evidence to suggest that they could maintain their revenue per available room and occupancy rates. DLR can charge a premium for its hotel rooms partially because there are relatively few of them. Apparently, at least according to him, Disney hasn't felt that local tourist market justifies the investment.

 

[flynnibus]

Disney manipulates the hotel market there with their property ownership


I have a feeling the days of cheap hotel rooms in the district are on their way out and as the next round of expansion hits (including reworking dtd) that Disney will finally roll out some of its own new offerings.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Disney is manipulating its onsite room rates, but what impact that is having on the hotels outside of DLR isn't clear. Average hotel room rates in Anaheim are low, which is why any rumor of a 4 star property coming the region is big news.

 

[Jahona]

Interesting I was planning on booking a trip in March to the Anabella. I can't say I'm a fan of the new architecture. It's not inspiring to me. The current Anabella has an old time south west feel and not necessarily dated.

 

[TP2000]

If I can stay at a real 4-star place within walking distance for 70% of what Disney charges for it's 3-star-at-best hotels, I'm not sure there's a huge argument in Disney's favor. Unlike WDW, there's no real advantage to staying "on property" in Anaheim, so I'm interested to see how Disney will react to the changing market around them.

Great point. For the last 60 years the Disneyland hotels have been the top dog in lodging in Anaheim; nothing was nicer or fancier than what Disney offered.

That would change with this one-two-three punch of new 4 Star hotels. And the new hotels all have legally binding zoning regulations in place to ensure they remain 4 Star rated hotels for at least the first 25 years.

If it's a JW Marriott (confirmed), a W Hotel (unconfirmed) and a Four Seasons (pure speculation), that would really put the pressure on at least the Grand Californian to step it up and perform. I'm not confident the Disneyland Hotel could make it, and might have to slip to a 3 Star property to justify its lowered room rates in the face of all the new competition. The Paradise Pier already is officially a 3 Star, but it only operates like that on a good day.

 

[TP2000]

Disney is manipulating its onsite room rates, but what impact that is having on the hotels outside of DLR isn't clear. Average hotel room rates in Anaheim are low, which is why any rumor of a 4 star property coming the region is big news.

Yes, compared to the rest of SoCal's major tourism or business centers, Anaheim has the lowest room rates in the region. Aside from Palm Springs out of season (July-September).

With these three new 4 Stars coming to Anaheim the next few years, Disney would have to invest heavily in their three properties, if not demolish the Paradise Pier Hotel outright and start over.

The Grand Californian Hotel would be under a lot of pressure to step it up. If there's a Four Seasons down the block where Annabella is now, Disney would need to send the entire Grand Californian team back for two weeks of professional hospitality training and then set and maintain much higher standards of polish and professionalism than what the Grand Californian CM's currently display. Judging by the way those CM's perform now, that's a big task. It may involve letting some people go, or transferring them over to the Paradise Pier.

But The Disneyland Hotel would be under the most pressure to maintain its 4 Star status. I hate to say it, but I think the easiest and kindest thing for those CM's would be to allow the Disneyland Hotel to downgrade to a 3 Star so that Disney management could keep the focus on the Grand Californian as the 4 Star flagship in a newly competitive local market.

This really will shake things up in Anaheim, to be sure.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Stayed at the Annabella a few times on recent trips.

It's a great location, and the rooms have been remodelled. It's affordable while being much nicer than any other of the nearby hotels I've stayed in.

I guess it's bad news personally, but good news for the area? I wonder if the days of affordable hotels within walking distance could be coming to an end?

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Disney is fully aware that they have the demand for another hotel. If all progresses to plan, construction won't be far off.

 

[TP2000]

Digging up this 2015 thread because the Annabella Hotel just closed today, with the last guest checking out at Noon. Demolition and construction is set to begin in September. http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/1...truction-on-four-diamond-resort-in-september/

The Wincome Group has yet to announce what brand of hotel this will be, but the architecture still looks like a Four Seasons to me.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

A Four Seasons in Anaheim would be shocking. Wouldn't the typical Four Seasons be considered Five Diamond status?

 

[mickEblu]

Disney is fully aware that they have the demand for another hotel. If all progresses to plan, construction won't be far off.

Which begs the question, will I be able to see this new hotel from NOS? Sight lines people. Let's get back to what's it's important.

 

[TP2000]

A Four Seasons in Anaheim would be shocking. Wouldn't the typical Four Seasons be considered Five Diamond status?

There are lots of 4 Diamond rated Four Seasons, mainly in second-tier cities and suburban areas. And Texas.

In swanky world-class resort areas; Hawaii, Bali, Tahiti, etc. they tend to strive for and achieve the 5 diamond ratings.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

There are lots of 4 Diamond rated Four Seasons, mainly in second-tier cities and suburban areas. And Texas.

In swanky world-class resort areas; Hawaii, Bali, Tahiti, etc. they tend to strive for and achieve the 5 diamond ratings.

A hotel property of that caliber would be a first for the Anaheim area where the average daily room rate is just $180.75 compared to $225.00 just a 30 minute drive away in Los Angeles, and close to $400.00 up here in San Francisco. I'd be delighted to see a Four Seasons near Disneyland, but even a scaled down version seems at odds with the type of traveler typically drawn to Anaheim.

 

[nevol]

Which begs the question, will I be able to see this new hotel from NOS? Sight lines people. Let's get back to what's it's important.

Probably not NOS because perspective. foreground objects will blind you from everything behind you. Over by big thunder is where you'll definitely have the problem! May cut into the silhouettes of the E tickets over there.