Millennium Biltmore Hotel

History[edit]

The Biltmore Los Angeles opened on October 1, 1923.^[1] It was developed by the nationwide Bowman-Biltmore Hotels chain.^[2] At the time, it was the largest hotel in the United States west of Chicago.^[3]


The hotel was sold to nightclub owner Baron Long in 1933, in the depths of the Great Depression.^[4] Long also owned the U.S. Grant Hotel in San Diego and had developed the Agua Caliente resort in Tijuana.^[1] Long renovated the hotel and renamed it The Biltmore Hotel. He established the Biltmore Bowl, the world's largest nightclub, in the hotel's basement.^[5]


In 1951, the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Company was sold to Corrigan Properties for more than $12 million.^[6] In 1969, The Biltmore Hotel was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument by the City of Los Angeles. The decaying hotel was sold for $5 million in 1976 to developer Gene R. Summers and his business partner Phyllis Lambert. They spent millions more to restore the hotel over the next five years, before selling it to Westgroup Inc. in 1984.^[7] Westgroup redeveloped the property to designs by Seattle architect Barnett Schorr. The guest rooms in the rear portion of the structure, facing Grand Avenue, were converted to office space known as Biltmore Court. Directly adjacent on Grand Avenue, an adjoining 24-story office tower was constructed on the property, the Biltmore Tower. The remaining hotel portion facing Pershing Square was completely renovated.^[8]


Regal Hotels purchased The Biltmore in 1996 and it was renamed the Regal Biltmore Hotel. Regal was sold to Millennium & Copthorne Hotels in 1999,^[9] and the hotel was renamed the Biltmore Los Angeles on April 9, 2001.^[10] The hotel has 70,000 square feet (6,500 m²) of meeting and banquet space. From its original 1500 guestrooms it now has 683, due to room reorganization.^[11]