Century Plaza Hotel Los Angeles

The Century Plaza Hotel (CP), touted as the show piece for the $50 million Century City development, was designed for owner-developer Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA), and opened in 1966 with Western International Hotels (WIH), who later changed its name to Westin Hotels & Resorts and operated by the Company until 1999 as the management company.

WIH’s entry into Los Angeles did not originate with the CP, but rather with The Mayfair Hotel which the Company managed from 1953-1961, and WIH was anxious to maintain a presence in this dynamic city.

To that end, then WIH president, Mr. Edward Carlson, engaged in many discussions with developers and corporate interests regarding operating a hotel in what would be called Century City. Progress accelerated in earnest toward that reality when ALCOA secured title to the property.  Since a decade earlier WIH had managed the Hawaiian Village in Honolulu for the owner, ALCOA, WIH became a logical candidate as operator.  An agreement was reached to take on this responsibility once the WIH Board flew to Los Angeles to review the project. As Mr. Carlson recalled in his memoirs, “the vote was favorable, but not exactly an enthusiastic endorsement by Messrs. Thurston, Dupar, Try Himmelman, Metzdorf, Abel, et al.”

During the design phase both Mr. Carlson and the hotel’s first Managing Director, Harry Mullikin, collaborated closely with architect Minoru Yamasaki to deliver an iconic product to Century City and the world. 

At the time of the hotel's construction, Mr. Carlson stated, "We're not striving to build the biggest hotel in the nation. We just asked Mr. Yamasaki to create the most beautiful hotel in the world."

As the opening date neared Carlson had what he described as a “dream” and Gordon after hearing the story said, “That’s not a dream. It’s a nightmare”, for in his dream Carlson had visions that the hotel opened, but that there was not a guest in sight.

Referring back to Mr. Carlson’s memoirs, he wrote: “I have often said that of all the deals I made for Western Hotels, none has a greater risk for WIH than the Century Plaza. The financial exposure was the greatest Western had ever undertaken. Although ALCOA had been reasonable in allowing levels of deferred payments, there was a cut-off point, and if (heaven forbid!) revenue and expenses did not fall together at some reasonable time, it was possible that WIH would be in very, very serious financial trouble.”

“After the opening and several months of operation, the losses were very serious. We were permitted, under the lease, to defer what we could not pay between the minimum rent and the full rent.

Harry was as concerned as I was, and one weekend I flew south. Harry and I reviewed all the projections and expenses. The only answer was a substantial increase in the room rate. Monday morning Harry told the front office staff that the average rate had to be increased by six dollars.(When we opened the hotel the minimum rate was $16; the average rate was $25, Thus, a $6 increased represented a 25 percent increase.) This out us substantially ahead of the Beverly Hilton – a bold move, but if we had not done that, the losses would have become increasingly more critical and the arrears debt even more sobering. Harry’s logic and strong leadership with the front office was effective. Very little business was lost, and from then on the Century Plaza has always shown very strong earnings."

“In the first fourteen months we paid the minimum rent, but we had to defer $1.6 million of the full rent. The next year we paid the full rent, plus $500,000 on the deferred rent. The third year, in addition to paying the full rent, we paid all deferrals.”

The CP was linked to countless events of historic importance such as awards presentations, presidential press conferences, political fundraisers, peace rallies and protests, inaugural celebrations, and all types of social gatherings, including charity balls, galas, and annual awards presentations.

In August 1969, the first and only Presidential State Dinner ever held outside the White House was hosted at the CP to honor the Apollo 11 Mission. The "Welcome Back to Earth" celebration was nationally televised and attended by the astronauts and their families, along with countless celebrities, politicians and dignitaries. Popular with U.S. presidents, the Hotel is perhaps most closely associated with the political career of President Ronald Reagan who stayed at the hotel for long stretches and held many of his fundraisers and inaugural celebrations in its ballroom.

Carlson quotes from Recollections of a Lucky Fellow 1989

Contributors: Westin Archives, Doug Brooks, Bob King



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