Breakers Hotel is a famous 14-story building on East Ocean Avenue in downtown Long Beach, California. The building was opened in 1926 as a luxurious seaside resort hotel. The building has undergone many ownership changes and has been renamed at various times Hilton, Wilton, and Breakers International Hotel. Has had a history of financial and closure issues and operated for many years as a retirement home. This building has been designated as the Historic Landmark of Long Beach.
Video Breakers Hotel (Long Beach, California)
Pengembangan dan pembukaan (1925-1927)
The Breakers Hotel was developed by a banker and local Long Beach capitalist, Fred B. Dunn. Construction began in the fall of 1925 with an estimated cost of $ 2,250,000.
The original structure consists of one ground floor that runs across the city block with a central tower rising thirteen stories above the main body of the building. The complex also includes arcade and basement floors below Ocean Boulevard level.
Its development, with the architecture described at the time as "ultra Spanish," opened in September 1926. At that time, the total cost of the luxury building was said to be $ 3,000,000. The building opened with a banquet and dinner where the Mayor of Long Beach Condit and Fred Dunn talked about the era of success. The banquet also included an entertainment program by vaudeville artists.
When the hotel opened in 1926 (three years before the opening of the Riviera Villa), the magnificent tower of the building, up 15 floors from the beach, gave it "a greater advantage than any other in the city." At its opening, Breakers was promoted as one of the best luxury resort hotels in Southern California. The hotel features 330 guest rooms and 232Ã, ft (71 m) from the main sea front in downtown Long Beach. Other features of the hotel include a 500-seat dining room known as the "Hall of Galleons," a rooftop garden, coffee shop, beauty shop, hair salon, Turkish bath, and "smart shop." The hotel caters to a "surfing bath" with a special elevator carrying the baths, after they "wear their bathing suits in their room," to the Arcade level, from where there is an entrance to the beach.
One of the unusual features of the hotel is the availability of radio broadcasts in every living room. An article in October 1926 at the Los Angeles Times described the "extraordinary" in-room entertainment features as follows:
Each room in the new hostel has four radio jets, each connected to the radio reception room in the tower. By installing one of these four jets, the program from the broadcasting station sounds... If there is a certain program in the air that the guest is eager to hear, just need the reception room phone and the operator will listen in.
At its opening, Breakers are available to temporary guests and others who make it their permanent residence. The hotel was expected to "be a means of attracting thousands of people to Long Beach."
Maps Breakers Hotel (Long Beach, California)
Years of setback (1929-1935)
Less than a year after its opening, the hotel was sold by Fred Dunn to a group of unnamed investors from Pasadena, Los Angeles and New York. The selling price in 1927 was reported at $ 1,750,000. The new owners announced plans for extensive renovations, including the closing of several dining rooms and the conversion of the ballroom into a summer garden.
The occurrence of the Great Depression and Long Beach Long Beach 1933 prompted the Bankruptebreakers. The 1933 earthquake, which resulted in over 100 deaths, caused only minor damage to the Breakers, but extensive damage to Long Beach caused considerable damage to the tourist trade of the city. The hotel serves as a base for Red Cross relief efforts after the earthquake. In August 1934, the Los Angeles Times reported that the hotel had suffered significant operating losses in 1933 and has been dealing with property and property taxes for the past three years.
Hilton Year and Sky Space (1938-1947) During World War II, two pill boxes with arms holders were installed on the roof for port defense, and the Sky Room became the official Airwatch headquarters for the Long Beach port. One box of pills and a pistol barrier remained intact on the roof at the end of 1991.
src: www.visitcalifornia.com
Wilton (1947-1961)
In 1947, Hilton sold the hotel to Frank Fishman, who named it the Hotel Wilton. This hotel has remained "Wilton" for 14 years. During the 1950s, the hotel changed ownership several times, and promised to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to remodel aging hotels that were not kept.
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International breakers and closures (1961-1964)
In 1961, the hotel was bought by Fred Miller. Miller was one of the founders of Flying Tigers Airlines and bought US Airlines in 1951. After purchasing Breakers in 1961, Miller renamed the Breakers International hotel and spent $ 1.25 million to renovate the property from the top down. Miller is reportedly hoping to "reclaim, for Long Beach, the beauty, dignity and greatest hotel service in the city." However, even with Miller's efforts, he was unable to reverse the fate of the Breaker. Within 24 months as a hotel owner, Miller reported that he lost half of his net worth. In November 1963, Miller surrendered and closed the hotel.
Long Beach Press-Telegram announced the hotel "giant dead on the beach." Others say the hotel relies too heavily on convention business: "This hotel should try to get 80 percent of its revenue from the convention business.There is no rail service or air service to Long Beach, and a 20-minute highway walk to Los Angeles where the industry is hurting all the hotels. "A commentator argues," God and Conrad Hilton could not have saved this hotel. " The head of the hotel bellman, Paul Grantham, who has worked at the hotel since 1928, blamed "the motel's arrival."
In January 1964, the hotel was sold at auction to pay off the hotel creditors. Although valued at $ 4.3 million for land and repairs, the property sells for $ 1.75 million. The high bidder, Long Beach realtor Harvey Miller, announced plans to change the structure into a retirement hotel.
The hotel has remained closed for almost three years and is referred to as "the largest pigeon on the West Coast."
Hotel Pensioners (1967-1982)
The hotel remained closed for three years as plans to turn it into a retirement hotel stalled. In September 1966, the hotel reopened as a combination of a permanent pension hotel and a temporary hotel for overnight guests. In January 1967, the property was occupied 70% by permanent residents who had the option to plan American $ 175 per month including hotel comfort and three times a day, or a European plan of $ 115 a month without meals.
In 1975, the retired hotel housing was refurbished again. The renovations include all new carpets, curtains, furniture, automatic lifts, and an updated phone system. The owners expressed their intention to create the ultimate in retirement life for senior citizens of Long Beach.
In 1978, the New Breakers Hotel Company sold the property to Stoneridge Management Company for less than $ 3 million.
Re-conversion to hotel usage (1986-1987)
In 1986, the hotel was converted back into a tourist hotel and placed under the same management of the company responsible for managing the city's major tourist destinations, the Spruce Goose and Queen Mary. Before reopening in 1986, the hotel has undergone a renovation and restoration worth $ 15 million over three years.
The new version of Breakers opens with 242 guest rooms, including 20 suites, restaurants and nightclubs upstairs, and the ballroom is restored to its original 1920s decor. The Sky Room, which was given Polynesian theme by the previous owner, was renovated in Art Deco style. At the time of reopening, the Los Angeles Times wrote: "60 years has become a roller-coaster ride up and down, prosperity and prosperity, bright lights and gloomy emptiness.Never, its direction is up."
The excitement about the Breakers restoration was short-lived as the hotel failed to attract enough guests to make a profit. The hotel closed its doors again in January 1987.
Designation as a Historic Landmark (1989)
In 1989, Breakers, still vacant after closure in 1987, was designated a Long Beach Historic Landmark, requiring approval from the Commission on Cultural Heritage before making a major change in the appearance of the building.
Senior citizen housing (1990-2015)
The property was purchased after the closure of 1988 by Ocean Boulevard Associates, which spent $ 23 million on retrofitting the earthquake and restoring Roman-style architecture in the 1920s. The building was reopened in November 1990 as a "Living Assistant Residence" for elderly citizens. In October 1991, Breakers had 38 residents with an average age of 84 years, paying rent ranging from $ 1,000 per month, including three meals a day, household and local transport. A home medical staff provides drug administration and routine activities for those in need of leadership. The facility closed in March 2015 after the state authorities revoked its license.
Sky Room Remodeled (1997-present)
In 1997, the Sky Room, originally developed by Conrad Hilton in 1938, was restored and reopened by the property's new owner, Bernard Rosenson. Rosenson restores the Art Deco Sky Room look and redesigns it to focus on its 360-degree view. The new Sky Room offers an "ultra-retro menu" and music by swing and jazz bands called the Sky Room Orchestra.
See also
- List of Long Beach Historic Landmarks Landmarks
References
External links
- Breakers @ Long Beach apartment official website
- Official Sky Room website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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