Luxury hotel owners are betting that downtown Los Angeles -- an area dominated by government buildings, law offices and banks -- will lure convention visitors and tourists from the city’s ritzy enclaves.

Marriott International will open a Ritz-Carlton, downtown LA’s first five-star hotel, and a JW Marriott in the next two months as part of Anschutz Entertainment Group’s 4m sq ft LA Live entertainment complex. Luxe Worldwide Hotels is spending $10m to revamp the downtown Holiday Inn into one of its boutique-style hotels.

The hotels will bring new meeting space and hundreds of rooms to downtown Los Angeles at a time when the lodging industry has seen its biggest occupancy declines in decades. The openings are part of a decade-long revitalisation project in the area, where many streets are deserted after dark as visitors flock to trendier spots in West Hollywood or Beverly Hills.

bloomberg.com