After living with the bustle of construction for nearly a year, La Costa Resort and Spa is ready to reveal the fruits of its $50 million renovation.
You don't have to go far into La Costa to notice the updates, which stretch across the 400-acre Spanish mission-style resort, a Southern California landmark since 1965. No part of the resort, which has 611 guest rooms that include luxury villas and suites, was left untouched in the makeover, which gives La Costa a bright, fresh new look.
The resort renovated 474 guest rooms and suites, giving them a more contemporary look. Each type of room was styled with its own color palette, adding hues of blue, green and terra cotta to mirror the resort's natural and bright exterior. Added touches, including high-definition televisions and Wi-Fi connectivity, give the rooms a more modern feel, satisfying the needs of today's guests.
Another aspect of the makeover includes a redefined purpose for the spa, one that's guided by a desire to commit to the elements of nature.
The spa's 28,000 square-foot interior was redesigned, and now houses a reintroduced, full-service salon that offers natural products. Outside, the spa has an all-new herb garden with rosemary, lavender, basil and other fresh herbs that are used by the Spa Cafe. Also new in the courtyard is a Reflexology Path, one of only a few that exist in the United States, carefully arranged stones that activate pressure points on bare feet as you walk the path.
The resort's award-winning golf courses, which have hosted the top names in the sport in their history of more than 40 years, have received a dramatic redesign. The 18-hole north course, now named the Champions Course, has added two water features and changed the layout to add expanded native vegetation. The course has added length with distinctive bunkering and contoured greens, as well as advanced drainage and irrigation that will allow it to be used year round. Four holes on the South Course were also renovated.
You don't have to be on the greens to be wowed by their beauty, the Champions Course serves as a dramatic background for several new vantage points in the clubhouse, including the new lobby lounge, the Diversions Sports Lounge, which features a bar, a stylish lounge and many high-definition television screens; Edge, a new adults-only pool and bar (scheduled to open Mid-November); and the Legends bistro, as well as an all-new members only Champions Club.
It's a makeover that remains rooted in La Costa's history, but that also looks forward and offers a fresher, more updated style, said Vice President and General Manager Paul J. McCormick.
"We wanted to make sure that the story of La Costa was weaved through different areas of the resort … there's a tradition and a feel here," McCormick said. "The tricky part with operating a resort is how do you change it and make it relevant without keeping it a mausoleum to days gone by?"
The recent work is a continuation of what KSL Capital Partners, the company that owns La Costa, started in 2002, before it sold the resort to Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Limited Partnership, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs, in 2006. KSL purchased the property back in March 2010, McCormick said.
The first KSL renovation, which took place between 2002 to 2007, cost $150 million and included all of the guest rooms, meeting spaces, and public areas, as well as a realignment of how the resort was orientated. It also led to the creation of the villas, and the razing of the old clubby, male-centric spa to its current, more modern state and the creation of the pools and water slides.
Though the guest rooms were once again renovated with this most recent makeover, it also covers some areas that had not been previously renovated.
"The first time around we got to bake the cake, now we get to put on the icing," McCormick said.
He added that KSL recognized the need to come out of the current economic state with a product that's ready to meet the experience of the resort's guests, and bucked the trend by making capital investments in a time when so many resort properties are busy trying to pay their mortgages and don't have money to pay for renovation projects.
"For most people in the industry, the last couple of years have been tough, and we took this opportunity to reinvent ourselves and make the property better," he said. "We'll be ready to pounce at the beginning of 2012."
McCormick said he's excited by the way that the extensive project came together.
"There's always that part in the back of your mind when you're quilting something together, is it going to end up out the way you imagined it initially?" McCormick said. "For us, it's exceeded our expectations."
You don't have to go far into La Costa to notice the updates, which stretch across the 400-acre Spanish mission-style resort, a Southern California landmark since 1965. No part of the resort, which has 611 guest rooms that include luxury villas and suites, was left untouched in the makeover, which gives La Costa a bright, fresh new look.
The resort renovated 474 guest rooms and suites, giving them a more contemporary look. Each type of room was styled with its own color palette, adding hues of blue, green and terra cotta to mirror the resort's natural and bright exterior. Added touches, including high-definition televisions and Wi-Fi connectivity, give the rooms a more modern feel, satisfying the needs of today's guests.
Another aspect of the makeover includes a redefined purpose for the spa, one that's guided by a desire to commit to the elements of nature.
The spa's 28,000 square-foot interior was redesigned, and now houses a reintroduced, full-service salon that offers natural products. Outside, the spa has an all-new herb garden with rosemary, lavender, basil and other fresh herbs that are used by the Spa Cafe. Also new in the courtyard is a Reflexology Path, one of only a few that exist in the United States, carefully arranged stones that activate pressure points on bare feet as you walk the path.
The resort's award-winning golf courses, which have hosted the top names in the sport in their history of more than 40 years, have received a dramatic redesign. The 18-hole north course, now named the Champions Course, has added two water features and changed the layout to add expanded native vegetation. The course has added length with distinctive bunkering and contoured greens, as well as advanced drainage and irrigation that will allow it to be used year round. Four holes on the South Course were also renovated.
You don't have to be on the greens to be wowed by their beauty, the Champions Course serves as a dramatic background for several new vantage points in the clubhouse, including the new lobby lounge, the Diversions Sports Lounge, which features a bar, a stylish lounge and many high-definition television screens; Edge, a new adults-only pool and bar (scheduled to open Mid-November); and the Legends bistro, as well as an all-new members only Champions Club.
It's a makeover that remains rooted in La Costa's history, but that also looks forward and offers a fresher, more updated style, said Vice President and General Manager Paul J. McCormick.
"We wanted to make sure that the story of La Costa was weaved through different areas of the resort … there's a tradition and a feel here," McCormick said. "The tricky part with operating a resort is how do you change it and make it relevant without keeping it a mausoleum to days gone by?"
The recent work is a continuation of what KSL Capital Partners, the company that owns La Costa, started in 2002, before it sold the resort to Whitehall Street Global Real Estate Limited Partnership, an affiliate of Goldman Sachs, in 2006. KSL purchased the property back in March 2010, McCormick said.
The first KSL renovation, which took place between 2002 to 2007, cost $150 million and included all of the guest rooms, meeting spaces, and public areas, as well as a realignment of how the resort was orientated. It also led to the creation of the villas, and the razing of the old clubby, male-centric spa to its current, more modern state and the creation of the pools and water slides.
Though the guest rooms were once again renovated with this most recent makeover, it also covers some areas that had not been previously renovated.
"The first time around we got to bake the cake, now we get to put on the icing," McCormick said.
He added that KSL recognized the need to come out of the current economic state with a product that's ready to meet the experience of the resort's guests, and bucked the trend by making capital investments in a time when so many resort properties are busy trying to pay their mortgages and don't have money to pay for renovation projects.
"For most people in the industry, the last couple of years have been tough, and we took this opportunity to reinvent ourselves and make the property better," he said. "We'll be ready to pounce at the beginning of 2012."
McCormick said he's excited by the way that the extensive project came together.
"There's always that part in the back of your mind when you're quilting something together, is it going to end up out the way you imagined it initially?" McCormick said. "For us, it's exceeded our expectations."