Loews shakes up hotel biz

San Francisco’s plushest hotel perch, the Mandarin Oriental, which occupies the top 11 floors of a 48-story office building at California and Sansome Streets, will become a Loews hotel in late March.

The 158-room, recently renovated property is the latest prize in Loews’ push to remake its brand, having recently added hotels (and updating them) in key locations in Washington, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.  It’s also shed laggards, like the dated Loews Metropolitan on Lexington Avenue (now a DoubleTree), moving over to the Loews Regency hotel on Park Avenue.

There are now 23 hotels in Loews rapidly expanding portfolio of luxury properties. I took a spin through the recently renovated Loews Boston hotel last year and was very impressed. It also recently opened a new-from-the-ground Loews Atlanta hotel in the city’s bustling midtown district. A gorgeous, brand spanking new new Loews opens in Chicago this month.

Downtown San Francisco’s hotel scene is in flux these days, with changes in brand and ownership at the Westin San Francisco Market Street (now a Park Central hotel) and the Parc 55 (now a Hilton hotel).

Have you stayed at a Loews hotel lately? What did you think? 

–Chris McGinnis

Have you been following our super popular Planespotting 101 series? Check out our first two installments here: 

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