Daveed Kapoor on November 09, 2010, at 09:02AM – #1

this is a bummer. please do not become a generic hotel. be a shame to degrade the japanese identity of little tokyo

Jamie DeFrisco on November 09, 2010, at 09:50AM – #3

I agree that hopefully this hotel doesn't lose its Japanese flavor. At least the current owners didn't lose it, despite the fact that they aren't Japanese. I remember there being concerns about this property losing its Japanese touch back in 2007 when they were buying the property.

Downtown Cowboy on November 09, 2010, at 10:46AM – #5

It's a very tough location. Not near any of the cool parts of downtown. But Doubletree? ewwwwww

Customerservicesm on November 09, 2010, at 11:05AM – #6

One person had logic here. You cannot keep a hotel solely because of its Japanese traditions. If a bigger chain can make the necessary changes to attract clientele to the area, then let them have it. A big chain hotel can also bring in with it, a lot more business and help it become the link to the other parts of downtown. Like the new Target, I think Doubletree should have the same welcoming from the community. Big names mean people have faith in DTLA and that will bring in more business. Face it, DTLA will never be a chain center. It will always host mom and pop shops but you need the corporate anchors to validate the area.

Laldava02 on November 09, 2010, at 01:14PM – #9

In San Francisco Japantown was anchored by a Radisson Hotel with a Japanese theme (not sure if it still is) but that seemed to work fine.

If Double Tree can incorporate the existing Japanese theming and work from there I think this could be a good change. I would rather see a viable hotel in this location. I would also hope Double Tree would invest in the ground floor spaces, which aren't that great in their current state.

Raymond3000 on November 09, 2010, at 01:35PM – #10

yea just let it go the more chain names the better come on people change is good (always) Doubletree is world reknown so maybe this will draw more tourists to this area to eventually spill out and explore more of Little Tokyo therefore more character and revenue for the area.

derblut on November 09, 2010, at 01:47PM – #11

If the identity was important Japanese business men would buy it.

Jamie DeFrisco on November 09, 2010, at 03:35PM – #13

Guest 2 - There are things like the Japanese Garden that I would hate to see go. They can very easily keep the Japanese style, update it(if necessary) and add DoubleTree Branding. I also thought they recently renovated the rooms, but after reading the reviews it seems that they only renovated some of the rooms. There's plenty of regular hotels all around downtown.

The concern is that if other people take over the buildings in Little Tokyo and they have no interest in keeping the area 'Japanese' then it will drive more non-Japanese businesses to the area and force out existing Japanese businesses and Little Tokyo will no longer be Little Tokyo. Luckily most of the non-Japanese owners of the buildings in Little Tokyo have kept with the Japanese influence and also added in non-Japanese businesses that fit in with the community. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of interest within the Japanese community to support Little Tokyo.

Eric Wang on November 09, 2010, at 04:37PM – #14

Maybe it can be called Double Cherry Blossom Tree?

Russell Brown on November 09, 2010, at 04:48PM – #16

Last summer when I was fortunate enough to spend 2 weeks in Japan, the 3 hotels I stayed in were large Japanese corporate hotels. They were indistinguishable from what we would define as traditional Western corporate hotels with a Japanese influenced design.

A Little Tokyo travel agency, American Holidays, arranged the reservations as part of a sister city trip to Nagoya on neighborhood councils with the Nagoya government.

The restaurants and landscaping bowed to the Japanese aesthetics. However, even in Kyoto, which is considered the most Japanese of all cities, the hotel public spaces, rooms and halls could have been located anywhere in the (corporate hotel) world. The bathrooms were slightly different, but not much.

Tokyo and Nagoya hotels were the same. The main difference was in the restaurants, tea shops and gardens.

It is the general economy, world-wide reservation system/ internet presence, uniqueness of the neighborhood, and then the hotel amenities that will influence first time visitors. Who would imagine that Best Westerns are very popular with locals in Europe and very nice? Not your typical American expectation.

Any good hotel also makes itself a business and community destination. Good value, surpassing expectation in service and product, convenience and an interesting neighborhood become key in creating an attractive business environment.

Add in the Regional Connector, the Measure R rail extensions and the eventual high speed rail at Union Station and Little Tokyo becomes connected very easily to almost all of LA County and the state. With the High speed train connected to San Francisco, Sacramento, Central Valley, Riverside, Temecula, San Diego and Anaheim, statewide travel will take 2-3 hours door to door. Eventually this will also connect up with a Las Vegas spur.

The Westside Extension will take you to Santa Monica Pier and 3rd Street Promenade. Add in the (now funded) Crenshaw line to LAX and South Bay and Gold Line extensions to Azusa and Ontario airport. One can then travel without a car or needing to pay $38 a day for hotel parking.

DavidAC on November 09, 2010, at 05:11PM – #17

"Who would imagine that Best Westerns are very popular with locals in Europe and very nice?"

I would imagine that. A Best Western is a high-end hotel for me - even here in the U.S. I normally stay there only if all the cheaper places are full. Seriously. Unless its NYC or London or a holiday weekend with no reservation I think that anyone paying more than about $150/night for a hotel is an impressionable sucker trying to buy temporary relief from their status anxiety. Lots of those about, though....

$38/day for PARKING? HA! You can stay at a Motel 6 for that, with free parking.

Brigham Yen on November 09, 2010, at 06:25PM – #18

I agree with Laldava02 as well. Welcome the Double Tree brand and work with them to install a Japanese-themed design within the lobby and common areas, etc.

Also, Weller Court is in desperate need of a makeover. That place has a lot of potential, but it's pretty sad right now.

A new hotel and Weller Court will complement the future mixed-use developments across the street where Sakura Crossing is. Remember, Related, K. Hovnanian, and Avalon still own parcels and will eventually complete the vision to build a strong connection between Little Tokyo and the Historic Core.

Russell Brown on November 09, 2010, at 10:08PM – #22

I agree the modular plastic bathrooms were strange. I seriously doubt the need to create that amenity in Little Tokyo.

We won't even discuss the porcelain fixtures in some countries that is only angled foot rests and a drain in the floor. That was great fun on a rocking ferry on the Bosporus River outside Istanbul Turkey.

Russell Brown on November 09, 2010, at 10:59PM – #24

The invitation was from the Japanese government- on the request of the Mayor of Nagoya who was interested in changing participation in the city government. Nagoya is a Sister City of LA.

It was 3 business days in conferences with the mayor, City council and local officials. Organized through DONE in partnership with Bong Hwon Kim who heads the department. He also attended.

The officials also have returned to LA where we hosted them locally about issues and government policy here. The Nagoya Mayor especially loved the Art Walk and how the community itself changed the neighborhood. That was very un-Japanese.

The great majority- 9 or 12 days and all local travel on the trip was paid by myself, as I took an extended vacation. The neighborhood council did not pay for any of the trip.

Fortunate because it has helped me understand the impacts of transportation and the high speed rail from personal experience.

Brigham Yen on November 10, 2010, at 12:29AM – #25

@Russell Brown - I know you've been an advocate for more mass transit in LA, but you say that going to Japan has helped you further understand the "impact of transportation," so I'm hoping you're an even stronger advocate of rail after visiting a pedestrian-and-mass-transit-oriented nation.

David Klappholz on November 10, 2010, at 05:49AM – #26

Re: "Unfortunately there isn't a lot of interest within the Japanese community to support Little Tokyo."

Members of most ethnic minorities in America are assimilating into American culture by marrying outside of their ethnic groups; what this means is that after a few generations there's not all that much of the ethnic group left because kids who are one fourth or one eighth or one sixteenth of some ethnicity don't identify with that ethnicity.

According to the few Japanese Americans whom we know, there's not much parental opposition to marrying outside the group, so the Japanese American community is contracting in size quite rapidly. We've been to the Nisei Week Parade the past two Augusts. In 2009 we sat, on the sidewalk, next to a Japanese American woman aged around 60. Although we felt that the crowd was quite large, she recalled her childhood, when the crowd was "at least ten times as large."

So...it's not very surprising that "there isn't a lot of interest within the Japanese community to support Little Tokyo." There simply isn't a very large Japanese (American) community left...and, barring a miracle, it isn't, unfortunately, likely that in 50 years there won't be much of a Japanese Little Tokyo.

PS, the Japanese Americans whom we know, all of whom live pretty far from Little Tokyo, call it Japantown, rather than Little Tokyo.

Jamie DeFrisco on November 10, 2010, at 10:40AM – #27

There are plenty of Japanese Americans in Torrance/Gardena and then other smaller communities in West LA and the OC. It's not that there isn't enough Japanese Americans, it's that they prefer to live and own businesses elsewhere.

DavidAC - Actually Best Western has part in a renovated hotel in San Francisco with a Japanese style. I would love to see this type of modernization happen to the Kyoto Grand.

http://www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/sanfrancisco/tomo

http://www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/sanfrancisco/kabuki

I just don't want to see it be turned into a generic hotel and the garden removed.

Did anyone see Weller Court 5 years ago? They did attempt to fix it up and it looks nicer than it did back then. It could use some more work or at least more tenants on the ground level. There's also the building(s) across from it. That bike shop closed up and the space where Piccomolo was has been vacant for a while.

Brigham Yen on November 10, 2010, at 01:04PM – #29

When I was working for the DCBID back in 2005, I made several attempts to recruit Japanese businesses as far away as Sawtelle. I remember speaking with the manager at Giant Robot, who told me that he did not find Little Tokyo to be relevant anymore. Might be the same sentiment a lot of Chinese and Chinese Americans feel about Chinatown?

Also, I recruited Blends (sneaker store) from the Lab in OC, and they are a Japanese operated business, but they didn't seem interested in sticking themselves in LT either and ended up at 4th/Main.

Russell Brown on November 10, 2010, at 08:01PM – #33

To guest # 9.

You are welcome anytime you would like to meet or give me a call. Glad to go over my vacation schedule with you personally anytime you want since you are so concerned.

Not sure how my personal time off has much to do with the management change of the hotel?

DawnC on November 14, 2010, at 06:26PM – #35

My Grandfather stayed at the Kyoto Grand on his last visit to Los Angeles and really enjoyed it. He and his wife liked that the interesting shops in Little Tokyo were a safe walking distance from the hotel, she easily found a camera shop to have her film developed and some little presents for people back home. I love the Japanese garden and we had a very nice lunch at the sushi restaurant that overlooks it. The lobby is beautiful as well. I really hope the character isn't changed much if they do convert it. It's a nice, clean, reasonably priced, well run hotel. If you live in the Arts District it's great for putting up relatives and friends.

What's with all this talk about Little Tokyo not being a cool part of town? It's one of my favorite areas, a nice walkable spot that's close to us over in the Arts District and not at all far from the Historic Core. I buy Christmas presents for my family there every year because there's such unique and reasonably priced stuff to choose from. I'd say my favorite shops are Bunkado and The Blooming Art gallery/shop but there's lots more treasures to find there. Great places to eat as well. I think it is one of THE COOLEST places in DTLA. Of course if your definition of cool is South Park then we may have a difference of opinion.

on November 23, 2010, at 01:48PM – #36

If you want to see a Japanese-owned hotel with a Japanese aesthetic in Little Tokyo, you just have to walk a couple of blocks down the street to the Miyako.

I would welcome Four Seasons as long as they recognize that they are in a unique area of Los Angeles, one which despite what the naysayers say, is still hanging in there, and which still maintains its personality as a Japanese-American district.
What fascinates me most of all about Little Tokyo is the number of non-Japanese who have gained an interest in learning about Japanese culture through anime or manga and have really added a multiracial aspect to Nisei Week, etc.

No matter who ends up owning the hotel, generic won't work.

And regarding Little Tokyo vs. Japantown: I'm hapa-Japanese and I much prefer the Little Tokyo name. Stands out from the Japantowns in San Francisco and San Jose.

David Klappholz on November 24, 2010, at 06:05AM – #37

Re: "I would welcome Four Seasons as long as they recognize that they are in a unique area of Los Angeles, one which despite what the naysayers say, is still hanging in there, and which still maintains its personality as a Japanese-American district. What fascinates me most of all about Little Tokyo is the number of non-Japanese who have gained an interest in learning about Japanese culture through anime or manga and have really added a multiracial aspect to Nisei Week, etc."

I hope that you didn't take my comments as nay-saying. We love Little Tokyo and go there frequently; have been to the two last Nisei Week parades, and frequent the supermarket in the LT Market as I love Japanese food -- and Korean as well.

My point was that the number of Japanese residents in LT has been declining for years and that the more it declines, and the more assimilation there is of Japanese Americans, the less Japanese presence there will be in LT. This saddens me as do the numerical declines of quite a number of other ethnic groups.

PS I do hope -- and know -- that Japanese culture is far more than anime; we have been to Japan and know how wonderful the country and the people are.