The Breakers Hotel is a historic landmark 14-story hotel on East Ocean Avenue in

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ...

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. Opened in 1926 as a luxury oceanfront resort hotel, it is set to reopen in 2023 as the Fairmont The Breakers, Long Beach. The building has gone through multiple changes of ownership and has been renamed at various times the Hilton, the Wilton, and the Breakers International Hotel. It has had a history of financial problems and closures and also operated for many years as a retirement home. The building has been designated as a Long Beach Historic Landmark.

History

Development and opening (1925–1927)

The Breakers Hotel was developed by a local Long Beach banker and capitalist, Fred B. Dunn. Construction began in the fall of 1925 with a projected cost of $2,250,000. The original structure consisted of a single-story base that spanned an entire city block with a central tower rising thirteen stories above the main body of the building. The complex also included arcade and basement floors beneath the Ocean Boulevard level. The development, with architecture described at the time as "ultra Spanish," opened in September 1926. At the time, the total cost of the luxurious building was said to be $3,000,000. The building opened with a banquet and dinner at which Long Beach's Mayor Condit and Fred Dunn spoke of an era of success. The banquet also included a program of entertainment by vaudeville artists. When the hotel opened in 1926 (three years before the opening of the

Villa Riviera Villa Riviera (ital. beach) is a registered historic building on Ocean Boulevard in the Alamitos Beach neighborhood of Long Beach, California, United States. From the time of its completion in 1929 through the mid-1950s, it was the second-talle ...

), the building's imposing tower, rising 15 stories from the beach, gave it "a prominence greater than that of any other in the city." On its opening, the Breakers was promoted as one of Southern California's finest luxury resort hotels. The hotel had 330 guest rooms and of prime ocean frontage in downtown Long Beach. Other features of the hotel included an elaborate 500-seat dining room known as the "Hall of Galleons," roof garden, coffee shop, beauty shop, barber shop, Turkish bath, and "smart shops." The hotel catered to "surf bathers" with a special elevator that transported the bathers, after they had "donned their bathing suits in their rooms," to the Arcade level, from which there was an entrance to the beach. One of the hotel's unusual features was the availability of radio broadcasts in each guest room. An October 1926 article in the ''Los Angeles Times'' described the "outstanding" in-room entertainment feature as follows:

Each room in the new hostelry has four radio jets, each connecting with the radio-receiving room in the tower. By plugging in on any of these four jets, programs from broadcasting stations are heard ... If there is a particular program on the air which a guest particularly desires to hear, it is only necessary to phone the receiving room and the operator will tune it in.

At its opening, the Breakers was available for both temporary guests and others who made it their permanent residence. The hotel was expected to "be the means of attracting thousands of people to Long Beach."

Years of decline (1929–1935)

Less than a year after its opening, the hotel was sold by Fred Dunn to an unnamed group of investors from Pasadena, Los Angeles and New York. The sale price in 1927 was reported to be $1,750,000. The new owners announced plans for extensive remodeling, including the closure of several dining rooms and conversion of the ballroom into a summer garden. The onset of the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and the

1933 Long Beach earthquake The 1933 Long Beach earthquake took place on March 10 at south of downtown Los Angeles. The epicenter was offshore, southeast of Long Beach, California, on the Newport–Inglewood Fault. The earthquake had a magnitude estimated at 6.4 , and a ...

pushed the Breakers into bankruptcy. The 1933 earthquake, which resulted in over 100 deaths, caused only minor damage to the Breakers, but the widespread destruction in Long Beach caused major damage to the city's tourist trade. The hotel served as the headquarters for the Red Cross relief efforts following the earthquake. In August 1934, the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that the hotel had sustained a significant operating loss in 1933 and was delinquent on its real estate and personal properties taxes for the past three years.

Hilton years and Sky Room (1938–1947)

In 1938, the hotel was purchased by

Conrad Hilton Conrad Nicholson Hilton Sr. (December 25, 1887 – January 3, 1979) was an American businessman who founded the Hilton Hotels chain. From 1912 to 1916 Hilton was a Republican representative in the first New Mexico Legislature, but became disi ...

at a reported cost of $150,000 and $35,000 in back taxes. Hilton turned the Breakers into the eighth hotel in the Hilton chain. Hilton spent at least $200,000 on renovations and converted the penthouse into the Sky Room. In 1938, Hilton opened the Sky Room atop the hotel, and it became one of the most popular restaurants gathering spots in Southern California. Movie stars such as

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...

Errol Flynn Errol Leslie Thomson Flynn (20 June 1909 – 14 October 1959) was an Australian-American actor who achieved worldwide fame during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles, freque ...

Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...

Cary Grant Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of ...

and

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Go ...

were said to have been customers at the Sky Room during the Hilton years. One customer recalled the Sky Room as follows: "It was a dating place, like the

Brown Derby Brown Derby was a chain of restaurants in Los Angeles, California. The first and best known was shaped like a derby hat, an iconic image that became synonymous with the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was opened by Wilson Mizner in 1926. The chain ...

and

Coconut Grove Coconut Grove, also known colloquially as The Grove, is the oldest continuously inhabited neighborhood of Miami in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The neighborhood is roughly bound by North Prospect Drive to the south, LeJeune Road to the west, S ...

. It was the place to go." During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, two pillboxes with gun-mountings were installed on the rooftop for harbor defense, and the Sky Room became the official Airwatch headquarters for Long Beach harbor. One of the pillboxes and gun mountings remained intact on the roof as late as 1991.

Wilton (1947–1961)

In 1947, Hilton sold the hotel to Frank Fishman, who renamed it the Wilton Hotel. The hotel remained the "Wilton" for 14 years. During the 1950s, the hotel changed ownership several times, and promises to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to remodel the aging hotel were not kept. An episode of '' The Lone Wolf'', "The Long Beach Story", features the Wilton.

Breakers International and closure (1961–1964)

In 1961, the hotel was purchased by Fred Miller. Miller was one of the founders of Flying Tigers Airlines and purchased US Airlines in 1951. After buying the Breakers in 1961, Miller renamed the hotel the Breakers International and spent $1.25 million refurbishing the property from top to bottom. Miller reportedly hoped to "recapture, for Long Beach, the beauty, dignity and service of the city's greatest hotel." However, even with Miller's efforts, he was not able to turn around the fortunes of the Breakers. In 24 months as owner of the hotel, Miller reported that he lost half of his net worth. In November 1963, Miller gave up and closed the hotel. The Long Beach ''Press-Telegram'' pronounced the hotel "a dead behemoth on the beach." Others noted the hotel's over-reliance on convention business: "This hotel had to try to make 80 percent of its revenues from convention business. There is no rail service or air service to Long Beach, and the 20-minute run on the freeway to Los Angeles where the industry is hurts all the hotels." One commentator opined, "God and Conrad Hilton couldn't have saved this hotel." The hotel's head bellman, Paul Grantham, who had been employed at the hotel since 1928, blamed the "coming of the motels." In January 1964, the hotel was sold at auction to pay off the hotel's creditors. Despite an appraised value of $4.3 million for the land and improvements, the property sold for $1.75 million. The high bidder, Long Beach realtor Harvey Miller, announced plans to convert the structure into a retirement hotel. The hotel remained shuttered for nearly three years and was referred to as "the West Coast's largest pigeon roost."

Retirement hotel (1967–1982)

The hotel remained closed for three years as plans to convert it into a retirement hotel stalled. In September 1966, the hotel re-opened as a combination permanent retirement hotel and transient hotel for overnight guests. By January 1967, the property was occupied 70% by permanent residents who had the option of an American plan at $175 per month including hotel conveniences and three meals a day, or a European plan at $115 a month without meals. In 1975, the residential retirement hotel was refurbished again. The renovations included all new carpets, drapes, furnishings, automated elevators, and an updated phone system. The owners stated their intention to create the ultimate in retirement living for the senior citizens of Long Beach. In 1978, New Breakers Hotel Company sold the property to Stoneridge Management Company for less than $3 million.

Conversion back to hotel use (1982–1988)

In 1982, the hotel was partially converted back into a hotel. It underwent a $15 million renovation and restoration, which was completed in 1985. On August 1 1986, the fully reopened hotel was placed under the management of

Jack Wrather John Devereaux Wrather Jr. (May 24, 1918 – November 12, 1984), was an entrepreneur and petroleum businessman who became a television producer and later diversified by investing in broadcast stations and resort properties. He is best known for p ...

's Wrather Port Properties, which also managed the city's major tourist destinations, the Spruce Goose and the Queen Mary. At this point, the Breakers contained 242 guest rooms, including 20 suites, a restaurant and night club on the top floor, and a ballroom restored to its original 1920s decor. The Sky Room, which had been given a Polynesian theme by prior owners, was renovated in an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

style. At the time of the re-opening, the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote: "Its 60 years have been a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, prosperity and penury, bright lights and gloomy emptiness. Just now, its direction is up." The excitement about the Breakers' restoration was short-lived. The hotel failed to draw a sufficient number of guests to turn a profit and closed its doors again on January 14, 1988.

Designation as Historic Landmark (1989)

In 1989, the Breakers, still vacant after its closure in 1988, was designated as a Long Beach Historical Landmark, requiring approval from the Cultural Heritage Commission before making any major changes in the building's appearance.

Senior citizen housing (1990–2015)

The property was purchased following its 1988 closure by Ocean Boulevard Associates, which spent $23 million on earthquake retrofitting and restoring its 1920s-style Romanesque architecture. The building re-opened in November 1990 as an "Assisted Living" Residence for senior citizens. As of October 1991, the Breakers had 38 residents with an average age of 84, paying rents starting at $1,000 a month, including three meals a day, housekeeping and local transportation. An in house Medical Staff provided medication administration and routine activities for those in need of leadership. The facility closed in March 2015 after state authorities revoked its license.

Renovated Sky Room (1997–2018)

In 1997, the Sky Room, originally developed by Conrad Hilton in 1938, was restored and re-opened by the property's new owner Bernard Rosenson. Rosenson restored the Art Deco look of the Sky Room and redesigned it to focus on its 360-degree view. The new Sky Room offered an "ultra-retro menu" and music by a swing and jazz band called the Sky Room Orchestra. The restaurant had a separate entrance and a special dedicated elevator, so that it would not break California laws forbidding restaurants from operating in retirement homes. The restaurant remained open as a separate concessionaire after the retirement home closed and the building was sold, but both the Sky Room and the adjoining Cielo bar closed in April 2018, in preparation for the structure's conversion back to a hotel.

Restoration as a hotel (2017–Present)

In November 2017, Pacific6, a Long Beach based investment and development partnership, assembled by Long Beach businessman and philanthropist John Molina with partners Kevin Davis, Robert Gordon, Jon Heiman, Todd Lemmis and David Telling, purchased the building and announced their intentions to fully restore the Breakers and operate it as a 185 room luxury boutique hotel, The Breakers Hotel & Spa. On July 28, 2022, it was announced that the restored hotel would be managed by the luxury

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a global chain of luxury hotels that operates more than 70 properties worldwide, with a strong presence in Canada. The company originated from two hotel businesses established in the late 19th century, the Canadian P ...

chain as Fairmont The Breakers, Long Beach.

References

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External links

Fairmont The Breakers, Long Beach official website
Buildings and structures in Long Beach, California Downtown Long Beach Hotel buildings completed in 1926 Hotels established in 1926 Landmarks in Long Beach, California Hotels in Los Angeles County, California