Poll: Should UCLA Build a Hotel, Conference Center in Westwood?

Later this month, the University of California Board of Regents will consider a plan for a conference and guest center at UCLA that has worried some hoteliers in Los Angeles.

California Watch reports some questions still remain about the Meyer and Renee Luskin Conference and Guest Center. The proposed building, referred to as the UCLA hotel, will stay around 70 percent occupancy in its second year, according to estimates from the university. That's lower than the normal occupancy rate of hotels in Westwood and two other markets close by -- about 80-81 percent.

Additionally, the UCLA hotel has been criticized for having an unfair advantage in the market because its non-profit, state-owned status would exempt it from occupancy, property and parking taxes. The rate at the UCLA hotel is estimated to be around $185 per night -- less than the $220 average rate in Westwood and nearby markets.

Though the university says the hotel will not be open to the general public, that still constitutes an unfair advantage, said Bob Amano, executive director of the Hotel Association of Los Angeles.

"The hotels aren't against building new hotels, it's just the playing field they are proposing to operate this hotel," Amano said in an interview with California Watch. 

To read more about the UCLA hotel, click here and vote in our poll below.

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