Hospitality Leaders, Take Your Marks! Preparing Hotels for the LA28 Olympics

In just a few short years, Los Angeles will welcome millions of visitors from around the world as it hosts the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.  Unlike many previous host cities, Los Angeles is heavily relying on existing venues instead of building massive new sports facilities and shifting much of the investment toward transportation, infrastructure, and hospitality improvements.

For hotel owners, developers, asset managers, and brands, the countdown has already begun and many hospitality projects that hope to be completed before the Games are already in design or under construction.  Industry analysts estimate that only a fraction of the region’s planned developments will open before 2028, making renovations of existing properties even more important. 

Existing Hotels Will Carry Much of the Load

Because LA28 is utilizing existing stadiums, arenas, universities, and entertainment venues, the city isn’t building an Olympic village in the traditional sense. Instead, visitors, sponsors, media, athletes’ families, and support staff will depend heavily on Southern California’s existing hotel inventory. The Games are designed around reusing existing facilities, which increases the importance of upgrading current hospitality assets rather than replacing them.

That creates tremendous opportunity for owners who modernize their properties before demand peaks.

The Clock Is Already Ticking

Hospitality renovations are rarely simple, or quick. 

A guestroom renovation, public space refresh, or full-property repositioning requires months—sometimes years—of planning, budgeting, procurement, manufacturing, shipping, installation, inspections, and turnover.

Construction schedules are only one piece of the timeline. Permit reviews, inspections, fire-life safety approvals, ADA compliance, health department approvals for food and beverage spaces, and certificate of occupancy requirements can all influence opening dates. Building realistic time into the schedule for these milestones is just as important as managing construction itself.

With thousands of projects competing for the same manufacturers, installers, freight companies, and skilled labor, delays become more likely as 2028 approaches.   

The Competition for Skilled Labor

The closer the industry gets to 2028, the greater the demand for qualified labor. General contractors, subcontractors, installers, inspectors, commissioning teams, and specialty trades will all be working against the same immovable deadline. Labor shortages can affect every phase of a project, from demolition and construction through final punch lists and FF&E installation. Owners who lock in contractors and specialty trades early will be in a much stronger position than those who wait. Owners who wait too long may find themselves competing for increasingly limited resources.

Procurement Will Become Even More Critical

Furniture delays, lighting lead times, custom millwork, freight coordination, and installation sequencing can all become critical path items if they aren’t managed early.  When the FF&E process isn’t aligned with the overall project schedule the result can be a substantially complete building with guestrooms basically complete but missing the furniture.

That’s an expensive lesson no owner wants to learn—especially with a hard deadline like the Olympics. As demand increases, procurement becomes much more than purchasing furniture.

Successful projects require:

• Accurate budgeting
• Early vendor qualification
• Long-lead item management
• Logistics coordination
• Warehouse scheduling
• Installation sequencing
• Constant communication between ownership, designers, contractors, and purchasing teams

The projects that stay on schedule aren’t necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets—they’re the ones with the strongest coordination.

Beyond 2028

The Olympics represent more than a three-week event.

The improvements made today will continue attracting business travelers, conventions, international tourism, and future sporting events long after the closing ceremonies. Los Angeles is also preparing for a series of major international events surrounding the Games, further increasing pressure on the hospitality market.

For hotel owners, the question isn’t simply whether to renovate.  It’s whether their project team can deliver on time, on budget, and with enough coordination to avoid costly surprises.

Successful openings rarely happen by accident. They happen because every aspect of the project—from capital planning and budgeting to design, permitting, procurement, construction, technology integration, logistics, installation, staffing, and operations—is coordinated from the very beginning. Each phase influences the next and overlooking one can jeopardize the entire schedule. As Los Angeles prepares to welcome the world in 2028, thoughtful planning and collaboration across every discipline will separate projects that simply finish from those that truly succeed.

Will your property be ready for LA28?

Charis Atwood is an expert in project management, from project programming, budgeting, scheduling, managing RFP’s, quality control, and installation to operational turnover and opening. She is an invaluable asset to all projects she manages. Charis focuses on FF&E (Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment) and works closely with owners, purchasing agents, vendors, and interior designers to coordinate budget requirements and to assure deadlines are maintained. This includes but is not limited to, thorough reviews of architectural drawings to ensure interior design elements are represented as required, bid and contract negotiations for purchasing, warehousing, and installation of FF&E. She has been instrumental in the FF&E/OS&E Management of many timely and budget-driven projects such as resorts, hotels, casinos, country clubs and schools. She is an active member of Cayuga Hospitality Consultants.

Source: View the original article at Cayuga Hospitality Consultants.