Iconic Loews Santa Monica Sold to Chinese Investment Group

By MIRNA ALFONSO (Patch Staff)

The iconic, beach-front Loews Santa Monica is being sold to a Chinese insurance company, multiple media outlets reported.

According to reports, the $6.5 billion-dollar-deal to buy the the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel also includes the sale of the Hotel del Coronado.

The Anbang Insurance Group Co. is the buyer; the seller is the Blackstone Group, which will sell one of its companies, Strategic Hotels & Resorts Incorporated, according the Associated Press.

In addition to the Hotel Del and Loews, Strategic's portfolio includes resort hotels in Half Moon Bay, Dana Point and Laguna Beach, its website states.

Strategic also owns the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco, as well as a number of other urban properties in New York, Washington D.C, Austin, Silicon Valley and Miami, according to its website.

Strategic had no comment when contacted by Patch; Blackstone, Hotel Del and Loews spokespersons did not immediately return telephone calls or emails from Patch.

"Unfortunately we do not have a comment at this time," said Sara Baumann, public relations manager at the Hotel del Coronado.

--Photo courtesy of Loews Santa Monica