LAGUNA BEACH, CALIF. — Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta has acquired the Montage Laguna Beach Resort Hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean along the California coastline. China-based Dajia Insurance Group Co. sold the asset for $650 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. The luxury hotel, which opened in 2003, features 260 rooms.
The 30-acre resort includes a 20,000-square-foot spa; outdoor recreation areas including two pools and direct beach access; a fine art collection; and more than 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space.
The Spa Montage offers eucalyptus steam rooms, dry redwood saunas, ocean air whirlpools, fireplace lounges, a fitness center, movement studio and lap pool.
All of the guestrooms, including 60 suites, beach bungalow-style rooms and multi-bedroom villas, feature views of the Pacific Ocean. The hotel’s website shows that the nightly rate for a room with a king-sized bed and sitting area with sofa is $1,180.
Fertitta, who purchased the NBA’s Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in 2017, is no stranger to luxury hotels. In 2018, he built the Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston. He also owns 14 other hotels around the country, including the San Luis Resort in Galveston, Texas; five Golden Nugget casinos and hotels; and the Huntting Inn in East Hampton, N.Y.
In addition to his hospitality portfolio, Fertitta is known for his high-end seafood and steakhouses throughout California, including Catch Seafood and Catch Steak, Mastro’s Ocean Club and Mastro’s Steakhouse, Morton’s The Steakhouse, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse and The Palm. Fertitta owns and operates more than 60 brands amounting to over 600 restaurants nationwide.
— Kristin Hiller