A Very Different Hotel California
The Pasadena Hilton Comes Up Roses
Pasadena is only eleven miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, but the city’s unique identity can make it feel a million miles away from that of its iconic neighbor. Situated in the picturesque San Gabriel Valley, the city was a stop on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railways and became a resort destination for the wealthy in the late 1800s which, in turn, led to the development of architecturally-important hotels including the Mansard Victorian, Hotel Green, Vista Del Arroyo and The Maryland. The city’s architectural significance transcended the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an essential hub for the American Craftsman era, and visitors to Pasadena today enjoy a melding of building design styles that seems to come together with a natural elegance.
Just as the city took physical shape, so did its cultural scene. The Pasadena Symphony was founded in 1928 and today plays at the world-renowned Ambassador Auditorium. The Pasadena Playhouse — the State Theater of California — was opened in 1924, and the city is also home to the USC Pacific Asia Museum, the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena City College, Fuller Theological Seminary and the ArtCenter College of Design. Adding even more historical and cultural depth is Pasadena’s world-famous Tournament of Roses Parade that culminates in the annual Rose Bowl — the oldest and arguably one of the most important bowl games in college football.
“Relative to its small size, Pasadena has to be one of the most interesting and inspiring cities in the entire United States,” James Cotter, General Manager, Pasadena Hilton, explains. “There is much to see and experience and the population here is drawn from education, the arts, high-tech and science so there are always interesting events to attend and fascinating conversations to be had.”
Cotter took over as General Manager of the 296-room Pasadena Hilton in 2021 after a $26 million renovation of the property had been completed in 2018. Living on-property for the first few months in his new role, he learned about his new home-city and about the property he’d manage.
“This hotel was built in 1970 and the refurbishment team did an excellent job of respecting the pedigree of both the property and the city but also adding a new dimension of comfort and convenience. Staying on-property provided me with an immersive experience to learn what was working and what areas needed change. One of the first things I sought to change was the guest room televisions!”
According to Cotter, the Pasadena Hilton had previously updated its guest room televisions in 2009 and so was not ready for a complete upgrade in 2018 when the refurbishment took place. But by 2021 Cotter saw a noticeable disconnect between the modern luxury of the property and the heavy, bulky 42-inch guest room televisions.
“We’re all about the guest experience, so when I played the role of the guest I couldn’t reconcile the dated televisions with the exceptional room environments,” Cotter explains. “Nor could I reconcile the televisions with what I knew guests were watching in their homes. I spoke to our Chief Engineer and we decided to act.”
Cotter and his Chief Engineer contacted Jeff Rubin of KniTec to come up with a plan to procure new televisions and manage the complex logistical process of upgrading a busy, occupied hotel. Rubin’s team members are nationally respected systems integrators with specialized experience and expertise in serving the hospitality trade.
“Hospitality is a 24/7 business and so managing the deployment of new televisions and removal of the legacy televisions is a complex task that requires careful consideration,” Rubin explains. “You need precision-planning to ensure the new televisions arrive in good shape at the right place at the right time. Then you need to manage the staging, remove the packaging, pre-schedule the placement and programming of each television, get out of the guest room expeditiously, and coordinate recycling of the legacy televisions. All of this must be accomplished with white-glove care and minimal interruption of guests.”
Cotter concurs. “Jeff and his team are experts at the process and it’s apparent from the first call to the moment they pull out of the parking lot. They get that hospitality requires partnership and versatility.”
Rubin and the KniTec team supplied the Pasadena Hilton with 300 55” LG 55UT570H hospitality televisions for guest rooms and shared spaces including restaurants and the bars. The UT570H series is LG’s Pro:Centric Enhanced Hospitality UHD TV featuring Pro:Centric and Pro:Idiom technologies for easy management, configuration and updates to guest room TVs via a centralized management system.
In advance of making a selection, Cotter and Rubin sought samples from two leading brands. LG was one of the brands and the team provided a sample that was shipped to Pasadena. The LG team checked in with Rubin and Cotter to confirm successful, safe delivery and to answer questions. The second sample television arrived broken, and when Cotter reached out, there was no follow up.
“That struck me as an indicator,” Cotter explains. “The television and the brand are important, but the service and support relationship are also critical. I wanted to know there was a hospitality team behind the brand and my business mattered to members of that team. LG is a global brand, their televisions have all the features and benefits we need, but LG also has a hospitality organization that I can count on!”
Subscribing to the maxim that the whole — LG’s product performance, design and exceptional services — is greater than the sum of the parts, Cotter draws a parallel to his newfound home city, “Pasadena’s weather, scenery, architecture and local arts scene make it a vibrant and interesting place to live and work. We’re very close to Los Angeles and enjoy access to all of its amenities, but we have a unique identity here and that makes Pasadena a great place to visit as well.”
Located downtown within blocks of the Pasadena Convention Center and close to many other attractions, the Pasadena Hilton has many compelling neighboring sites for guests to explore. But should they elect to stay in and enjoy comfort and ambiance of the refurbished guest rooms, James Cotter is confident his televisions will provide optimal performance and look very much at-home! Unlike the mythical property made famous by the Eagles, you may never want to leave this Hotel California.
