Pasadena’s Hotel Drought Over, the DusitD2 Constance Celebrates Opening

More than two hundred friends, family members, investors and elected officials were on hand Thursday as the DusitD2 Constance Hotel at Colorado Boulevard and Mentor opened its doors for a sneak preview and a ribbon-cutting.

The hotel is a renovation of the original 1926 hotel, and was bought and developed by local real estate and development group Singpoli Capital Corporation, which brought forth an exciting array of design and technology, while keeping the historical integrity of the building intact.

“This is an exciting moment for our development team,” said Kin Hui, CEO of Singpoli Group, LLC, and Singpoli Capital Corporation, which purchased the historic property in 2007. ‘We have finally completed the first phase of this development,” he said to generous applause.

The DusitD2 Constance is the Thailand-based company’s first hotel built outside of Asia or the Middle East.

“We wanted to bring the golden age back into this property,” continued Hui.

“We wanted to bring the history back,” he told the group assembled in the hotel’s courtyard on a sweltering, humid afternoon, “but we also need to think about going forward. That’s why the design, and everything, is so trendy inside, but at the same time there’s a link between its history and the contemporary. We are trying to do something different. “

General Manager Martin Nicholson echoedHui’s comments, saying, “We now have a whole new direction in hospitality. As the first beachhead and the first launch in the USA, the staff is very proud to be a part of this.”

Pasadena City Councilmember Terry Tornek seemed pleased with the new development, saying, “This will have such an important impact on the whole area. If you talk to any of these merchants and some of these restaurants [nearby] they have been waiting with bated breath for the completion of this project, because it will really have a very significant ripple effect on this part of Colorado Boulevard, and beyond.”

“I think it broadens the city’s appeal as a destination town for people who come visit,” he continued, “and this will appeal to whole different niche of the market. I think on so many levels I think this is an important project.”

The new hotel features 136 luxury rooms, including 12 suites, all with a wide array of state-of -the-art technology, including tablet computers in each room, which feature the hotel’s own mobile app. Guests may make requests, dinner reservations, open and lock their rooms, order dinner, control the room climate, and make other adjustments using the provided tablets.

The hotel’s second floor master suite looks out onto Colorado Boulevard, and according to staffer Dan Sullivan, “is the perfect spot to watch the Rose Parade from.”

The second phase of the hotel will be completed in approximately 18 months and will include a pool and an additional 250 rooms. During the construction phase, only rooms on the eastern side of the hotel will be used, to to shield hotel guests from construction noise, said Sullivan.

In addition, the hotel maintained a strict adherence to local preservation standards in its renovation, said Sue Mossman, executive director of Pasadena Heritage, who added, “We know that it meets the Secretary of the Interior’s standards because the preservation team here in Pasadena is among the best in the country, and they have watched over the process very carefully. To those of us who are traditionalists, seeing it today for the first time was an eye-opener. For me, it will take a little getting used to. I know my sons will love it!”

The hotel will have its soft opening in two weeks with a formal opening in September.

The DusitD2 Constance Hotel is at 928 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. For more call (626) 898-7900 or visit http://www.dusit.com/dusitd2/pasadena/