Case Study : The Ritz-Carlton, Marina Del Rey

Located within the breathtaking Marina Del Rey, Calif., coastal region, the Ritz Carlton Marina Del Rey stands as the ideal destination for transcontinental business travelers and vacationers alike. Within the facility’s extensive 4-million dollar spa renovation project, AFP was called upon to revamp the facility’s fitness center to accommodate both everyday business and vacation travelers as well as a host of professional and college athletes that stay at the resort on a regular basis during road trips. AFP’s upgrades resulted in a health-club-quality fitness center that met the standards of these elite athletes, and even generated demand and membership sales among non-hotel guests living in the local area.

Project Summary

Located just North of Los Angeles International Airport and just South of L.A.‘s most popular northern beach cities – Venice Beach, Santa Monica and Malibu – Marina Del Rey is a waterfront escape on the outskirts of the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles. Literally meaning “sea coast of the king”, Marina del Rey is one of Los Angeles’ recreational Pacific coastal playgrounds for locals and visitors, with easy access to the cities most desirable attractions and opportunities.

Here in lies the AAA Five Diamond Award-winning resort, The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey, an ideal ‘corporate-resort’ stopover destination for travelers crossing the Pacific in either direction. The facility recently underwent a $4 million expansion and transition of its Fitness & Massage Center into a luxurious Boutique Spa. Advantage Fitness Products (AFP) was called upon for its full breadth of services to ensure that the fitness center component of this expansion came to fruition as smoothly as possible and realized Ritz Carlton Management’s specific goals and objectives.

There were several goals inherent to this project. First was a comprehensive upgrade to state-of-the-art exercise equipment, complete with modern entertainment features (e.g., personal viewing screens and I-pod docking stations, etc.). Due to the significant number of professional and college athletes that frequently stay at the facility during road trip stops in Los Angeles, a second goal was to ensure that a variety of specific training categories were represented in the facility to accommodate the more-sophisticated training needs of these elite athletes. Yet another goal was to maximize the fitness center’s breathtaking view of the luxurious pool area and the Marina itself.

Results

With the space constraints of the pre-existing fitness center location, accommodating the need for both basic and more-advanced training equipment was a challenge. To accomplish this, AFP was able to provide a basic circuit of strength training equipment, along with several key additions of multi-purpose functional training specialty pieces that served a variety of training functions without the need of multiple equipment units. This allowed every demographic, from everyday travelers to elite professional athletes to meet their unique training needs.

In order to create both symmetry and flow coupled with The Ritz Carlton Corporate approved equipment specifications, AFP provided a comprehensive PRECOR equipment offering.  Along with the aforementioned strength equipment, Experience Series cardiovascular products were supplied, each with personal viewing screens, I-pod jacks and docking stations.

Finally, AFP established its Advantage Care Preventative Maintenance program for all facility equipment to ensure that consistent operational standards are met and the useful life of the equipment will be maximized.

The upgraded equipment and features have resulted in immediate revenue-generating benefits due to the facility’s now health club-level status. Upon its re-opening, the facility began receiving requests from local residents and outside neighbors to obtain membership to the fitness center for their own daily use. In addition to this unique development, the fitness center will play a key role in bringing customers back for repeat guest stays, driving an influx of revenue to the spa overall, and increasing personal training opportunities within the fitness center.

Key Stats

• Experience Series Treadmills and Ellipticals
• Experience Series Personal Viewing Systems
• Experience Series Upright and Recumbent Bikes
• Complete Lineup of Icarian Strength Equipment
• Benches and Racks
• TKO Dumbbells and Racks
• AFP Mats
• Balls and other accesories

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AFP has been a tremendous partner in the department’s focus on wellness. They have supplied over fifty of our stations with premium equipment meeting the stringing quality and functional requirements of our training programs. AFP is truly a class organization and a valued asset to our department.

AFP was vital in the layout and design of our fitness facility. They have provided reliable service and maintenance on our equipment. Over the years, the Desert Springs Marriott Spa has been fortunate to have a very positive relationship with AFP. They have continued to provide quality of service and professionalism, which is key in a competitive market.