Texas-based billionaire Tilman Fertitta closed on the purchase of the Montage Laguna Beach Resort Hotel, according to a news release.
Bloomberg reports China-based Dajia Insurance Group, which assumed most of the operations of China's Anbang Insurance Group, was the seller. Montage Laguna Beach Resort Hotel had been owned by Chicago-based Strategic Hotels and Resorts, which Anbang acquired in 2016 for $5.5 billion. The Chinese government dissolved Anbang in 2020 due to its crackdown on investments outside of China, and formed Dajia Insurance Group to operate the former Anbang's assets.
The purchase price for the Montage Laguna Beach Resort Hotel has not yet been disclosed. However, Bloomberg previously reported Fertitta would pay about $650 million. According to CoStar data, the property last sold in 2016 for nearly $202 million or $813,669 per room.
Fertitta owns 15 hotels around the U.S., including Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston; San Luis Resort in Galveston, Texas; Huntting Inn in East Hampton, New York; and five Golden Nugget Casinos and Hotels.
The 30-acre, 260-room Montage Laguna Beach Resort Hotel overlooks the Pacific Ocean along the California coast and includes two pools, direct beach access and is part of the Legend Collection of Preferred Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
"I am truly thrilled to acquire this world-renowned property and add one of America's most iconic trophy resorts to our luxury hotel portfolio," Fertitta said in the news release. "I have been traveling to Laguna Beach for over 30 years. It is one of my favorite places to visit and one of the most beautiful areas in the world. The Montage is a stunning oceanfront property and one of the premier hotel brands in the world."
Other properties part of the original portfolio of hotels owned by Strategic Hotels & Resorts that sold within the month include Braemar Hotels & Resorts' $267.8 million purchase of the 210-room Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North, equating to roughly $1.3 million per key, and Host Hotels & Resorts' $315 million purchase of the 125-room Four Seasons Resort & Residences in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.