Northwest Hotel Corp., the Anaheim-based owner of Howard Johnson by Wyndham Anaheim Hotel and Water Playground, is investing $30 million into restoring the 60-year-old property across the street from the Disneyland Resort.

Construction began in July led by R.D. Olson Construction and Lee & Sakahara Architects Inc. with completion scheduled for June 2027.

The goal is to revamp all 302 rooms and suites, public spaces and amenities while maintaining the mid-century resort style designed by architect William Pereira when it first opened in 1965. The project is dubbed “HoJo Anaheim Reimagined.”

Four buildings with 93 rooms will be refurbished with a polychromatic makeover inspired by the property’s midcentury roots. Four new bridges and walkways will be constructed by R.D. Olson to provide easier access across the property.

Eighteen of those standard rooms are being converted into 10 new, larger one-bedroom suites, reducing the room count to 293. The Howard Johnson resort ranked as No. 36 among the largest hotels in Orange County in June, tied with its neighbor on Harbor Boulevard, The Anaheim Hotel.

“We view this project as much more than a hotel renovation,” General Manager Matt Stanley said in a statement. “This investment allows us to preserve and celebrate that legacy while thoughtfully reimagining the property for future generations of guests.”

Construction Keeps Going 
R.D. Olson is also demolishing and rebuilding the hotel’s courtyard to add greener landscapes and a new fountain and swing to the resort’s Castaway Cove Water Playground.
The seven-acre Howard Johnson Anaheim will remain open throughout the renovation. This is the third round of upgrades R.D. Olson has completed for the hotel in the last eight years.

“Construction on a hotel doesn’t stop when a hotel is first completed – it keeps going to ensure all guests’ needs are accounted for,” R.D. Olson Chief Executive Bill Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm added that the Irvine-based general contractor has worked on eight different hotels in the Anaheim Resort district—a 1,100-acre area that starts around Ball Road and includes Disneyland, the Anaheim Convention Center and nearby businesses down Harbor Boulevard ending at Chapman Avenue—which includes Northwest’s second local property Courtyard by Marriott.

Other OC Hotel News

Down in South Orange County, the Balboa Bay Resort is close to finishing a renovation with completion expected in the fall. The luxury oceanfront property started upgrading all 36,314 square feet of meeting and event spaces last year, redesigned by Shannon Cook. Balboa Bay has also added new seaworthy amenities such as a 42-foot private yacht, named Host of the Coast. It launched a new partnership with Newport Star Cruises, allowing guest access to two more private yachts. Upgrades to accommodations and the lobby are also expected to be complete in the fall.
Newport Beach-based hospitality firm Montage International in August acquired the Pendry San Diego hotel. Owner and developer Robert Green Co. transferred ownership of the 317-room property to Montage in a $147 million transaction, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
This month, Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa in Huntington Beach named Sid Ramani as its new general manager. Ramani, was previously the general manager at Hyatt Regency Irvine in 2024 and stepped down earlier this year.
R.D. Olson’s work at two ground-up hotels at Dana Point Harbor continues to be delayed, hurting its chances of opening in time for the Summer Olympics. CLICK HERE to read more.