Beverly Wilshire, Plaza In Facelift Faceoff

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- New York's Plaza and Los Angeles' Beverly Wilshire hotels just got multimillion-dollar facelifts, but do they make the old favorites any more attractive?

By the time Fairmont's Plaza celebrates its 103rd birthday in October, it will have undergone $450 million in renovations that included making 152 condos out of some of its rooms and closing its famed Palm Court for more than a year. Not to be outdone, the Four Seasons' 82-year-old Beverly Wilshire recently completed a $40 million overhaul that included a complete restoration of its presidential and penthouse suites. Considering the hotel industry's gradual recovery since those renovations began, those improvements were as well-advised as avoiding the mini bar at either of said establishments.

According to Smith Travel Research, hotel occupancy increased nearly 11% at the end of last month over the same period last year, with room revenue up 13% during that span. Meanwhile, despite slow growth in the U.S. luxury sector and increased competition in Europe and the Middle East, Smith Travel forecasts that U.S. hotel occupancy will increase 3.6% this year, to 56.7%, and continue to rise 2.5% next year. Room revenue, meanwhile, is forecast to rise 3% by year's end and 6.5% next year.

Larger chains including Starwood(HOT), Intercontinental Hotels Group(IHG), Marriott(MAR) and Sonesta International(SNSTA) have already seen their stocks spike since spring, but can two of the gilded grand dames of America's hospitality circuit experience the same fortune? We took a look at improvements to the new Plaza and Beverly Wilshire and let the suites speak for themselves: