The Portola Hotel sits in the heart of Monterey’s Downtown next to the Monterey Conference Center. In late 2015, the Conference Center underwent a full renovation, which included upgrades to the plaza it shares with the Hotel. The Hotel decided to begin its own renovation and take advantage of the construction going on around to give itself a facelift. Through late 2015 and early 2016 we helped guide their traffic with temporary wayfinding signs and barricade signage. In early 2017 they decided to upgrade their exterior signage to a more modern halo-lit logo and letterset.

We began the project with surveys of their existing non-illuminated signage and provided layouts showing exact placement and sizing of their new signs. Once we had customer approval we needed to navigate city approval. The client wanted a larger sign for their main entrance but per City Code they would only be allowed the same size sign we were replacing. We represented the client at the Architectural Review Board presenting their needs and gaining approval for the larger sign.

Upon client and city approval we moved into production with a deadline set. The client was looking to have the entire hotel painted so we coordinated our installation with the scaffolding being set up to reduce install cost and avoid rental of large aerial lifts. We moved our way around the building with the painters and the end result was a modern upgrade to a hotel that has been a staple of Downtown Monterey.