Demand is also up for hotels in OC, but new properties need high-tech and traditional amenities to stay competitive, R.D. Olson Construction senior EVP of operations Joseph Cervantes explains, especially if catering to leisure travelers. (Presumably that's families traveling with children... which sounds anything but leisurely.) Recently Olson—which has completed 1,000 hotel rooms in California and Hawaii in the last three years—started on the 221-room Courtyard by Marriott in Anaheim, whose prime amenity will be proximity to Disneyland. It will also be an example of Marriott’s Gen Next design, which the hotelier has been rolling out since last year.

Property owner Northwest Hotel Corp tapped Olson for the development, which will be completed in June 2015. Gen Next design features include welcome pedestals that replace a traditional front desk, an interactive GoBoard to display news and destination information, and semi-enclosed “media pods” with flat-panel TVs for a place to work, meet, or relax. In this property, Olson (which did a Gen Next at a the Courtyard by Marriott Irvine Spectrum) also has such traditional amenities as a 20k SF water park, a pool and spa, and outside dining space.