New Wyndham Hotel Opens in New Orleans

The 170-room Wyndham Garden Hotel Baronne Plaza New Orleans has opened in the city’s National Historic Lower Central Business District. Built in 1931, the property was completely renovated in 2009 while maintaining the building’s original Art Deco stone and granite façade. The hotel is just 12 miles from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, within minutes of Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and only one block from the famous French Quarter. The hotel offers 5,500 square feet of flexible meeting space, including a 3,500-square-foot ballroom ideal for accommodating small groups or large meetings of up to 390 guests. Some of the city’s top attractions, including the Mississippi River, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, historic Jackson Square and the French Market District, are just a short walk or drive from the hotel.(www.wyndham.com)

Cheyenne Mountain Resort Announces $20 Million Renovation

Benchmark Hospitality International has announced a comprehensive $20 million renovation program for 316-room Cheyenne Mountain Resort, the Four Diamond property located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This will be the first property-wide renovation for the award-winning resort, and will touch nearly all areas of the property. Cheyenne’s conference center spaces will be refurbished with new floor and wall treatments, in addition to specialized furnishings. Updated meeting support technology will be installed throughout the center. Completion is scheduled for spring 2011. (www.cheyennemountain.com)

Hyatt Place North Charleston Celebrates Grand Opening

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and Naman Hotels have announced the opening of 113-room Hyatt Place North Charleston, the fourth Hyatt Place hotel in South Carolina and second in North Charleston. Hyatt Place North Charleston is located in the North Charleston Corridor, close to Northwoods Mall, which is home to over 130 stores, services and eateries. The hotel is also closely situated to Boeing Headquarters, Charleston Southern University and Charleston Air Force Base. (www.HyattPlace.com)

London Syon Park to Open by End of 2010

Hilton Worldwide has announced the signing of an agreement with the Ability Group to open a new Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts hotel in Syon Park, West London. The London Syon Park, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel is scheduled to open in November 2010, offering easy access to the city center. Looking out across the River Thames onto Kew Gardens, Syon House and its 200-acre park is the London home of the Duke of Northumberland. Only seven miles from both Knightsbridge in central London and Heathrow airport, the luxury hotel sits close to the main house. The 137-room hotel will offer over 10,000 square feet of state-of-the-art meeting and conference facilities, a spa, a swimming pool plus several restaurants and bars. Guests will have use of the park grounds, with exclusive year-round access to the Syon House gardens and activities including trout fishing. (www.waldorfastoria.com/)

First All-Inclusive Boutique Hotel Opens in Singapore
    

The Quincy

The 108-room Quincy, which has just opened on Mount Elizabeth in Singapore, is the city’s first boutique hotel offering an all-inclusive stay. The room rate includes a limousine transfer service from the airport with free Wi-Fi access during the ride, all three meals at the hotel, high-speed Internet connections, all mini-bar amenities, and cocktails and drinks each evening. The hotel will even pick up the tab for two pieces of laundry per room, per night. A shuttle to Universal Studios Singapore is also available. The hotel’s location is close to Orchard Road, with access to shopping, entertainment and public transportation. (www.quincy.com.sq)

Green Initiatives

Marriott Opens First LEED Green Hotel

Of interest to planners whose clients require green hotel space: The Courtyard Charleston/Summerville in South Carolina will be the first hotel built using Marriott International’s green hotel prototype, in partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). This will dramatically accelerate the company’s goal to have 300 LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) hotels by 2015. Marriott is the first in the hospitality industry to launch a green hotel prototype that has been pre-approved by USGBC as part of its LEED Volume program, meaning that any Marriott hotel that follows these plans will earn basic LEED certification, or possibly higher, upon USGBC final approval. The new Courtyard hotel will open in early 2012. Based on the results of the Courtyard brand, Marriott has plans to create similar green hotel prototypes for Residence Inn by Marriott, TownePlace Suites by Marriott, SpringHill Suites by Marriott and Fairfield Inn by Marriott.

MeetGreen appointed Official Sustainability Consultants to IMEX America

The IMEX Group will continue to build on its strong environmental track record and reputation on green issues when it launches IMEX America in October 2011. To help the new US tradeshow achieve its environmental objectives, the organizers have appointed MeetGreen as the show’s Official Sustainability Consultants. The first IMEX America will take place at the Sands Expo Convention Center at the Venetian/Palazzo, October 11-13, 2011. In the next year, the IMEX Group and its many partners will work closely with MeetGreen to set green standards for transportation, food and beverage, and the venue in particular. Earlier this year, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation unveiled Eco 360, a broad-ranging energy efficiency and environmental initiative. With the recent LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) of the Venetian and the conference center, the combined properties now comprise the largest adjoined LEED-certified building in the world. (www.imexamerica.com, www.meetgreen.com)
 
New Positions

ABTS Convention Services Taps Gorin

ABTS Convention Services (ABTS), a housing and corporate travel provider specializing in medical association meetings, has announced the addition of Eli Gorin, CMP, as Director of Quality Control. Gorin, who has been frequently quoted in past issues of Travel Market Report, will work closely with the executive teams in Miami, Rome, San Francisco and Belgrade to execute operations across the various internal divisions of the company as it continues to grow. He will also ensure the ongoing delivery of a highly customized, quality service offering for the company’s clientele.

Formerly president of his own meeting management company gMeetings, Inc., Gorin is a frequent industry event speaker who will continue to speak at industry events as part of ABTS. He has worked in various capacities within the meetings industry, and in 2009 he was invited to be part of Meeting Professionals International’s Senior Cadre of Accredited Trainers for the association’s Global Training Initiative. (www.abtscs.com)

Specials

Westin Jersey City Announces Boating

The Westin Jersey City Newport has announced a partnership with Smooth Sailing Celebrations to promote the hotel’s location near the Hudson River. Hudson Harbor event experiences are now available to Westin guests on over 45 vessels ranging from sailboats and catamarans to luxury yachts and will accommodate groups ranging from 2-1,200 people who wish to cruise the Hudson River and enjoy views of the Manhattan skyline, Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Governor’s Island and the South Street Seaport. Located just a few steps from the hotel, all guests are picked-up and dropped off at the Newport Marina, thus no additional transportation is required, making for a seamless night.

The Westin Jersey City Newport offers more than 20,500 square feet of function and meeting space in a setting mere minutes from midtown Manhattan. Facilities include the largest ballroom in Jersey City and a choice of flexible meeting spaces with configurations up to 18 rooms. With the “Meetings at Westin” promotion, for every meeting booked, each company will be entered to win one of four $50,000 charitable grants to be donated to the company’s favorite local cause. They will also receive: 4% Credit to master the account, complimentary PepsiCo food and beverage break and up to 100,000 Starpoints signing bonus. All contracts must be signed by July 31, 2010. Meeting must occur by December 31, 2010. (www.starwoodhotels.com)

Fiesta Resort Conference Center, Tempe Offers $35 Room Rate

For a five-week period during July and August, the 270-room Fiesta Resort Conference Center in Tempe, Arizona, is offering an unprecedented room rate of $35 per night for Friday, Saturday or Sunday night stays. The special promotion - developed specifically to recognize the property’s 35th anniversary this year - will start on July 30, and will continue for the next four consecutive weekends through August 29, 2010. The resort is also offering a 50-minute massage for $35, and other discounts. The hotel’s state-of-the-art Conference Center, unveiled in January 2008, boasts more than 30,000 square feet of flexible indoor and outdoor meeting space, including the 7,300-square-foot Fiesta Ballroom. Complimentary transportation is offered to/from Sky Harbor International Airport. (www.fiestaresortcc.com)

Technology

Dolce Facilitates Meeting RFPs
 
Dolce Hotels and Resorts, operator of 27 upscale hotels, resorts and conference hotels in North America and Europe, has implemented SpeedRFP, an online request-for-proposal tool that enables meeting planners to solicit bids from multiple hotels across multiple brands. SpeedRFP enables meeting planners to enter their organization’s information and details about their prospective meeting just once using a standardized format at www.dolce-speedrfp.com and then submit that information to the Dolce property of their choice, according to Barry Goldstein, Dolce chief revenue officer. (www.dolce.com)