News from Santa Fe, Puerto Vallarta, Las Vegas and more
Openings, Renovations:
Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Open Hyatt Place Santa Fe
Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and Rim Hospitality have announced the opening of Hyatt Place Santa Fe, the first Hyatt Place hotel to open in the city. The hotel offers 92 guestrooms and more than 1,200 square feet of meeting space. Located just five miles from Santa Fe Municipal Airport and downtown Santa Fe, Hyatt Place Santa Fe is a short drive to the Santa Fe Ski Basin, Marty Sanchez Links De Santa Fe and Sangre de Cristo Mountains. A complimentary shuttle is also offered to guests for locations within a five-mile radius. (www.hyattplace.com)
New Meetings Space Planned for Puerto Vallarta
Meeting planners now have a new option for meetings and conventions in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. This November, the all-inclusive 80-suite Casa Velas Hotel Boutique, a member of The Leading Small Hotels of the World, opens its doors to the new 3,663-square-foot conference center adjacent to the resort’s garden area and the Marina Vallarta 18-hole championship golf course. The Casa Velas Conference Center can be sub-divided into four separate rooms ranging in sizes from 517 square feet to 1,566 square feet. In addition to the new conference center, Casa Velas features a 775-square-foot meeting room located in the main building. (www.hotelcasavelas.com)
$150 Million Restoration of Washington Hilton Completed
Nearly three years after announcing plans to renovate, the Washington Hilton near Dupont Circle has completed a $150 million renovation encompassing all 1,070 guest rooms, common areas, ballroom complex and exhibition spaces. The hotel’s renewed 110,000-square-foot function space features a new 30,000-square-foot multipurpose addition, named Columbia Hall. The hall has a network of moveable walls, allowing for maximum flexibility to create areas ranging from 900 to 7,800 square feet of social and exhibition space.
Also new, the Heights Executive Meeting Center includes nine meeting rooms designed to accommodate the latest technology and 24-hour food and beverage service. Extensive modifications have also been made to the hotel’s 36,000-square-foot International Ballroom complex, the site of the only official inaugural ball for President Barack Obama. The ballroom complex was reconfigured to handle multiple groups and events simultaneously, and can now hold up to 4,200 people for a reception and 2,600 for a seated dinner. (www.hilton.com/washington)
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas to Debut in December
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, located between CityCenter and the Bellagio in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip, will feature 150,000 square feet of event space when it welcomes its first guests in December 2010. Expert meeting curators are available to work with clients in advance to customize all aspects of each event based on the meeting’s core purpose. This service was designed as a standard offering at no cost to the planner.
Designed by The Friedmutter Group, The Cosmopolitan’s meeting and convention space spans three floors of the 2,995 room resort offering seven ballrooms ranging from 7,000 to 37,000 square feet. Set on just 8.7 acres, the resort’s vertical design allows for easy access to all meeting and convention space including direct room-conference elevator access in the West tower.
Created with maximum flexibility in mind, The Cosmopolitan’s meeting and convention space can be configured to accommodate events of varying sizes from intimate gatherings of ten to 4,000 person receptions. Space on the fourth level is complemented by direct access to the East Side Pool Deck, which offers views of the Las Vegas Strip. Additional meeting options include suites that offer a minimum of 100 square feet of terrace space. (www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com)
Mövenpick Hotel Saigon Is Slated for August 1 Reopening
The Mövenpick Hotel Saigon, which has been closed since March 8, is scheduled to reopen on August 1 as a greener hotel. Redesigned engineering systems have cut power consumption; recycled rainwater from the hotel roof will be used in the chiller cooling system; outdated boilers have been being replaced by heat pumps and instantaneous gas-fired equipment; and a new “smart” building-management control system will monitor and regulate the use of mechanical systems. The hotel’s skin will help to save on air-conditioning costs thanks to double-glazed windows that provide superior insulation while repelling sunlight and ultraviolet rays. Nonglass areas of the exterior will also be painted with solar-reflective paints.
The hotel was redesigned to be able to accommodate a variety of business and social functions, from small gatherings to grand weddings and ceremonies with up to 450 attendees. (www.moevenpick-hotels.com)
China Adds First Radisson Resort
Carlson Hotels has announced that it has signed its first Radisson resort in one of the region’s most sought-after holiday destinations, Huizhou, China. The signing marks an important milestone for Carlson Hotels’ goal of positioning Radisson as a globally consistent first-class brand. The Radisson Plaza Resort Huizhou property features a 10,763- square-foot grand ballroom to cater to all meeting and event requests. The resort is also in close proximity to a 27-hole golf course. (www.radisson.com)
Special Deals:
Hyatt Initiates Special New Jersey Savings Program
Planners can save 5% when they book a meeting at one of four New Jersey Hyatts by June 30 for meetings held through December 30. They will also receive double Planner Rewards. The participating hotels are the Hyatt Morristown, the Hyatt Regency Jersey City, the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick and the Hyatt Regency Princeton. (www.newjersey.hyatt.com)
Starwood Gives Back with New Meetings Program
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. and PepsiCo. Inc. have joined forces once again to launch a major initiative for meeting planners called “Get More for your Meeting, Give More to your Community.” The promotion offers companies savings and a chance to win one of four $50,000 charity grants to the charity of their choice. The promotion kicked off with a $50,000 contribution to Bette Midler’s nonprofit New York Restoration Project and an employee volunteer event to restore three of NYRP’s community gardens in East Harlem led by Starwood CEO Frits van Paasschen.
Through Starwood’s “Get More for your Meeting, Give More to your Community” promotion, meeting planners who book a meeting by July 31 and hold their meeting by December 31 will receive 4% off their master account, a complimentary PepsiCo food and beverage break, and up to 100K Starpoints signing bonus. The promotion is bookable at more than 350 North America hotels across eight of Starwood’s brands including Westin, Sheraton, Le Méridien, W, Luxury Collection, Four Points by Sheraton, Element and Aloft. (www.starwoodhotels.com/valueaddedmeetings)
Partnerships:
MPI, Jumeirah Establish Global Partnership
At IMEX, leadership from Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and Jumeirah Group signed a formal agreement to a global partnership that spans investments in research, education and marketplace opportunities. The current three year agreement commits MPI to train Jumeirah event professionals in preparation for obtaining their Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) credentials. Additionally, Jumeirah now has access to marketplace opportunities leveraging exposure to MPI members’ US$16.4 billion buying power. The partnership also includes a Jumeirah investment with the MPI Foundation to advance research on the future of meetings.
Appointments:
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Appoints Conference Specialist
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts’ Australian regional headquarters has appointed accredited meetings specialist, Sophie Secombe, to the role of conference sales executive. Secombe’s appointment is timely, as Outrigger prepares for the August 1 opening of the new AUD$350 million Outrigger Little Hastings Street Resort & Spa Noosa that will feature some of the region’s largest conference and meeting facilities.
Green:
14 Hotels in Victoria Awarded Green Eco-Leaf Rating
Currently 30 hotels in Victoria, BC are listed as environmentally friendly with iStayGreen.org. Fourteen of the 30 properties have completed the comprehensive environmental audit administered by iStayGreen.org. Properties that have completed the 70-point comprehensive eco-audit survey are Hotel Grande Pacific, Chateau Victoria Hotel And Suites, Parkside Victoria Resort, Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort and Spa, Queen Victoria Hotel And Suites, The Oswego Hotel, Quality Inn Downtown, Victoria Regent Hotel, Inn Victoria on the Harbour, Ramada Victoria, Brentwood Bay Lodge and Spa, Best Western Inner Harbour, Accent Inns Victoria, and Travelodge Victoria Gorge Road.
With iStayGreen’s growing searchable directory of 100,000 lodging properties and over 4,500 already Green Eco-Leaf Rated, planners can quickly locate and compare “Green” lodging worldwide. To earn a Green Eco-Leaf Rating, hotels must complete a thorough self-audit, and then are rated based on their eco initiatives. The site also provides an effective way for hotel owners and operators to promote all of the good “Green” things they are doing. Visitors to the site can create their own profiles, add friends, recommend properties, upload photos, form groups, create and respond to forum threads, make reservations, and add comments and reviews to hotel profiles.
To learn more, visit www.iStayGreen.org.
IAAC Members Support Sustainability
Lois Berg, Chair of the International Association of Conference Center’s (IACC’s) Sustainability Committee, recently reported a dramatic increase in members signed up to support the rigorous Code of Sustainability and demonstrating their commitment to sustainable practices in nine areas: Education and Awareness, Waste Management, Recycling, Reuse, Water Conservation, Purchasing, Energy Management, Air Quality, and Food & Beverage.
According to Berg, 89 members signed up in support of the Code of Sustainability after its introduction in May 2009. Members are required to renew annually and 109 member properties have signed on so far in 2010. When IACC introduced the web page for Environmental Initiatives in 2009, it received more than 4,400 visitors to the page over the following six months. Year to date (as of May 2010) it has received more than 2,500 visitors, which on an annual basis would equal close to 7,700 visitors at the current pace.
Berg notes that the Code was established “to allow member properties to commit to sustain and support IAAC’s Environmental Policy, adhere to at least 75% of the 55 tenets of the Code, and join other member organizations that have signed the Code in a global, association-wide effort to strive for greater sustainability.”
IACC recognizes three tiers of participation in the Code of Sustainability. Members that achieve 100% of the Code qualify for the Platinum Tier; those that achieve 85% qualify for the Gold Tier; and those that achieve 75% qualify for the Silver Tier.
