Meeting News - February 11, 2008 - (Page 34)

Destination Insider: Atlanta Edited by Elizabeth West elizabeth.west@nielsen.com Boutique Properties Are Un-convention-al Smaller, niche properties keep Atlanta’s hotel inventory on the cutting edge A wave of hotel openings, including ultra modern boutique hotels, as well as construction on several existing meetings-friendly hotels, means good news for groups of all sizes in Atlanta. “The Atlanta hotel package has always been one of the strongest in the nation, as far as the concentration and quality of hotel rooms go,” said Bob Schuler, VP of sales for the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau.“What we have been lacking are small, boutique-type hotel products for the niche market.” Not for long, though. Making the biggest splash this year is the opening of three new Starwood W hotels: the 291-room W Atlanta Midtown in February, with 9,500 sf of meeting space; the 225-room W Atlanta Buckhead in October, with 7,000 sf of meeting space; and the 237-room W Atlanta Downtown in December, with more than 9,000 sf of meeting space. Also in downtown, the 242-room Hilton Garden Inn is set to open near the Georgia Aquarium in March with 9,000 sf of meeting space. It will be part of Park Pavilion, a mixed-use facility that will encompass 32,000 sf of restaurant and retail space. And in May, the 127-room Mansion on Peachtree will open in Buckhead, featuring 4,800 sf of meeting space and a 15,000-sf spa. Industry reaction to the new properties has been strong.“It’s absolutely wonderful that all of these new hotels are coming in,” said Michele Lend, president of Atlanta Arrangements, a full-service DMC. “If people haven’t been to Atlanta in a while, they come back and they’re just amazed at what has happened.” Meanwhile, several established properties have undergone major renovations. The most notable renovation is happening at the 1,675-room Atlanta Marriott Marquis, where a multi-phase, $138million renovation will be completed in July, bringing new furniture to the guest rooms and adding 46,000 sf of meeting space for a grand total of more than 160,000 sf at the property. In addition, the 244-room Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta completed $5.5 million in guest room renovations early last year, and the Hyatt Regency Atlanta completed an $8-million guest room renovation in conjunction with its 40th anniversary. Atlanta’s hotel product will soon become more diversiﬁed. World of Coca-Cola Begins Hosting Events After Dusk Downtown Atlanta’s newest attraction, the World of Coca-Cola, began offering itself as a venue for evening corporate events in September, four months after its May opening near the Georgia Aquarium. The 92,000-sf facility offers 45,000 sf of event space for business dinners, receptions, and presentations during evening hours, following the close of the center. The space serves as a permanent daytime exhibition that highlights the history of The CocaCola Company. There are ﬁve areas available to accommodate events, including a 4,700-sf, 225-seat theater. Additionally, the entire facility can be reserved for receptions for groups of up to 1,500. Anticipation Builds for New College Park Community Being Developed Next to Georgia Int’l Convention Center E xcitement is mounting just outside of downtown Atlanta as developers in College Park are continuing with plans for a 1.1-million-sf mixed-use community next to the 400,000-sf Georgia International Convention Center (GICC), which sits adjacent to Hartsﬁeld-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The initial phase of the new complex is set to A master community may sprout up open in the summer of 2009 and will include a next to the Georgia International CC. 400-room ﬂagship hotel, another 150-room property, an ofﬁce building with 135,000 sf of rentable space, and a 1,800-space parking facility. In addition, an extension of Hartsﬁeld’s Automated People Mover will be completed, bringing visitors from the airport to the complex within three minutes. “The city of College Park has always understood and worked well with our partners at the airport,” said Hugh Austin, executive director of the GICC. “We wouldn’t have a convention center of this stature and size without it being connected to a ﬁrst-class international airport.” Aquarium Widens ‘Ocean’ The Georgia Aquarium unveiled an expansion to its Ocean Ballroom’s prefunction space in October. The new area contains 7,000 additional sf for parties, cocktail receptions, and overﬂow seating, allowing continued on page 36 www.meetingnews.com 34 MeetingNews February 11, 2008 http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - February 11, 2008

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