Meeting News - May 5, 2008 - (Page 22)

Destination Insider: Orlando Edited by Rayna Katz rayna.katz@nielsen.com A Hat Trick for OCCC’s Conventioneers Supply of upscale rooms nearby convention center to spike with 3 new hotels After several planned hotels around the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) never actually materialized, concrete-and-mortar reality has come for three area projects. The trio of properties—a 325-room Westin, a 1,400-room Hilton, and a 750-room expansion of the Peabody Orlando—will increase the number of upscale hotel rooms within a mile of the convention center by almost 50 percent by 2010, according to Gary Sain, president and CEO of the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau. The development of the properties is already having a big impact on future OCCC bookings, he said. “With these hotels, we already have seen some doors open with groups that could not look at us seriously in the past because we needed more first-class inventory around the convention center,” he said. Added Howard Britt, president of Orlando-based Premier Shows, a trade show management company: “We had a few disappointments in the past halfdozen years because projects that were on the drawing board never got built. It’s reassuring now to see cranes in place and concrete being poured.” According to the Orlando/Orange County CVB, there are now 9,100 hotel guest rooms within a mile of the convention center, of which 5,600 are upscale accommodations suitable for meetings and conventions. The first of the new hotels, the Westin Imagine, which is across Republic Drive from the convention center, opened last month. Providing 7,100 sf of meeting space, it is the initial phase of the Village of Imagine, a complex of residences, hotels (another is planned, but no details were available at press time), retail, and restaurants. Set to open in 2009 is the Hilton Orlando Hotel, with 130,000 sf of meeting space, including two ballrooms of 50,000 sf and 30,000 sf, respectively. The existing Peabody Hotel Orlando, which is adjacent to the convention center, will top off its $400-million expansion, which includes 150,000 sf of meeting space, by 2010. In total post-expansion, the property will have 1,641 rooms and 220,000 sf of meeting space in all. The new wing of the Peabody will be connected to the convention center via an elevated walkway. The upgrade will also add a 15,000-sf spa, a big grotto swimming pool, and an English garden, which will be available for outdoor events. The Peabody expansion is one of the convention center area projects originally announced in the late 1990s that was held up by the post-9/11 construction financing slump. “We had a few the disappointments in past because projects never got built. It’s reassuring to see cranes in place. —Howard Britt, president, Premier Shows ” Westin Imagine kicked off last month. The bureau does not track how many hotels it has within walking distance of the center as that standard is subjective, said Sain. But most local planners come up with a rough count of about 4,000 rooms either across the street or within one block, so an additional 2,500 rooms in the category will go a long way toward easing the attendee experience, said Britt. “Our clients tend to want to be able to walk to the convention center from their hotel rooms,” he said. “You can’t overstate the advantage of being able to offer that.” More Luxe Properties Planned Near Disney While there is currently a hotel construction boom going on around the Orange County Convention Center, there is also a luxury hotel “mini-boom” in other parts of the city, with five new high-end hotels going up around Walt Disney World Resort. Under construction and scheduled to open late next year is the Hilton Bonnet Creek complex. Adjacent to Disney, the development will include a 498-room Waldorf=Astoria (the first outside New York City) and a 1,000-room Hilton. Between the two hotels will be a 114,000-sf conference center, and the complex will include a spa and golf course. Still another hotel in the works for the area is Vista Royale, a 350-room Wyndham Resort slated 22 MeetingNews May 5, 2008 to open in late 2009. The property will include a European-style spa and an 11,000-sf conference center. Planned for the Lake Buena Vista area is the Ravallo Resort and Conference Center, with 900 guest rooms and 140,000 sf of meeting space. Targeted to include a spa and a rooftop swimming pool, the property is expected to open in 2010. Bonnet Creek complex will have a Hilton and a Waldorf. That same year, Central Florida’s first Four Seasons will debut. The property will fea- be developed by Disney and sit on the park’s westture 900 rooms and a golf course, but meeting ern side—near the Osprey Ridge Golf Course—as space details were not available at press time. It will part of a shopping complex. www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - May 5, 2008

Meeting News - May 5, 2008 Contents What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com Advertisers Index Live from the Forum

Meeting News - May 5, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.