Meeting News - November 19, 2007 - (Page 14)

Hotels/Resorts Behemoth Ballroom A Bedrock for Bookings Orlando—The Orlando World Center Marriott Resort & Convention Center—which, at 2,000 rooms, bills itself as the world’s largest MarMinneapolis—Carlson Hotels has made a number of enhancements to its frequent guest program for both meeting planners and transient travelers. Most notably, the company has made its “goldpoints plus” program global, allowing all participating travel buyers to redeem points at any of Carlson’s 965 properties, which are in 71 countries across five brands: Regent Hotels & Resorts, Radisson Hotels & Resorts, Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts, Country Inns & Suites By Carlson, and Park Inn. Previously, the earning and tracking of points was inefficient and sometimes inaccessible. Also, Carlson has increased the number of points tied to each dollar or euro spent, doubling it to 20 points at full-service hotels and raising it from 10 to 15 credits at limited-service properties. Further, a double points promotion for planners is now in effect for events booked through Jan. 31, 2008. There is no cutoff date by which an event must be held. Also new, planners can donate their points, either to the World Childhood Foundation or community-based carbon reduction projects. “In developing a global platform and program for our frequent guest goldpoints plus members, which includes our valued relationships with meeting and event planners, Edited by Rayna Katz rayna.katz@nielsen.com Carlson Hotels Offers Golden Opportunity Meeting planner, traveler members of hotelier’s loyalty plan gain points and other perks we took a comprehensive look at the current offerings and created a program to better meet their needs,” said Fredrik Korallus, executive vice president of revenue generation. The increased ability to earn points is made even more valuable by the fact that Carlson has not changed the qualifiers necessary for each of the three levels of the goldpoints program: Red, Silver Elite, and Gold Elite. Further, the company has added a number of membership perks. Now, points can be redeemed for on-property services, such as a free movie or room upgrade. New automatic perks, including early check-in and late check-out, or pick of the litter when it comes to rooms, are also available. Additionally, members can now couple points with a small amount of cash—starting at $49—to procure a stay; previously, only points could be used for that purpose. Elite members will receive notices of exclusive offers to redeem points, or points plus a bit of cash that’s much less than the room rate, for stays. Members also can now redeem their points for a Visa credit card. For more information on the offering to meeting planners, go to goldpointsplus.com/doublemeetings. More general information about the loyalty program’s upgrades is available at www.goldpointsplus.com. No easy task: Servers work the largest pillar-free ballroom yet. riott—has created a behemoth, pillar-free ballroom of 105,000 sf. Larger than a football field, the Cypress Ballroom can seat as many as 9,000 attendees in rounds of 10, or 13,000 event goers theater-style. The ballroom brings the property’s total meeting space up to 450,000 sf. Despite its grandeur, the ballroom is a case of meeting the market’s needs, said Tim Pyne, the resort’s director of sales and marketing. “There is excellent demand, and bookings are up substantially for 2008 and beyond,” he said.“With our additional space, we can attract more conventions and groups that previously used convention centers or mega-size properties.” The Cypress is adjacent to the Palms ballroom; together, the facilities offer 150,000 sf of contiguous, pillar-free function space, as well as over 50,000 sf of prefunction space. 14 MeetingNews Loews is Hot for Hotlanta Atlanta—Yet another hotelier has staked a claim in this Southeast hub. Loews Hotels has broken ground on a 414-room property, featuring over 24,000 sf of meeting space, that will open April 2010. The Loews’ neighbors will have much to offer—the property is part of a $500-million development, called 12th & Midtown, providing over 60,000 sf of retail options and 60 luxury residences. “In more than two years of market research, Atlanta was consistently among the places where our customers would most like to see a Loews hotel,” said Jonathan Tisch, chairman and CEO. “We are delighted to deliver [a property] to Atlanta’s most sought-after new address.” InterContinental Shift—Twice Atlanta—Intercontinental Hotels has renovated two Holiday Inns and changed the properties’ flags to Crowne Plaza. Multimillion-dollar renovations of both hotels were completed before the reflaggings last month, making the two limitedservice hotels—in the Washington, DC, area and in Detroit—into fullservice properties. Crowne Plaza Tysons Corner, adjacent to the Tysons Corner Center and Tysons Galleria Malls, in Tysons Corner, VA, offers 316 rooms and suites and more than 10,000 sf of meeting space. Becoming the seventh Crowne Plaza in the DC area, the hotel received upgrades to its ballroom, restaurants, exterior, and all public areas. Meanwhile, the Crowne Plaza Detroit-Auburn Hills debuted with a refurbished ballroom, restaurant, public areas, guest rooms, and exterior. The 190-unit hotel has more than 5,000 sf of meeting space. ‘Lofty’ Boutique Hotel Plan Nears Its Kickoff in Dallas Plano, TX—The first property of the Nylo brand, a new, “affordable” boutique chain targeted at business travelers, is slated to open in this Dallas suburb next month. Nylo Plano at Legacy, a 176-room hotel with 1,800 sf of meeting space, will provide a “dynamic and entertaining experience [at a reasonable rate],” according to a statement by the hotelier. Guest rooms will be designed as www.meetingnews.com November 19, 2007 http://www.goldpointsplus.com/doublemeetings http://www.goldpointsplus.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - November 19, 2007

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