Successful Meetings - December 2008 - (Page 58)

Meeting Sites Essential Tool Box South Florida GOLD COAST : South Florida has long been on the agendas of meeting planners, and it’s easy to see why. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale nexus is both a resort paradise and a bustling financial and international commerce megalopolis. Its abundant meeting venues, entertainment choices, and off-site options typify what is, in reality, many destinations in one. In Tempo Miami, a RockResort Convention Centers/Facilities: MIAMI Miami Beach Convention Center, more than 1 million sf of expo space; FORT LAUDERDALE Broward County Convention Center 600,000 sf of convention space. For More Information: Greater Miami CVB www.miamiandbeaches.com Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB www.sunny.org short, south Florida is, for many meeting planners and their attendees, their place in the sun. For complete listings, visit Quick Facility Search at www.successfulmeetings.com By Christopher Hosford The Big News Miami has long awaited the reopening of its fabled Fontainebleau Miami Beach, which had been taken off-line more than two years ago for a $1 billion makeover. This fall the Fontainebleau has reopened, adding its 1,504 rooms back into the area’s meetings inventory. The resort sports two new towers, 11 restaurants and lounges, a 40,000-sf spa, and a dramatic oceanfront poolscape. Food-wise, the Fontainebleau’s restaurants and lounges now include three facilities by celebrated chefs Alfred Portale (chef and owner of perennial New York favorite Gotham Bar and Grill), Scott Conant (formerly of L’Impero, Alto, and Scarpetta in New York City), and the stateside debut of Alan Yau’s Hakkasan (Britain’s only Michelinrated Chinese restaurant.) hotel in downtown Miami, is scheduled to open this month with 411 rooms. READERS RECOMMEND Our subscribers gave Pinnacle Awards to the following: Greater Miami CVB FORT LAUDERDALE The 589-room Fort Lauderdale Grande Hotel & Yacht Club with 21,000 sf of meeting FACILITIES UPDATE MIAMI The Eden Roc Renaissance Beach Resort & Spa Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB Doral Golf Resort & Spa Fontainebleau Miami Beach Loews Miami Beach Boca Raton Resort & Club For more listings, visit Facility Quick Search at www.successfulmeetings.com space has finished a $70 million transformation. The 501-room Hyatt Regency Bonaventure Conference Center & Spa in Weston has completed reopened following a $180 million renovation and expansion of a new tower for a total of 632 rooms. The 56-room Tempo Miami is opening Apr 2009. EPIC Hotel, Kimpton’s new “jumbo boutique” a $100 million renovation. The 500-room Sheraton Yankee Trader Hotel will be re-flagged as the Westin Beach Resort Fort Lauderdale in Feb. LGBT : A Power ful Submarket One of the most active meetings submarkets that destinations seek to attract is from lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) groups. Both Miami and Fort Lauderdale have aggressive campaigns targeting this market, and last year Fort Lauderdale was voted the number-one gay resort town by Planet Out. “Miami is definitely gay-friendly,” says Kathie Michael, director of meetings and festivals for the Gay and Lesbian Association. “It’s so diverse, with plenty of gay-friendly businesses.” Michael cites in particular the Greater Miami CVB’s strong gay and lesbian travel sales department and the local gay chamber of commerce as helping make her group feel welcome. As for Fort Lauderdale, the CVB’s Rainbow Vacation Planner guide for gay and lesbian travelers won a special award this summer from Visit Florida, the state’s tourism Fort Lauderdale department. Convention Center successfulmeetings.com DECEMBER 2008 —CH SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS 58 http://www.miamiandbeaches.com http://www.sunny.org http://www.successfulmeetings.com http://www.successfulmeetings.com http://www.successfulmeetings.com

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Successful Meetings - December 2008 Contents Editor's Note Corporate Events On the Record Calendar Research Planner Spotlight Personal Success Technology Talk Food & Beverage Professional Development Quick Tip Tools of the Trade On Site: Retire Those Tired Power-Point Slides On Site: 12 Tips for Thriving on a South African Safari Deep Impact Recession-Friendly Speakers Showing Off Hawaii Insert Places & Spaces Mississippi Gulf Coast Fort Worth South Florida Beijing Gurus

Successful Meetings - December 2008

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