Urban Texas 2015

AUSTIN

Local Update

• A new Kimpton property opens in the historic downtown Rainey Street District in September. The 360-room music-themed Hotel Van Zandt will have 12,000 square feet of meeting space for up to 500 people.

• Just outside of town, the 195-room Sonesta Bee Cave Austin debuted in July as part of the Hill Country Galleria complex. The hotel includes an outdoor swimming pool and sun deck, a fully equipped fitness center, a lounge, a rooftop bar and 10,000 square feet of meeting space.

• The 366-room Westin Austin Downtown has opened. Paying homage to the city's musical roots, the lobby features a giant guitar made with charred blocks of wood. Eclectic Southern cuisine is served at Stella San Jac, and the 13,500 square feet of meeting space includes 16 breakout rooms named after musicians or venues.

• The 1,060-room Fairmont Austin Hotel, to be Fairmont's largest, will open in 2017. The $370 million property will have 106,000 square feet of meeting space, including a deck that will host 1,200, and a Willow Stream spa. An aerial walkway will connect the hotel to the Austin Convention Center.

• A new 23-story tower will house two new Starwood properties -- the 260-room Aloft Austin Downtown and 150-room Element Austin Downtown. Both hotels are scheduled to open in early 2017.

Meeting Hotels: Properties downtown include the 1,012-room JW Marriott Austin, 800-room Hilton Austin, 492-room Renaissance Austin Hotel and 448-room Hyatt Regency Austin Downtown. Among nearby resorts are the 491-room Hyatt Regency Lost Pines and 309-room Omni Barton Creek.

To find and compare hotels, and to send RFPs, visit mcvenues.com.

Convention Center: Austin Convention Center; exhibit space, 247,052 square feet; meeting rooms, 54; (512) 404-4000

Airport Transit: Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, eight miles from downtown. Transfer cost by taxi, $20; by shuttle, $18; by bus, $1; by Super Shuttle, $21

Taxes: Room tax, 9%; sales tax, 8.25%; total tax on rooms, 15%

Group Venue: Lake Travis, a reservoir outside Austin, was created in 1942 when the Colorado River was backed up by the Mansfield Dam and is now a major recreation spot. New for groups is an on-site event venue, Mansfield on Lake Travis, with panoramic views over the waters. The facility welcomes up to 675 for a reception and 480 for dinner.

Contact: Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, (800) 926-2282

DALLAS

Local Update

• Opening Dec. 15 is the 323-room Westin Downtown Dallas, a refurbishing of the One Main Place complex. The hotel will feature a full-service restaurant and more than 27,000 square feet of meeting space.

• The 410-room Adolphus Hotel has completed an upgrade of its 24,000 square feet of meeting space. Work was done on the Grand and Century ballrooms, prefunction space and more, while preserving the history of the luxury Rockbridge Portfolio property, which was opened in 1912. Amenities include the elegant French Room restaurant; the Lobby Living Room, which offers traditional English afternoon tea Friday through Sunday; and the Rodeo Bar & Grill, serving Southwestern dishes.

• Hyatt Hotels Corp.'s new Hyatt Convention Alliance, for planners who organize multiyear, multicity bookings for their organizations, aims to smooth the transition from one year to the next. The 10 inaugural properties are the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Hyatt Regency Chicago, Hyatt Regency McCormick Place (Chicago), Hyatt Regency O'Hare (Chicago), Hyatt Regency Dallas, Hyatt Regency Denver at Colorado Convention Center, Hyatt Regency New Orleans, Hyatt Regency Orlando, Grand Hyatt San Antonio and Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego.

• The 186-room Sheraton McKinney Hotel and Conference Center in McKinney, just north of Dallas, opened in February. Amenities include an outdoor pool, dining at Sweetwater Bar & Grill and a fitness facility.

• A full renovation of the 218 guest rooms, the Club Lounge and the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, will be unveiled in September. The property offers 19,000 square feet of meeting space and a 12,000-square-foot spa.

Meeting Hotels: About 30,000 hotel rooms can be found within Dallas proper. The headquarters hotel for the Dallas Convention Center is the 1,001-room Omni Dallas. Other nearby properties include the 1,120-room Hyatt Regency Dallas.

To find and compare hotels, and to send RFPs, visit mcvenues.com.

Convention Center: Dallas Convention Center; exhibit space, approximately 1,018,942 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 88; (877) 684-7322

Airport Transit: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, about 20 miles from the heart of downtown Dallas. Transfer cost by taxi, $50; by airport shuttle, $19; by DART, $2.50

Love Field, approximately six miles from the downtown area. Transfer by taxi, $18; by shuttle, $19

Taxes: Room tax, 15%; sales tax, 8.25%; total tax on hotel rooms, 15%

Group Venue: Home to the Dallas Historical Society, the Hall of State at Fair Park was built for the 1936 Centennial Exposition. The structure now is mostly used for events and features a number of stately areas for groups, such as the Great Hall and the Hall of Heroes. In all, more than 6,000 square feet is available for up to 900 people. (214) 368-3855

Contact: Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, (214) 571-1000

FORT WORTH

Local Update

• A $117 million redevelopment of Lake Worth's Casino Beach family entertainment venue will add 40,000 square feet of space for an event center, restaurants and more. Construction should be completed next year.

• A $200 million project to add retail space, hotels and restaurants to the Stockyards National Historic District has led the National Trust for Preservation to place the Stockyards on the list of America's most endangered historic places. Developers have promised not to disturb the historical elements.

Meeting Hotels: The largest meeting properties in town include the 614-room Omni Fort Worth Hotel, 504-room Renaissance Worthington Hotel, 431-room Sheraton Fort Worth Hotel and Spa, 294-room Hilton Fort Worth, 203-room Courtyard by Marriott-Blackstone and 156-suite Embassy Suites Fort Worth-Downtown.

For more hotels, and to send RFPs, go to mcvenues.com.

Convention Center: Fort Worth Convention Center; exhibit space, approximately 253,226 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 41; (817) 392-6338 

Airport Transit: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, about 17 miles from the downtown district. Transfer cost by taxi, about $52; by shuttle, $18; by Trinity Railway Express, $2.50

Taxes: Room tax, 15%; sales tax, 8.25%; total tax on hotel rooms, 15%

Group Venue: What do coffee and beer have in common? Both are brewed and served at Brewed, a coffee house/gastropub. A 1,500-square-foot event space is available for serving fresh fare such as Gulf Fish & Greens, Texas BBQ Pot Roast and Farm Fresh Deviled Eggs. (817) 945-1545 

Contact: Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau, (817) 336-8791 or (800) 433-5747

GALVESTON

Local Update

• In April, the Galveston Island Convention Center at the San Luis Resort upgraded its Wi-Fi to 500 Mbps to provide Internet access for up to 2,500 devices at a time. Free Wi-Fi service is offered throughout the property.

• The Hilton Galveston Island Resort recently completed a renovation of all 240 guest rooms. The property has 6,500 square feet of meeting space and is just steps from the Galveston Island Convention Center at the San Luis Resort.

• Last February, the 2,980-passenger Carnival Freedom made Galveston its home port, joining the 3,690-passenger Carnival Magic and the 2,754-passenger Carnival Triumph.

• Cool Tours offers a new airport shuttle for groups coming to the island. Groups get a website customized for their event, allowing attendees to book and purchase discounted shuttle transportation from Houston's William P. Hobby and George Bush Intercontinental airports.

Meeting Hotels: Properties in Galveston include the 428-room Moody Gardens Hotel, Spa & Convention Center; 250-room San Luis Resort, Spa, & Conference Center; 240-room Hilton Galveston Island Resort, and 224-room Hotel Galvez & Spa: A Wyndham Grand Hotel.

To find and compare hotels, and send RFPs, go to mcvenues.com.

Convention Centers: Convention Center at the Moody Gardens Hotel; exhibit space, 60,000 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 12. (409) 741-8484 

Galveston Island Convention Center at the San Luis Resort; exhibit space, 58,600 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 10. (866) 505-4456 

Airport Transit: Houston Hobby Airport, an hour from Galveston. One-way transfer cost by shuttle, $45

Bush International Airport, Houston, an hour from Galveston. One-way transfer cost by shuttle, $55

Taxes: Room tax, 15%; sales tax, 8.25%; total tax on rooms, 15%

Group Venue: For history buffs, the new Bryan Museum houses 70,000 items relating to 2,500 years in the life of the Southwestern United States. The treasures range from ancient Native American cultural artifacts to 21st-century works; German, French, Spanish and English documents; saddles, spurs and antique firearms; and rare maps and books. Receptions of up to 75 people are welcomed inside, and up to 200 seated outside. (409) 632-7685 

Contact: Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau, (866) 505-4456, ext. 145 

HOUSTON

Local Update

• Southwest Airlines will begin flying out of the country from Hobby International Airport on Oct. 15. The date will mark the opening of a new international concourse at the facility, adding five new gates, six security checkpoints and a U.S. Customs facility. New ticket terminals open Sept. 1.

• The 1,000-room Marriott Marquis Houston, a new headquarters hotel connected to the George R. Brown Convention Center, is on track to debut in fall 2016. The $350 million property will offer more than 104,000 square feet of meeting space of its own, a two-story sports bar, two restaurants and a wine bar. A resort-style deck will feature an infinity pool and a rooftop lazy river. The new hotel will be joined by a new office tower that will house Houston First Corp., which manages the convention center; the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau; and an as-yet-unnamed 400-room hotel. An eight-lane boulevard in front of the center is being converted into a pedestrian plaza.

• In-room iPads at the brand-new 328-room JW Marriott Houston Downtown are equipped with the iRiS app, which lets guests access and book all facilities and services. The property features the Main Kitchen, which connects to the 806 Bar & Lounge, as well as the new Spa by JW concept. The hotel has more than 16,000 square feet of event space.

• The 325-room Hyatt Regency Houston Galleria will open in the city's mall area in early 2016, part of the mixed-use Galleria Plaza development. The hotel will have more than 12,000 square feet of meeting space and a large fitness center overlooking the pool deck.  

Meeting Hotels: About 3,500 hotel rooms are within walking distance of the George R. Brown Convention Center. Meeting properties include the 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston, 947-room Hyatt Regency Houston, 399-room Four Seasons Hotel-Houston, 350-room DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Houston Downtown, 328-room JW Marriott Houston Downtown, 314-room Magnolia Hotel, 262-room Embassy Suites Houston-Downtown, 259-room Crowne Plaza Houston-Downtown and 200-room Westin Houston Downtown.

To compare hotels and send RFPs, visit mcvenues.com.

Convention Center: George R. Brown Convention Center; exhibit space, 771,000 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 94; (713) 853-8000 

Airport Transit: George H.W. Bush International Airport, 20 miles north of downtown. Transfer cost by taxi, $60 to downtown; by Super Shuttle, $23

William P. Hobby Airport, 10 miles north of downtown. Transfer cost by taxi, $35; by Super Shuttle, $19

Taxes: Room tax, 17%; sales tax, 0%; total tax on hotel rooms, 17%

Group Venue: Making art is the pastime at Painting With a Twist, a studio where local artists help participants create. Painting supplies are provided; catering can be brought in for up to 70 people for a two- or three-hour event. (713) 609-9509

Contact: Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau, (800) 446-8786