HQ Debut
Starwood opened The new 503-room Sheraton Puerto Rico Convention Center Hotel & Casino last November. Set within San Juan's Convention Center District, the property has 35,000 square feet of meeting space and a 57,000-square-foot pool deck that can be used for outdoor events. (787) 993-3500;
starwoodhotels.comPuerto Rico
Local Update:The new 222-room Verdanza Hotel, formerly the Holiday Inn San Juan, opened in early December 2009. The boutique hotel, near the beach in Isla Verde, features 15,000 square feet of meeting space, which includes the Grand Ballroom (accommodating up to 300 people), the Opera Ballroom (250), eight meeting rooms and four boardrooms.
Meeting Hotels: Accommodations in Old San Juan include the 240-room Sheraton Old San Juan Hotel and 68-room Hotel El Convento.
The Convention Center District has the 503-room Sheraton Puerto Rico Convention Center Hotel & Casino.
On the beach between Old San Juan and Condado is the 814-room Caribe Hilton.
Condado has the 570-room Conrad San Juan Condado Plaza, 525-room San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino and the 248-room La Concha, a Renaissance Hotel.
For information on the hotels and resorts of Isla Verde and in the island's northeast region, visit the facility search at meetings-conventions.com.
Convention Center: Puerto Rico Convention Center; exhibit space, 152,700 square feet; ballroom, 39,500 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 15, which can be divided into 28 breakout rooms; (800) 875-4765; prconvention.com
Airport Transit: Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport, about seven miles from downtown San Juan. Transfer cost by taxi, $15 to $20
Taxes: Room tax, 11% at casino hotels, 9% at noncasino hotels; sales tax, 5.5%; total tax on hotel rooms, 16.5% or 14.5%
CVB Services: Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, (800) 875-4765; meetpuertorico.com
Online Upgrade
In January 2009, the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism launched the first phase of its redesigned website,
VisitUSVI.com. The site was made more user-friendly, with an interactive map and easier navigation between pages for St. Croix, St. John and St. Thomas. Its meeting planner section has a robust list of hotels, group venues and destination management companies. In mid-November of last year, the site's second phase went live with a full Spanish version and other enhancements. A library of promotional materials also was added, providing planners with photographs, videos, fact sheets and other tools to aid in creating a presentation to decision-makers about meeting in the islands. A related site,
usvigroups.com, provides venue information, an RFP function, third-party contacts, special group offers and more.
U.S. Virgin Islands
Local Update: In December 2009, US Airways, American Airlines and Delta Air Lines all increased service to the U.S. Virgin Islands. US Airways has a new weekly nonstop flight from Boston to St. Thomas; American increased its service from Miami to St. Croix from seven to 10 weekly flights; and Delta increased its airlift from Atlanta to both St. Thomas and St. Croix, while also adding more flights from New York City's JFK International Airport to St. Thomas.
Meeting Hotels: On St. Thomas, properties include the 450-room Frenchman's Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach Resort; 294-room Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort & Spa; 180-room Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas; and 151-room Windward Passage Hotel.
On St. John are the 174-room Westin St. John Resort & Villas and 166-room Caneel Bay, A Rosewood Resort.
St. Croix offers the 176-room Divi Carina Bay Beach Resort & Casino, 151-room Carambola Beach Resort and 138-room Buccaneer Hotel.
Airport Transit: On St. Thomas, Cyril E. King Airport, about two miles from Charlotte Amalie. Transfer cost by taxi starts at $7. Transfer cost to St. John by ferry from Charlotte Amalie (40-45 minutes), $12
On St. Croix, Alexander Hamilton Airport, seven miles from Christiansted and four miles from Frederiksted. Transfer cost by taxi to Christiansted, $16; to Frederiksted, $12
Taxes: Room tax, 8%; sales tax, none; total tax on hotel rooms, 8%
CVB Services: U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Tourism, (800) 372-8784; usvitourism.vi