CITY BEAT
Tulsa, Okla.
Expansion Continues
The Tulsa Convention Center expansion, which wraps up in 2008, will add 56,000 square feet of meeting space. Anchoring downtown’s East End mixed-use development project is an 8,000-seat baseball stadium and 450,000 square feet of retail and dining venues. Several new hotels are under construction. Slated to open in 2008 are a 140-room Aloft and a 121-room Hilton Garden Inn. In April 2007, ExpressJet began daily nonstop service from Tulsa to Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego.
Birmingham, Ala.
Adding Hotels
More than $100 million in hotel projects is underway. A 120-room Marriott Residence Inn is scheduled to break ground this fall, with opening day set for early 2008. The Federal Reserve building downtown will be transformed into a 200-room Luxury Collection hotel and is set to open in 2009. The 757-room Sheraton Birmingham is in the midst of a $17 million renovation.
CA, San Diego
Hotel: Hilton San
Diego. Renovations completed: July. Price
tag: $18 million. Rooms: 357.
Meeting space: 34,000 square feet. Key
changes: upgraded guest rooms and public areas, a
7,500-square-foot spa with a fitness center and private sundeck, a
bayside restaurant, five tennis courts and a private dock area.
FL, Pensacola
Hotel: Hilton
Pensacola Beach Gulf Front (formerly the Hilton Garden Inn).
Rebranded: July. Price tag: $1.6
million. Rooms: 273. Meeting
space: 30,000 square feet. Key changes: a
24-hour business center, indoor and outdoor pools, a newly
remodeled Cajun-Asian restaurant and a sushi bar.
FL, Tampa
Hotel:
InterContinental Tampa (formerly the Wyndham Westshore).
Rebranded: August. Price tag: $18
million. Rooms: 323. Meeting
space: 21,000 square feet. Key features:
a rooftop pool, a Shula’s Steak House, high-speed wireless
throughout the property and iPod docking stations.
Capital Gains.The 355-room
Renaissance M Street Hotel Washington, D.C., reopened in July,
following a $25 million makeover. Improvements include remodeled
guest rooms; a new cafe; a new lobby lounge called the M bar; the M
Brasserie, a fine-dining restaurant serving regional cuisine; and
increased meeting space, now totaling 12,050 square feet. (202)
775-0800; www.marriott.com
GA, Savannah
Hotel: Four Points by
Sheraton Historic Savannah. Opened: July.
Rooms: 127. Meeting space: 2,000
square feet, plus two boardrooms. Key features: a
restaurant, a piano bar, an outdoor pool and fitness center. All
guest rooms offer flat screen TVs and complimentary high-speed
Internet.
IL, Chicago
Hotel: Trump
International Hotel & Tower Chicago. Opening:
December. Rooms: 339. Meeting
space: 20,000 square feet. Key features:
The 92-story property will feature nine separate meeting rooms, The
Spa at Trump, a full-service health club, a lounge, a fine-dining
restaurant, and 90,000 square feet of retail and restaurant
space.
LA, New Orleans
Hotel: Renaissance
Pere Marquette Hotel. Renovations completed: first
phase, Sep-tem-ber; second phase, end of this year. Price
tag: $5 million. Rooms: 272.
Meeting space: 6,500 square feet. Key
changes: in the project’s first phase, a restaurant, led
by a soon-to-be-announced celebrity chef; in the second phase,
upgrades to the hotel’s jazz-themed lobby and new carpeting in the
meeting rooms.
TX, Dallas
Hotel: The
Ritz-Carlton, Dallas. Opened: August.
Rooms: 218. Meeting space: 14,000
square feet. Key features: a
12,000-square-foot spa, a lounge, a signature
restaurant, a fitness center, an outdoor pool, a 9,450-square-foot
ballroom, and high-speed wireless Internet in guest rooms and
business areas.