Whether it’s nature’s canvas or the painter’s, Central West Florida provides a picturesque setting for groups of all sizes and expectations.
Looking for that big-city feeling? You’ll find it on downtown Tampa’s waterfront, surrounded by high-rise hotels and dozens of walk-to restaurants, attractions and shops.
Prefer a panorama of sand and sea outside your window? Some of the country’s best beaches are waiting in St. Petersburg/Clearwater, the palm-studded peninsula making up the western edge of Tampa Bay.
Feeling creative? Gather for off-site programs or after-hours entertainment at the museums and art venues of Sarasota, an elegant enclave 45 minutes south of Tampa.
Now mix and match a little of everything in each area, and you might conclude that the best of what you’re looking for in a Florida destination meets on the central west coast.
Tampa
Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse did it. So did Deere & Co. And the American Trucking Association just headed back to Virginia after doing it. “It” being, of course, meeting in Tampa, the metropolitan nerve center of Central West Florida, where bed tax revenue is up, hotel bookings are up and sales leads are up, reports Norwood Smith, vice president of sales for the Tampa Bay CVB.
“We continue to see increases,” he says. “We’re thrilled with that, and it points to a healthy future for the area.”
Other indicators of future economic health include a number of hotel additions, the latest of which is the 360-unit Embassy Suites Tampa Downtown, which opened last June directly across from the Tampa Convention Center in the city’s downtown waterfront and entertainment district. The property has 9,000 square feet of meeting space and a skybridge to the 600,000-square-foot convention center.
Another adjacent convention center property, the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina, will kick off a $10 million refurbishment of its 31 meeting rooms this summer, while two other area properties recently completed major renovations following brand conversions: the Sheraton Riverwalk Hotel (formerly a Radisson) and the Westin Harbour Island (formerly a Wyndham).
In addition to hotel transformations, downtown Tampa is being transformed into a hub of pedestrian traffic as work continues on the Riverwalk, a waterfront promenade that will connect the convention center to hotels, cruise terminals and green spaces, and attractions like the Florida Aquarium, the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center and the Channelside entertainment complex.
Nearly 60 percent of the Riverwalk’s 2.2 miles is either finished or under construction, Smith reports, and the project is slated for completion by the time Super Bowl XLIII touches down in 2009.
“It’s just a wonderful way for us to showcase the water and how it integrates with the downtown landscape,” Smith says. “It’ll give delegates access to shopping, restaurants, hotels, and other downtown destinations—things that people look for and are enthusiastic about.”
Besides getting around on foot, delegates exploring downtown Tampa can board a streetcar or trolley right at the convention center and be whisked off to Ybor City, a former cigar capital that underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation to become an exciting center of nighttime entertainment, with vintage social clubs, restaurants, shops, and a comedy club.
But the downtown area isn’t the only place where business is booming in Tampa. The city’s Westshore Business District, set between the downtown area and Tampa International Airport, is home to the boutique Quorum Hotel, which just renovated its 12,000 square feet of meeting and prefunction space, and the 445-room Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, offering more than 22,000 square feet of function space and complimentary airport shuttle service. Also included in the district’s mix of nearly 30 properties, the Wyndham Westshore is about to undergo an $18 million renovation to upgrade all rooms and public areas and add more meeting space.
Northwest of Tampa, Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Tarpon Springs recently dropped its Westin designation and completed a renovation of its 600 suites. The 1,000-acre property features 65,000 square feet of meeting space.
St. Petersburg/Clearwater
They call themselves “Florida’s Beach,” and it’s no mere boast. Coastal geologist and beach analyst Dr. Stephen Leatherman, also known as “Dr. Beach,” consistently ranks the beaches of St. Petersburg and Clearwater at the top of his annual list of the best U.S. beaches. Fort DeSoto Park took the top spot in 2005, while Caladesi Island State Park was No. 2 in 2006, and Clearwater Beach remains Dr. Beach’s top pick of city beaches in the Gulf region.
Fortunately for groups, there are plenty of convention-friendly properties that allow attendees to have their meeting and hit the beach, too. Among the choices set right on the Gulf of Mexico are the Clearwater Beach Marriott Suites on Sand Key, with 220 suites and 7,500 square feet of meeting space; and the Sirata Beach Resort and Conference Center on St. Pete Beach, with 15,000 square feet of indoor meeting space and 10,000 square feet of outdoor options.
Also on St. Pete Beach, Trade-Winds Island Resorts—including the TradeWinds Island Grand and the TradeWinds Sandpiper—is wrapping up a $15 million renovation that included guest room enhancements and general property-wide improvements; together, the properties offer 56,000 square feet of function space.
Reflecting the grandeur of an earlier age, one of the area’s most elegant hotels, the Belleview Biltmore, recently restored its Beach Club on Sand Key and added a beachfront restaurant. The Victorian-era property also features on-site golf and tennis, a spa, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, and 16 meeting rooms.
St. Petersburg/Clearwater is also gearing up to welcome a host of new luxury properties, including the $170 million Sandpearl Resort on Clearwater Beach, due to open this summer with 253 rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space; the Grand Bohemian Hotel and Residences—part of the Kessler Collection—which is slated to open in fall 2008 with more than 16,000 square feet of function space; and the 250-room Aqualea Resort and Residences by Hyatt, which is scheduled for an early 2009 debut and will feature a spa and rooftop pool.
The new resorts will join the recently opened Hilton St. Petersburg of Carillon Park, featuring 227 guest rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space; and the Mediterranean-style Madeira Bay, a mixed-use development with a condo-hotel that opened last September. In addition, venerable resorts like the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa, the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort and the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club have all undertaken major renovation projects.
“We are thrilled with the new hotel developments happening all over the area,” says Carole Ketterhagen, executive director of the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area CVB. “Our goal is to give visitors and meeting planners the most enjoyable experience they’ve ever had when they come here.”
Sarasota
While there is no shortage of beaches in this seaside enclave just down the road from Tampa Bay, Sarasota has earned the distinction of being “Florida’s Cultural Coast” thanks to its many organizations showcasing the arts—including opera, ballet and symphonic companies—as well as the Ringling Museum, the official State Art Museum of Florida.
This magnificent estate, the former home of John Ringling (of Ringling Circus fame) and his wife Mable, features a priceless collection of European paintings, antiquities and contemporary art, as well as a circus museum, a rose garden and the new Tibbals Learning Center, touted as the world’s largest miniature circus.
Sarasota’s artistic soul, though, is complemented by its relaxed, friendly spirit, a mood most visitors catch while taking in the miles of white-sand beaches lining the coast from Longboat Key down to Manasota Key, or exploring natural wonders at attractions like Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota Jungle Gardens and Myakka River State Park.
Not surprisingly, this laid-back haven doesn’t usually attract the big conventions, though the Sarasota Bradenton International Convention Center—located across from Sarasota Bradenton International Airport—does feature a 93,000-square-foot event floor and full food and beverage service, with plans to add both a 129-room on-site hotel and a 10,000-square-foot banquet hall in 2008.
Instead, the area tends to welcome a mix of corporate, incentive and state association business with an emphasis on board retreats, says Stephanie Grosskreutz, director of operations and meetings promotions for the Sarasota CVB.
“With the diversity of our properties, we really have what it takes to add a little extra something to each group we work with,” Grosskreutz says.
That diversity ranges from the new boutique-style Hotel Indigo, offering three small meeting rooms, to the 266-room Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, featuring 18,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 294-room Hyatt Sarasota, with 20,000 square feet of function space.
If you’re looking for Gulf-front accommodations with meeting space in Sarasota, look no further than the Hilton Longboat Key Beachfront Resort, with meeting space for up to 55 people, and the Colony Beach and Tennis Resort, a sprawling destination property on Longboat Key offering extensive recreational amenities—including 21 tennis courts—and meeting space for up to 250 people.
For More Info
Sarasota CVB 941.955.0991
www.sarasotameetings.com
St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area CVB 727.464.7200
www.floridasbeachmeetings.com
Tampa Bay CVB 813.223.1111
www.visittampabay.com
