Despite the sellers’ market, strategic planners are uncovering budget-friendly rates without sacrificing the accessibility and amenities of first-tier destinations. How are they doing it? They’re moving to the suburbs.
Imagine being just minutes from cities like Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Atlanta, yet enjoying rates as much as 20 to 30 percent below those in downtown districts.
The following are just a few examples of suburban cities that offer the best of both worlds.
Arlington, Va.
Groups booking in any of Arlington, Va.’s five urban centers have stone’s-throw access to the nation’s capital across the Potomac River, plus lots of other value features.
“Groups get a lot of bang for their bucks in Arlington,” says Sylvie Joseph, director of sales for the Arlington CVB. “Most of the year, our hotel rates are about a third less than downtown D.C. hotels. In 2006, our average daily room rate was $155. D.C.’s was $190. Attendees who stay in Arlington are within easy reach of everything there is to do in D.C., via subway, because Arlington has 11 Metro stations lines into Washington.”
The Crystal City Gateway area, located only two miles from Reagan Washington National Airport, is known as Arlington’s convention corridor.
Many of the city’s larger hotels, including the 631-room Doubletree Hotel Crystal City, and the newly refurbished 685-room Hyatt Regency Crystal City, are located there.
Other Arlington hubs include the pulsating Ballston area with its mixed-use retail, restaurant, offices, and the new Kettler Capitals Iceplex, an ice rink that serves the community, and the Washington Capitals as a training facility.
It’s also the location of the new Westin Arlington Gateway hotel, which has 10,180 square feet of meeting space and 336 guest rooms.
Rosslyn’s Key Bridge Marriott is at the Virginia end of a Potomac River bridge, and offers dramatic D.C., views and easy access. The hotel is doing a $5 million renovation for its new 7,000 square-foot Top Floor Capital View Ballroom, set to debut in April.
The Pentagon Row and Shirlington areas add even more reasons to meet in Arlington. Among them is the new Signature Theatre, a $16 million hall that stages home-grown musical productions as well as Broadway-quality shows with live orchestras.
Arlington also has its own share of attractions and activities which keep visitors busy on the Virginia side of the river. Along with great shopping at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, there is history and inspiration at Arlington National Cemetery, the Marine Corps War Memorial, the Women’s Military Memorial, and the soaring new Air Force Memorial. Added to this are many neighborhoods where restaurants and shops serve up a diverse assortment of flavors.
The CVB’s Joseph says meeting attendees appreciate not only Arlington’s proximity to national capital sites, but also the walkability of its urban centers. A couple of years ago, the American Podiatric Medical Association named Arlington the nation’s top walking city.
Bloomington, Minn.
Best known as home to the famed Mall of America (MOA), Bloomington is equidistant from the twin cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
According to Jennifer Schak, marketing and special events coordinator for the Bloomington CVB, the city has an average daily room rate of $93, considerably less than in the nearby big cities.
Bloomington’s 34 hotels have an inventory of 7,300 rooms, with 50 percent of them full-service and meetings-ready, Schak says.
“Though we have no convention center, the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel Minneapolis South can accommodate up to 800 people for a ballroom-style conference,” she says. “It has a total of 70,000 total square feet of function space, plus 565 guest rooms.”
Although Bloomington can accommodate groups of up to 2,000 people, Schak says the city’s ideal size for corporate, association, or government meetings is about 1,000 attendees.
Efficient light rail, bus, hotel shuttles, and taxi transportation services get attendees to and from the airport, downtown centers, and MOA. “Almost all hotels provide free shuttle to and from the airport and the mall,” Schak says. “Our light rail line is within a couple of blocks from most of the larger hotels.”
Many who attend Bloomington meetings visit MOA, and some groups hold off-site events there as well. The mall provides meet and greet services, tours, discounts, and both small and large group event venues. Within MOA’s 4.2 million square feet of space, there are 520 shops, an amusement park, a walk-through aquarium, and a 14-screen movie theater.
The newest major feature at the mall is Water Park of America, one of the nation’s largest indoor water parks. It features a ten-story waterslide that carries riders through a maze of translucent tubes, a wave ride simulator, arcade, and more. The Grand Lodge Hotel is also part of the mall complex, with 400 guest rooms, a full-service restaurant, and about 5,000 square feet of meeting space.
Bloomington’s value opportunities for visitors now include the “The Big Ticket” attraction pass with a total value of $110. It provides visitors to the Twin Cities area a 30 percent savings off regular admission prices at a variety of attractions and shopping stops.
Gwinnett County
Even though it’s only a 30-minute drive along Interstate 85 from the New South’s first city, Gwinnett County offers groups an average daily hotel room rate about $40 less than downtown Atlanta.
“We offer the same kinds of hotels and values as you find downtown,” says Lisa Anders, marketing and communications director for the Gwinnett CVB. “One of the biggest reasons for our lower rates is that we have no union labor in our hotels and arena.”
The Gwinnett Center is the county’s major meetings site, and the 80-acre complex includes a 3,000 to 13,000-seat arena. There’s also a convention center with a Grand Ballroom of 21,600 square feet, a junior ballroom measuring 6,000 square feet, and 14 meeting rooms. A 702-seat Performing Arts Theatre is also in the center which is adjacent to the Hudgens Center for the Arts.
Anders said Gwinnett County encompasses an area from Stone Mountain to Norcross, and offers groups an inventory of about 11,000 hotel rooms in over 100 hotels. Activities and attractions include 12 golf courses, four major and smaller shopping destinations such as the Mall of Georgia, the second largest mall in the Southeast, as well as a wide variety of restaurants, wine bars and art galleries.
Free-time activities include Old South tours of Georgia’s famed Stone Mountain Park and its 3,300 acres of Civil War history and heritage. Visitors can also take tours of antebellum homes, and stop in at the 1870’s town of Crossroads where skilled crafters create local heritage objects.
To put some additional teeth into its position as an affordable and accessible destination, the CVB recently joined a group of bureaus across the country offering hot rates and dates at www.CVBhotrates.com. Founded a couple of years ago, the program is fully funded by the CVB industry, and is free to planners and hotel partners.
Rosemont, Ill.
From where he sits between O’Hare International Airport and the core of Chicago, Christopher Stephens, general manager of the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, says his facility can offer rates in the Chicagoland market that are comparable to those of second- and third-tier cities.
Rosemont (population 4,000) calls itself a village, yet it has meetings and exhibition facilities that dwarf its own profile. The Stephens center offers 840,000 square feet of exhibition space, plus 90,000 square feet of meeting space. Nearby, there are nearly 6,000 hotel rooms that fly major brand flags like Best Western, Hyatt, and Sofitel. And more rooms are coming.
“Our service rates for the convention center are way lower than the national average, as well as downtown,” says Stephens, “and it’s one of the reasons Tradeshow Week named us the busiest center in the Midwest– including Chicago’s McCormick Place.”
Rosemont’s convention center attracts people who are afraid of union service rates in the city, he says. “Unions are not an issue for us,” he explains, “because we have a single exclusive contractor.”
Mid-sized groups find a good home in Rosemont, he adds. “We can max out at 3,000 booths and we have 7,200 guest rooms within walking distance of the convention center.”
Lots of new development is underway that will make Rosemont an even more attractive meetings destination. Current projects will add hotel rooms and other components that will close the area’s attractions gap.
“Rosemont is known for its great pricing and facilities, but also for its lack of entertainment,” Stephens says. “To remedy that, the village is finding people who want to bring us products in that category.”
Rosemont Walk, a $500 million mixed-use development, is rising on about 60 acres that surround the convention center. Included are hotels with about 1,000 rooms, restaurants, clubs, office space, and attractions.
Included in Phase One is Muvico Rosemont Walk 22, a 22-screen movie plex with 4,750 seats opening this fall; the Grizzly Falls Resort, a 400,000-square-foot resort with a 100,000-square-foot water park and 400-room hotel opening in spring 2008; and the 525-room Le Meridien Chicago O’Hare Hotel also opening in spring 2008. The Village is planning a free trolley service to link Rosemont Walk to area hotels, shopping, restaurants, and meeting facilities.
Casinos may soon become part of the mix, says Stephens. Rosemont has 10 gaming licenses from the state and will likely add casinos to its emerging entertainment lineup.
So when the group has an appetite for first-tier amenities but a pocketbook requiring something more budget-friendly, consider some of the country’s best meetings-equipped suburban areas. Chances are good they will fill the bill.
