Within the borders of America’s third-smallest state—only 70 miles wide, 110 miles long and counting a grand total of 169 incorporated towns—resides a beguiling mix of offerings.
In the Nutmeg State’s northwest corner, you’ll find colonial villages, country roads and the Appalachian Trail, and along the coast, sandy beaches and historic fishing towns. Fairfield County is a “Gold Coast” bedroom community for Wall Street’s elite, while not far away, former mill towns struggle to survive. There are gleaming towers in Stamford, bold makeovers in Hartford and New Haven, and everything from helicopters to tall ships in between.
How does it all fit together? Asking itself the same question, a governor’s task force is looking into how to best tell the Connecticut story.
“With Connecticut’s many distinct personalities,” says committee member Dan Bolognani—himself wearing many hats, including chairman of the Northwest Connecticut CVB and conference sales director for the Interlaken Resort and Conference Center in Lakeville—“we found that consumers purchase on a sense of place, whether that be the northwest’s New England charm, Mystic’s maritime appeal or the corporate-cultural mix of our major cities. Since people are buying on regional identity, it made sense that our individual visitor authorities would do the best job of marketing and promoting their part of the state.”
As each region’s attributes reveal, Connecticut embodies that quaint old saying that “good things come in small packages,” and true to the home of Yale University and the nation’s top prep schools, Connecticut is a wise choice for meetings of distinction and variety.
Hartford
Connecticut’s historic capital city, founded in 1625, has truly arrived as a major meetings destination, thanks to the dynamic success of the 540,000-square-foot Connecticut Convention Center.
Opened in 2005, the center—anchor of the 30-acre Adriaen’s Landing retail and entertainment complex—has greatly exceeded expectations. According to center officials, during its first year in business, the center drew more than 260,000 attendees at 380 events, generating approximately $60 million for the region’s economy. Credit also goes to the adjoining 22-story, $77 million Hartford Marriott Downtown, offering more than 13,500 square feet of meeting space and 409 guest rooms.
With an area hotel inventory of more than 6,000 rooms and healthy bookings through 2011, Hartford is no longer turning away business because of limited meeting and hotel space.
The Greater Hartford CVB is aggressively building on the momentum, targeting niche market segments, partnering with area businesses, institutions and communities to market the entire region as a convention destination, and strengthening relationships with key decision-makers in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., traditionally Hartford’s chief markets.
The recent opening of a full-time office in D.C., says Greater Hartford CVB President H. Scott Phelps, “has allowed us to make even greater inroads into D.C.’s business and association community.”
He adds that sporting events, including the recent Women’s NCAA Big East tournament, have also scored big, accounting for 20 percent of hotel room bookings annually, while other “renaissance-in-progress” projects like the riverfront Connecticut Science and Exploration Center, set to open in 2008, will further enrich Hartford’s appeal.
Residential development—with an accompanying retail, entertainment and dining package—is also revitalizing the downtown area, long an after-work dead zone. New apartment construction abounds, including Hartford 21, a 36-story apartment tower woven into and around the Hartford Civic Center, which is also connected to the recently renovated 392-room Hilton Hartford. According to Phelps, planners and delegates are embracing the recharged 24/7 downtown scene.
Hartford’s highly acclaimed arts and cultural scene has earned it a spot among the top 20 “cool places to live, work, start a family, and have fun” by noted economist Richard Florida.
And with direct European flights coming into nearby Bradley International Airport this summer, national groups can build on attendance from their foreign members, and everyone can experience first-hand the rebirth of one of America’s oldest cities.
New Haven
A decade ago, Connecticut’s second-largest city faced a variety of urban and economic struggles. Returnees will be pleasantly surprised, if not shocked, by the transformation today.
According to Steven Paganelli, president and CEO of the Greater New Haven CVB, much of the credit for the renaissance goes to the city’s foremost institution, Yale University.
“Yale long managed its own affairs,” Paganelli says, “but after reckoning with its relationship to both the city and the state, the university spearheaded economic development initiatives that spurred a turnaround.”
Yale itself is a powerful economic engine. Big in biotech, it has spawned dozens of new companies and generated billions in revenue, with 25 of Connecticut’s 35 biotech companies located in New Haven.
According to Paganelli, the business-academic mix, enhanced by other local universities, has boosted the city’s meetings trade.
“We have seen a healthy lift in international visitation to go with strong numbers from as far away as California and Texas,” he says.
Like Hartford, sports figured prominently in the revitalization, with two-thirds of Greater New Haven’s 4,464 hotel rooms booked each year by sports groups.
Nowhere is the renaissance more evident than in the once-maligned downtown area, now a compact welcome package of hospitality, culture, entertainment, and cuisine. Everything is within walking distance of the Green, a beautiful public park central to New Haven’s original 1638 layout and now the city’s social hub. There are several renowned theaters, including the event-capable Shubert, where future Broadway classics have been primed since 1914. Yale and its esteemed museums are steps away, along with shops, galleries and the 306-room Omni, the city’s premier hotel, with 22,000 square feet of meeting space and rooftop dining.
And speaking of food, New Haven has become a proven gastronomic destination.
“Our 120 downtown restaurants span the globe, and most are chef-owned-and-operated,” Paganelli says.
Standouts include the acclaimed Spanish eatery Ibiza and the elegant setting of the event-ready Union League Cafe. No visit is complete without pizza at Pepe’s or hamburgers at Louis’ Lunch, each claiming to be the U.S. birthplace of their signature offerings.
New Haven boasts other illustrious “firsts,” including the Frisbee and vulcanized rubber, courtesy of native son Charles Goodyear.
With most conferences averaging two to three days, there might also be time for a run to the quaint towns lining the shoreline east of the city, where historic seaside properties like the Madison Beach Hotel await.
Coastal Fairfield County
There’s a running joke that they check your bank account at the border of ultra-tony Fairfield County towns like Greenwich and Darien. Thankfully, the same high bar does not apply to meeting and conference attendees in this wealthy region thirty minutes north of New York City.
In fact, says Susan Henrique, sales and marketing director for the Coastal Fairfield County CVB, the area’s hotel availability and affordability make for a convenient alternative to the high-rate, high-occupancy “Big Apple,” with major rail links, Interstate 95 and proximity to all New York airports sealing the deal for groups.
For recreation, the county’s 35 miles of coastline is ideal for fishing, kayaking and canoeing, while its many communities present diverse options for gatherings.
The hit TV series The Office has a fictional outpost in Stamford, but in real life, this city is one of America’s most concentrated corporate centers. A host of hedge funds also make Stamford one of the nation’s wealthiest areas.
Among the region’s properties, planners give the 507-room Stamford Marriott top marks for meeting satisfaction, the 361-room Hyatt Regency Greenwich has a stunning garden atrium, and the Dolce Norwalk Conference Center is internationally acclaimed for meetings and education.
In Westport, the circa-1873 Inn at National Hall was recently spared condo development, preserving the elegant cherry-paneled, 16-person boardroom and the 16 individually themed guest rooms.
Keep an eye on Bridgeport, too. Once a prominent industrial center that endured years of economic decline starting in the 1960s, Connecticut’s largest city by population began rebuilding its neighborhoods in the 1990s. It has been identified as a prime national candidate for major renewal, and the city is poised for a dramatic transformation over the next few years.
Southeast Connecticut
Maritime traditions and Yankee charm make for a “Mystic-al” experience in this quaint region fronting the eastern half of Connecticut’s horizontal coastline and forming the border with Rhode Island.
As one of New England’s premier visitor destinations, the village of Mystic and its famed Seaport, with its preserved tall ships and period buildings, evocatively captures the area’s salty history of shipbuilding, whaling and fishing. Wineries, cider mills and quaint towns like Groton (1705) are further complements. New London, founded in 1646, was a Revolutionary War naval base and today is home to submarines and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
With 9,300 rooms, the Mystic area’s meetings-capable properties range from intimate retreats such as the Spa at Norwich Inn (see sidebar, page 16) to the 285-room, Mystic Marriott Hotel and Spa, with more than 20,000 square feet of meeting space. The biggest players in town, however, are the hugely popular casino resorts of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.
Both conference-capable properties are undergoing significant expansions.
Mohegan Sun’s $740 million Project Horizon will supplement its current 34-story, 1,200-room hotel with a new 1,000-room tower featuring 300 House of Blues-themed hotel rooms and a 20,000-square-foot spa, slated to debut in 2010. The House of Blues experience starts the year before, with the opening of a 1,500-person capacity Music Hall along with dining and retail. In 2009, Mohegan Sun will also open 115,000 square feet of additional retail and restaurant space and the 64,000-square-foot Casino of the Wind.
Foxwoods, presently featuring 1,400 guest rooms and 55,000 square feet of meeting space, is anticipating a summer 2008 opening for its $700 million MGM Grand at Foxwoods development. Highlights include an 824-room hotel tower, 115,000 square feet of additional meeting space and 50,000 square feet of new gaming space.
Northwest Connecticut
While officially a New England state, much of Connecticut lacks the red barns, white steeples and pine-forested peaks that give counterparts like Vermont their Yankee authenticity.
Not so in the state’s northwest corner, bounded by New York and Massachusetts and home to an exquisite National Heritage landscape of farms, stone walls and colonial homes quilted into the surrounding Litchfield Hills and southern Berkshire Mountains.
Rivers, lakes and the Appalachian Trail wend through the region, with history and natural attractions at every turn. Area foundries produced Revolutionary War munitions, West Cornwall’s covered wooden bridge is a must-see, and Kent Falls is the state’s largest waterfall.
Like area celebrity homeowners Meryl Streep and Keith Richards, groups come for the seclusion.
“Corporate managers bring their meetings here specifically for the distraction-free environment,” says Bolognani of the Northwest Connecticut CVB and the Interlaken Resort and Conference Center.
Set on a 30-acre campus, the warmly inviting Interlaken is a Fortune 500 favorite, featuring 90 guest rooms, 10 meeting rooms, a top-rated restaurant, and a private lakeside cottage. Among several team-building choices, the property’s partnership with the nearby Skip Barber Racing School offers the thrill of high-adrenaline, high-speed racing.
The 200-room Ethan Allen Hotel in Danbury and the Connecticut Grand Hotel and Conference Center in Waterbury are two city choices, the Heritage Resort and Conference Center is a countryside favorite in Litchfield Hills (see sidebar, page 16), while the Mayflower Inn and Spa in Washington is a five-star choice from the region’s 38 bed-and-breakfast properties and 20 country inns.
When money is no object, there is the one-of-a-kind Winvian in Morris. Even the website, www.winvian.com, is a fantasy, but wait until you see any one of the 18 custom-designed cottages set on this meetings-friendly property’s 113 acres, such as the Helicopter Room, featuring a helicopter cockpit as a bar, or the double-storied Tree House. At $32,000 per night for the entire property, it may just be the ultimate incentive getaway.
For More Info
Coastal Fairfield CVB 203.853.7770
www.coastalct.com
Greater Hartford CVB 860.728.6789
www.enjoyhartford.com
Greater New Haven CVB 203.777.8550
www.newhavencvb.org
Mystic Country Connecticut 860.444.2206
www.mysticmore.com
Northwest Connecticut CVB 203.597.9527
www.northwestct.com
