"American in Miniature” is how a writer once described Maryland, and the tag still seems to fit. Groups book the state for its diversity, formidable historical connections to America’s earliest era, sophisticated 21st century facilities, enticing range of outdoor recreation, and accessible East Coast location.
Maritime culture defines much of Maryland. Baltimore and Ocean City sit on the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean respectively,
while the emerging Prince George’s County’s 300-acre National Harbor waterfront destination near Washington, D.C., fronts the Potomac River. Annapolis and several Eastern Shore destinations also have water views of the bay and Atlantic. Meanwhile, several western Maryland meetings destinations are near Deep Creek Lake.
Baltimore
Maryland’s first city has been a national model for urban renaissance and renovation since the 1970s, and the creative improvements and additions continue.
Baltimore’s attractions, historic districts, convention center, and major accommodations are all within easy walking distance of each other, and there’s more in store as the city enlarges its facilities portfolio.
Tom Noonan, president and CEO of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, says his city will spend $11 billion in new development between 2002 and 2011. The latest development star is the Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel in the celebrated Inner Harbor area, which is “meetings central” for the city.
Scheduled to open next fall, the Hilton will add 757 guest rooms and 60,000 square feet of flexible function space to the city’s existing hotel inventory, and it will be connected to the convention center by skybridge. Included is a 25,000-square-foot ballroom—the city’s largest—plus a 15,000-square-foot ballroom. The 337-room Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel and the 488-room Hyatt Regency Baltimore are also connected to the center.
“The big news for groups is that we have so much within easy walking distance—two feet, if you will—from everything they need or want,” Noonan says. “This means you don’t have to get into a shuttle or taxi to get to restaurants, attractions, the convention center, museums, and so much else around Inner Harbor.”
Baltimore is also raising the bar on hospitality services, according to Noonan.
“We are training all our frontline employees in customer service and tourism knowledge,” he says. “We want hotel front desk people and restaurant servers to be more knowledgeable about Baltimore as a tourism destination. By next fall, we’ll have put about 500 people through the training. Also, we are adding touch-screen kiosks around town that will deliver tourism information, maps and tickets to attractions.”
The expanded hospitality package is enabling the CVB to go after some pretty big meetings fish, according to Noonan.
Suburban Maryland
Maryland’s portion of the vibrant national capital region is poised to welcome the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in late April. Located eight miles down river from Washington, D.C., on the Prince George’s County side of the Potomac, the newest installment in the Nashville company’s brand will be the largest non-gaming hotel and convention center on the East Coast.
Situated on a 41.7-acre site, the $550 million resort will feature 2,000 guest rooms and suites, 470,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, a Gaylord signature 18-story glassed atrium, and a plethora of dining choices. Prince George’s Community College has received funding from Gaylord for a hospitality training program to assist with employee fulfillment at the company’s newest resort.
Gaylord National is the centerpiece of the massive 300-acre National Harbor waterfront development, which also features additional hotel brands (including a Westin set to open in April), residential units, tree-lined promenades, many retail outlets and restaurants, a marina, and varied entertainment options.
Roadway access to the mixed-use National Harbor site at the end of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge will be enhanced by a new seven-day-a-week water taxi service that will link the development with Washington, D.C. Old Town Alexandria on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, and eventually Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
“The water taxi service will connect our guests with the cobblestone streets in Old Town Alexandria, shopping and entertainment at D.C.’s Union Station, the sights and sounds of Georgetown, theater and other events at the Kennedy Center, top-name shows and sports at Verizon Center, the endless wonders of The Smithsonian, historic homes, national landmarks, and the natural beauty of our nation’s capital,” says Sheldon Suga, senior vice president and general manager of Gaylord National.
Suga also says the opening of the Gaylord will attract and retain important meeting and convention business for the region.
Elsewhere in Washington, D.C.’s suburban Maryland side, Montgomery County offers more group booking choices, including the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, and Bolger Center, an IACC-certified Dolce International property.
Often called a gateway to the nation’s capital, the county is home to many federal government agencies and biomedical companies, and markets itself to groups of around 800 attendees.
Unique cultural venues are also part of the county’s facilities lineup, and some have national historical significance.
“Our Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, with 100,000 square feet of function space next to a 225-room Marriott hotel, houses one of the largest ballrooms in the national capital region,” says Kelly Groff, director of the Conference and Visitors Bureau of Montgomery County. “Also, our many cultural venues include the American Film Institute Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, Discovery Sports Center, Music Center at Strathmore, Imagination Stage, and the new Bethesda Theatre.”
Annapolis
Maryland’s capital affords business groups meetings-ready facilities and activities near the nation’s capital, Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) and the Chesapeake Bay shoreline.
Annapolis’ unique qualities are the big draw for leisure visitors and business groups alike. Its National Historic Landmark Colonial-era district is filled with walkable appeal, and its harbor setting is awash in American maritime history. Annapolis is also home to the U.S. Naval Academy, where groups may experience narrated campus tours. Bustling marinas, nautical shops, waterfront restaurants, and harbor cruises are part of the scene.
According to Joyce Stinnett Baki, director of sales for the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Conference and Visitors Bureau, the destination is not just ramping up its meetings readiness with hundreds of new guest rooms, it’s also preparing to celebrate 300 years of democracy. It was 1708 when Queen Anne of Great Britain gave Annapolis its city charter, establishing a lasting representative government and marking the beginnings of the struggle for full voting rights and emancipation for others.
“Annapolis is more ready than ever before to welcome business groups,” Stinnett Baki says. “Our heritage and maritime culture attracts people from all over the world. And our great proximity to both Washington and Baltimore make us an enviable gathering place for groups in search of both productivity and great recreation.”
New properties that have recently debuted include the Hilton BWI, the Sheraton BWI, the Westin BWI, and the Westin Annapolis in historic Annapolis.
Meanwhile, Loews Annapolis Hotel and the Doubletree Hotel Annapolis recently completed renovations.
Eastern and Atlantic Shores
Travelers who cross the five-mile-long Chesapeake Bay Bridge out of Annapolis find another world waiting at the other end. Often it’s the nose that gives away the change from urban to salty air.
Also, the nose knows it’s in new territory, as it detects an aroma of hot spicy steamed crabs emanating from the Eastern Shore’s traditional road houses. Besides the crustaceans, there’s surf, luxury inns and resorts, historic sights, and about 300 years of maritime history close at hand.
It was only a few decades ago when the original bay bridge expanse eliminated crossing by ferry transport, so a slower rural pace still characterizes the local Eastern Shore culture. Route 50 carries travelers off the bridge into wide open spaces, horse farms, and small towns and villages on quiet coves and inlets throughout Kent, Talbot, Somerset, and Queen Anne’s counties. For even better scenery and solitude, many get off that main road and wander the region’s small villages and secondary roads, some of which end at a marsh or inlet where shore birds and serenity are plentiful.
Business groups enjoy the retreat options in the region, such as the historic 86-room Aspen Wye River Conference Center in Queenstown and the 425-room Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay in Cambridge. Orient-Express Hotels’ Inn at Perry Cabin is an 80-room luxury resort in the quaint Victorian seaside town of St. Michaels, where the 6,000-square-foot Linden Spa recently opened as the resort’s newest feature. The spa is named for the estate’s abundance of linden trees that line its driveway. The inn has several small meeting rooms for gatherings of up to roughly 100 guests.
St. Michaels is also home to the Harbourtowne Golf Resort and Conference Center, while the town of Easton features the meetings-friendly Tidewater Inn.
Farther along on Route 50 are additional group-friendly destinations such as Salisbury and Ocean City, both within three hours or less drive of Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia.
Located in Wicomico County, Salisbury is a growing Eastern Shore hub city that continues to enhance its meetings package. The Fountains Wedding & Conference Center is the city’s newest group facility. The Fountains accommodates up to 500 for seated events and offers contemporary multimedia capabilities.
For off-site events and tours highlighting the ecology, history and culture of the Eastern Shore, there’s no better local setting than the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art in Salisbury. The contemporary museum has one of the world’s largest collections of wild bird carvings, and groups may enjoy the galleries and carving demonstrations during tours or private events.
Just a half-hour drive from Salisbury is one of the Atlantic’s major seaside resorts, Ocean City. Its 11 miles of beaches and boardwalk, resorts, eateries, shops, and outdoor recreation are at peak use during summer. Yet a year-round population and service infrastructure has matured in recent decades to make Ocean City an excellent and sometimes very affordable group destination in value months.
The 185,000-square-foot Roland E. Powell Convention Center is the city’s largest group venue, with 67,000 square feet of exhibit space and a 22,000-square-foot ballroom.
Ocean City’s hotel inventory includes 10,000 rooms at a number of meetings-ready properties, including the Hilton Suites Ocean City Oceanfront; the Clarion Resort Fontainebleau; the Holiday Inn Oceanfront; and the Princess Royale Oceanfront Hotel and Conference Center.
Western Maryland
On Maryland’s western side, visitors find a vastly different topography and culture from that in the state’s eastern regions. Peaked terrain defines Garrett, Allegany and Washington counties—once rugged pioneer outposts that are still home to small towns in addition to a wealth of outdoor recreation.
The Deep Creek Lake region in Garrett County is a popular destination for winter skiing and snowmobiling, as well as river rafting, golfing, fly-fishing, and lakeside R&R. Several state parks invite rock climbing and other outdoor pursuits. Small hamlets such as Grantsville, Oakland, Cumberland, and Frostberg offer bed-and-breakfast properties, antiques shopping, museums, and local arts and crafts.
Western Maryland has a good portion of Historic National Road, the nation’s first federally funded interstate highway. It began in 1811, and its contemporary footprint winds past classic inns, diners and motels reflecting about 200 years of American history. Original B&O Railroad buildings, boat tours of the C&O Canal and steam train rides through mountain scenery are some of the attractions visitors enjoy.
The region’s group accommodations and meeting facilities include Wisp Resort Hotel & Conference Center on Deep Creek Lake, with 169 guest rooms and suites and 20,000 square feet of function space; Rocky Gap Lodge Golf Resort, with 238 guest units and 15,000 square feet of meeting space; and Hagerstown’s Clarion Hotel & Conference Center, with 220 guest rooms and suites and 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
For More Info
Allegany County Department of Tourism 301.777.5132
www.mdmountainside.com
Annapolis and Anne Arundel County
Conference and Visitors Bureau 410.280.0445
www.visitannapolis.org
Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association 410.659.7300
www.baltimore.org
Conference and Visitors Bureau of Montgomery County 240.777.2060
www.visitmontgomery.com
Howard County Tourism Council 410.313.1903
www.visithowardcounty.com
Ocean City CVB 410.289.8181
www.ococean.com
Prince George’s County Conference and Visitors Bureau 301.925.8300
www.goprincegeorgescounty.com
Talbot County Office of Tourism 410.770.8000
www.tourtalbot.org
Tourism Council of Frederick County 301.228.2888
www.fredericktourism.org
Wicomico County CVB 410.548.4914
www.wicomicotourism.org
