The smallest state in the nation is big on meetings, with two very distinct, uniquely equipped destinations that are just 30 miles apart: Providence, known as the “Renaissance City,” and Newport, nicknamed “America’s First Resort.”
Brimming with historic landmarks, colonial buildings, museums, and activities, these two destinations in this slice of New England complement each other, piling on the diversity for groups.
Providence, the state capital, has the convention center, and a recent increase in downtown hotel rooms has elevated its meetings profile. Meanwhile, top hotels in both destinations are upgrading, and Newport’s wealth of waterfront off-site venues continues to expand.
“Book Rhode Island and you really do get the whole state,” says Neil Schriever, vice president of sales at the Providence Warwick CVB, citing an oft-quoted promotional theme and noting one recent Providence group that held a clambake in Newport.
The cities team up to publish a meeting and convention planner, and usually have adjacent booths at trade shows.
One of the original 13 colonies, the Ocean State delivers 400 miles of coastline with sandy beaches in its 1,215 square miles. All regions are within an hour’s drive of each other.
Accessibility is a big advantage. Between New York and Boston on Interstate 95, Providence is a stop on Amtrak’s high-speed Northeast corridor route. T.F. Green Airport, located eight miles from downtown Providence and 25 miles from Newport, is served by 16 carriers, including Southwest Airlines.
Providence
A metro area that spills over into Massachusetts, Providence is also a compact college town, home to the Ivy League’s Brown University, Providence College, the elite Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and the culinary school at Johnson & Wales University.
Founded in 1636 by preacher Roger Williams as a haven for religious freedom, the city helped spearhead America’s industrial revolution with such industries as textiles and jewelry.
Downtown began to emerge from urban decline in the 1970s, but it wasn’t until the 1990s, when rivers once concreted over were opened up, railway lines moved and new buildings appeared, that it was dubbed the “Renaissance City.”
Part of that renewal effort was the Rhode Island Convention Center, opened in 1993 in the heart of downtown. The granite and glass structure features a 100,000-square-foot contiguous exhibition hall, 23 meeting rooms and a 20,000-square-foot ballroom.
Last summer, another revitalization wave unveiled 472 more guest rooms in two hotels: the Westin Providence, which added a new hotel tower, and the new Renaissance Providence Hotel. The new rooms boosted the city’s total room inventory to more than 2,100 units within walking distance of the convention center and a total of 5,500 in the metro area.
The Westin Providence, the convention center’s headquarters hotel, unveiled a 32-story tower with 200 guest rooms, plus upper-floor condos, bringing its room count to 574. The hotel is connected by skywalk to the center to the south and to the 150-store Providence Place to the north.
Close by is the state’s largest restoration project: the 272-room Renaissance Providence Hotel, with 10,000 square feet of meeting space. A summer grand opening celebrated the debut of the $100 million hotel, the combination of a restored and converted structure built as a Masonic temple in 1929 and a new nine-story addition.
The additional rooms, Shriever says, enable the city to reposition itself.
“Instead of consolidating groups into six hotels we can put them into three,” he says. “Larger groups are looking at the destination. We’re getting asked to dance. We’re in a different league.”
A Community Transportation Association group of 2,000-plus delegates meets next June in the city. The group, Shriever explains, is just one example of a convention that the city would not have gotten without the extra rooms.
Additionally, the city hosted two medical association groups each with 2,000 attendees in June and September, and next July an Ironman event is expected to attract 2,000 athletes and family members.
Adjacent to the convention center, the 14,500-seat Dunkin’ Donuts Center, home to the AHL’s Providence Bruins, is in the midst of a $62 million renovation. Its latest phase includes a skywalk, set to open this month, that will connect the two centers, making the whole complex more attractive to groups using both facilities, Shriever says.
Other major properties have completed upgrades. In 2006, the 247-room Hilton Providence spent $40 million renovating and adding retail venues and new restaurants in a new three-floor atrium, and the 291-room Providence Biltmore Hotel, the city’s oldest hotel, completed a four-year, $14 million remodeling.
Meanwhile, the 80-room Hotel Providence, which has 4,250 square feet of function space, opened almost two years ago. A conversion of two historical buildings, the AAA Four Diamond hotel and its Italian restaurant, L`Epicureo, have since won numerous awards.
A number of new hotels are planned. Four properties totaling 700 rooms are expected to open by early 2010, including a 115-room Hampton Inn & Suites, the conversion of the historic St. Francis Chapel combined with a 10-story addition.
Providence attracted numerous media accolades last summer.
In a story on what tourism experts thought would be the next travel hot spot, The Wall Street Journal named Providence one of the top 10 places (the only one in the U.S.). It highlighted the city’s “varied restaurant scene” and encouraged readers to “explore the growing arts scene by gallery hopping.”
A Food & Wine magazine story described Providence as one of America’s “truly dynamic food scenes.” And USA Today included its “Little Italy”—Federal Hill, west of the downtown core—in its top 10 list of great Italian neighborhoods.
Augmenting the town’s art and F&B options, academia provides two museums: the Culinary Archives and Museum at Johnson & Wales University and the RISD Museum, which boasts more than 80,000 works of art.
In 2006, the city debuted Restaurant Week. Held in July, it will be extended to two weeks next year. (Newport’s Restaurant Week is in November.)
A big downtown draw is Waterplace Park, a focal point for special events, festivities and free summer concerts. It is connected to Riverwalk, a waterfront cobblestone walkway, and river gondola rides, evoking Venice and adding to the appeal.
Summer is also the time for WaterFire, a spectacular hallmark attraction. About every other week, accompanied by music, 100 bonfires blaze above the surface of the river along Riverwalk, an event that Shriever says can also be specially arranged for sponsoring groups.
Warwick
South of Providence lies Warwick, the state’s second-largest city and home to a number of historic mansions and T.F. Green Airport.
“It’s right off Interstate 95, close to the airport and has hotels that are great for smaller meetings of up to 150 peak-night rooms,” Shriever says.
A handful of its 16 hotels have meetings space.
The two largest meetings properties have both completed room renovation projects: the Crowne Plaza Providence–Warwick, with 34,000 square feet of meeting space, and the Radisson Providence Airport, which has 10,000 square feet of function space. The Radisson is owned by Johnson & Wales and provides training for its students.
Across the Narragansett Bay from Warwick, the waterfront town of Bristol claims to host the nation’s oldest continuous Fourth of July celebration, which began in 1785.
Here, the Bristol Harbor Inn is the central feature of Thames Street Landing, a restored waterfront complex. Its largest meeting space, holding 120 guests, is located in a restored warehouse.
Newport
Celebrated for its sailing, Newport was home of the America’s Cup from 1930 to 1983.
With cobblestone streets and one of the country’s best collections of Colonial-era archecture, the town anchors the southern end of Aquidneck Island.
It also epitomizes the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, when it was the summer playground of the wealthy, and their opulent mansions stand today. Many are museum houses, some providing a unique backdrop for theme parties and other events.
Eleven historical properties are operated by the Preservation Society of Newport County, which promotes four with off-site space, including Rosecliffe, the setting for the 1974 film The Great Gatsby. Some are located along the famous 3.5-mile Cliff Walk.
“We have so many restaurants and downtown is very walkable,” says Tim Walsh, CMP, vice president of sales at the Newport County CVB. “Meeting planners have lots of choices. They can charter a train, and we have three wineries with event facilities.”
For team-building opportunities, planners can opt for a scavenger hunt in town or can look to the bay, with its abundance of marinas, cruises, boat tours, and vessels that range from schooners to motor yachts.
Walsh says one of the top experiences for groups to consider is a re-creation of the Americas Cup, chartering up 10 or 12 classic yachts, and breaking the group into teams with 10 to 14 people aboard each.
“Corporations do it year after year,” he says. “Or there is the Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum—it’s a spectacular venue.”
Three new waterfront event venues have opened, Walsh adds. They include Belle Mer, formerly the Newport Regatta Club, which completed a renovation and expansion last spring; Forty 1° North, which opened for the season with two restaurants, a marina and a pavilion; and Regatta Place, a luxury facility that can accommodate up to 150 for dinner.
More than a dozen hotels and inns have meeting space. According to Walsh, four core-meeting properties in town have almost 1,000 guest rooms, while Newport County has a total of 3,500 rooms.
“We also have inns that are great for smaller meetings,” he says, mentioning examples such as Castle Hill Inn & Resort and Ocean Cliff, each with 25 rooms.
The city’s four primary meetings properties have been upgrading.
The 264-room Hyatt Regency Newport on Goat Island plans to finish a $30 million renovation this spring. The project includes enhancements to its meeting space, which totals 25,000 square feet.
The 317-room Newport Marriott, which has 26,000 square feet of meeting space, completed a $14 million room renovation in early 2007.
Last summer, the Hotel Viking, with 200 rooms and 14,000 square feet of meeting space, completed a $4.8 million renovation of its 78-room Viking Wing.
The 133-room Newport Harbor Hotel & Marina also recently completed improvements that include a renovated lobby.
Additionally, the beachfront, 50-suite Inn at Newport Beach, a member of Historic Hotels of America, was about to close at press time for interior renovations and the construction of a 26-suite addition. The property is scheduled to reopen in April.
The CVB promotes the winter season with a value-added program for groups of 20 or more rooms for stays through April 30. Incentives include attendee discount books, welcome receptions and upgraded rooms.
“Winter and early spring are ideal times,” Walsh says. “Newport bustles with events and activities and there will be plenty to do.”
For More Info
Newport County CVB 401.849.8048
www.gonewport.com
Providence Warwick CVB 401.274.1636
www.pwcvb.com
