Seattle

Long known for its spectacular setting, tech innovation and convivial neighborhoods, metro Seattle is sitting prettier than ever these days. An expanding array of attractions and parklands is gracing Puget Sound shorelines, while the region’s choice of hotels and meeting venues just keeps expanding with new and exciting options for planners to consider.

These enhancements are evident throughout the entire metro area, starting with downtown Seattle, where sleek new hotels, an expanding convention

center and new attractions such as a waterfront sculpture park are adding to its appeal as a major meetings hub. At the same time, districts such as South Lake Union, a growing magnet for high-tech industries and young professionals, also have more amenities for the group market these days.

Just outside of town, Bellevue is booming with new mixed-use developments that are adding upscale shopping, dining and entertainment options close to hotels and meeting facilities. South of Seattle, Tacoma has transitioned from a workaday lumber town to an arts and culture hub with a revitalized downtown and waterfront. Places such as Snohomish County and the Seattle Southside area near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport are on the move as well.


Seattle

Fresh from hosting the PCMA Annual Meeting in January, which drew record attendance for the organization, Seattle seized the opportunity to strut its stuff before potential meetings clients, according to Tom Norwalk, senior vice president of sales for Seattle’s CVB.

“PCMA, which drew big numbers, enabled us to prove that Seattle draws high attendance—and for good reason,” he says. “First and foremost, we have a very walkable downtown, with seven big convention hotels in close proximity to the convention center.”

At the same time, Seattle is in the midst of a construction boom that is giving it even more downtown hotel choices as well as a new freestanding addition to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. Construction is expected to start later this year on a site at 800 Pike Street, adjacent to the north side of the existing facility.

“It will give us 50,000 square feet of additional meeting and trade show space, space that will be very flexible and designed to handle a wide variety of meetings and configurations,” Norwalk says. “Also, because the facility has its own entrance, it will be able to serve stand-alone meetings for groups of up to 1,500 people.”

Norwalk adds that the addition will be equipped with the latest meetings technology.

“We are consulting with Microsoft, one of our key clients, about how they will want to use it,” he says. “It will definitely have all the bells and whistles.”

Seattle’s newest downtown property, the 120-room Arctic Club Hotel, is located in one of the city’s most historic buildings, a former men’s club founded in 1908 by Klondike gold rush prospectors. Public spaces in the hotel, which offers 5,800 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant and a fitness center, are adorned with artifacts from the Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition. Among its architectural highlights is the Northern Lights Dome Room, an opulent event space adorned with Rococo gilding, frescos, ornamental cornices, and a stained-glass dome.

Last year saw the completion of a second tower for Seattle’s largest hotel, the Seattle Sheraton. The new Union Street Tower added 420 guest rooms to the property, giving it a total of 1,258, and also brought 16 new meeting rooms. At the same time, the hotel completed a renovation of its existing meeting space and expanded the size of its two largest ballrooms.

Another new addition to the downtown hotel scene will be Hyatt Olive 8, a hotel-condominium development that will include 346 hotel guest rooms and 186 residences in a 36-story tower at Olive and 8th streets. Slated to open in January 2009, the property will also include 15,000 square feet of meeting space, a spa, a swimming pool, a restaurant, and a cocktail lounge.

Expected to open this summer on a downtown site near WaMu Center and the Seattle Art Museum, the $120 million Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences Seattle marks the return of the Four Seasons brand to Seattle. The luxury property will offer 149 guest rooms, 36 private residences, a signature water-view restaurant, a pool area overlooking Elliott Bay, and meting space that includes a 5,000-square-foot ballroom.

Another new mixed-use development on the horizon will be the 1 Hotel & Residences, the first property in Starwood Capital Group’s new eco-friendly 1 Hotel brand. With 110 hotel rooms and 97 condos, the property, set for a mid-2009 opening, will be designed to meet standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council and feature a 40,000-square-foot health club and a restaurant and specialty grocery store focusing on organic foods.

These new properties and additions are augmenting an already impressive downtown hotel inventory that includes the Marriott Seattle Waterfront, Fairmont Olympic Hotel, Grand Hyatt Seattle, Hotel Monaco Seattle, Renaissance Seattle Hotel, and Crowne Plaza Hotel Seattle. In addition, downtown offers the waterfront Bell Harbor International Conference Center, with 100,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space.

Outside of downtown, the city’s burgeoning South Lake Union neighborhood is becoming a meeting destination in its own right, most notably with the November 2006 opening of the 160-room Pan Pacific Seattle, which is part of a mixed-use project that includes 261 condos, retail shops, a Whole Foods supermarket, and a landscaped plaza. In April, the Pan Pacific will unveil a full-service spa.

“The Pan Pacific has created a lot of new interest in the South Lake Union neighborhood, which is in the midst of major development and corporate expansion,” Norwalk says. “Microsoft is moving more offices there and Amazon.com is relocating into a complex of buildings there. And we have new trolley service connecting South Lake Union with downtown—eventually this service will extend to the University of Washington.”

Norfolk adds that expanding biotech industries in South Lake Union, as well the anticipated opening of a new campus for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation near Seattle Center later this year, promise to further boost Seattle’s already strong medical meetings business.

“The new Gates Foundation headquarters is sure to be a major draw for medical research symposiums,” Norwalk says.

Sightseeing attractions and off-site venues are also on the rise in Seattle. The Seattle Art Museum, which recently completed an expansion of its downtown galleries and public areas, has also unveiled the Olympic Sculpture Park, a nine-acre waterfront expanse with a pathway lined with works by major artists such as Richard Serra and Alexander Calder. The park also features the PACCAR Pavilion, a glass and steel structure with flexible exhibition space and a cafe, and the Gates Amphitheater, a site for outdoor films and performances.

Also new is the WaMu Theater, a live entertainment venue at Qwest Field Event Center, which is available for corporate events and seminars. Along with flexible seating for 3,300 to 7,000 people, the theater includes space for meetings and receptions with food and beverage service.


Bellevue

Located 10 miles east of Seattle, between Lake Washington and Lake Sammanish, and 10 miles west of the Cascade foothills, Bellevue offers close proximity to both urban and outdoor attractions. At the same time, Bellevue has been steadily evolving into a vibrant city with some of the most sophisticated shopping, dining and entertainment to be found in the region.

According to Brenda Dotson, CMP, director of sales for the Bellevue Convention Sales Group, downtown Bellevue has become a growing hub for both high-tech corporations and young professionals moving into residential towers.

“The result has been the creation of a walkable community with dozens of new restaurants and plenty of shopping and nightlife,” she says. “And we also have a very strong corporate base here that keeps increasing all the time.”

Part of the city’s overall new look also includes Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue’s main meetings facility, which completed a major makeover last year, transforming its 36,000-square-foot Center Hall from a traditional trade show space into a flexible meeting area suitable for a wide range of functions. The room has updated sound and lighting features as well as new carpeting and artistic design elements.

“It has a much dressier look and is now ideal for banquets as well as high-tech trade shows,” Dotson says.

Bellevue’s downtown hotel room inventory is getting a major boost from the Hyatt Regency Bellevue, which is adding a 383-room tower that will give the property a total of 733 guest rooms and 60,000 square feet of meeting space. The expansion is set for completion in summer 2009.

Meanwhile, HEI Hotel & Resorts, a hotel ownership and operating company, has announced plans to develop a 378-room Marriott hotel in the heart of Bellevue’s central business district. The company hopes to open the hotel in 2010.

One of the city’s newest hotels is the Westin Bellevue, which opened in late 2005 with 337 guest rooms and 25,000 square feet of meeting space. Also new is the Courtyard Seattle Bellevue, located just a half block from Meydenbauer Center.

Other meetings-friendly hotels include the Hilton Bellevue, Sheraton Bellevue Seattle East, Red Lion Hotel Bellevue, and The Coast Bellevue Hotel.

Mixed-use complexes with upscale shops, condos, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues are also a growing part of the downtown scene. Currently under construction is The Bravern, which will include two office towers occupied by Microsoft, residences and retail shopping anchored by the first Neiman Marcus department store in the Pacific Northwest.

Bellevue Square, which offers 18 restaurants and 250 shops, is the site of the new Lucky Strike Lanes, a deluxe bowling center that includes a variety of private party spaces accommodating groups of up to 500 people.


Seattle Southside/SeaTac

Located near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and about midway between downtown Seattle and Tacoma, the area known as Seattle Southside encompasses the communities of SeaTac, Tukwila, Kent, Des Moines, and Renton.

The area offers more than 400,000 square feet of meeting space at properties such the Hilton Seattle Airport and Conference Center; Red Lion Hotel Seattle Airport; Doubletree Hotel Seattle Airport; Sea-Tac Airport Conference Center; the recently renovated Seattle Airport Marriott; and Best Western River’s Edge.

“We’re very affordable and accessible at the same time,” says Katherine Kertzman, director of the Seattle Southside Office of Tourism. “We’re a major transportation hub and yet we have a lot right here as well, including great shopping and dining.”

According to Kertzman, one of the major benefits of being based in the area is the fact that most local hotels offer free shuttle service to the airport and to places within a 25-mile radius.

“There’s no need to rent a car when you’re here,” she says.

Currently under construction in downtown Kent is the Kent Events Center, an arena that will be home to the Seattle Thunderbirds hockey team and also serve as a multipurpose venue for meetings, trade shows and other events.

One of the area’s most popular off-site venues is Tukwila’s Museum of Flight, which recently opened the Personal Courage Wing containing interactive exhibits surrounding a collection of World War I and World War II fighter planes. One of several event spaces, the wing accommodates receptions for up to 1,000 people.

Other group-friendly attractions and activities include Acme Bowing-Billiards-Events in Tukwila; the Hydroplane and Raceboat Museum in Kent; Emerald Downs, a racetrack with banquet space in neighboring Auburn; and the Spirit of Washington Dinner Train, which transports passengers from Renton to Woodinville for a ride along Lake Washington with a stop at local wineries. Renton’s Spirit of Washington Event Center offers space for meetings, trade shows and other events for up to 600 people.


Tacoma

Few cities anywhere have undergone as dramatic a transformation as Tacoma, set on the banks of lower Puget Sound about 35 miles south of Seattle. Its once-fading downtown is now a destination filled with outstanding museums and venues for events large and small.

The works of renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly, a Tacoma native, figure prominently in the city’s new identity, particularly in the waterfront Museum of Glass, which includes a Hot Shop Amphitheater where visitors can watch glass artists at work, and the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, a dramatic pedestrian bridge adorned with glass art installations that links the Museum of Glass with the Washington State History Museum.

“The impact of the museums has been amazing,” says Traci Nelson, group sales manager for the Tacoma Regional CVB. “Meeting planners really love the fact that there’s so much to do here during downtime. Plus it means a lot of great venues for off-sites.”

Soon there will be even more to choose from. A major addition to the Working Waterfront Maritime Museum is expected to be completed in time for this summer’s Tacoma Tall Ships Festival from July 3-7. The centerpiece of the $21.5 million Foss Waterway Seaport Project, the expanded museum is being positioned as the most comprehensive maritime education and activity center on the West Coast. Along with more exhibit space, the museum will offer 4,000 square feet of meeting space with waterfront views and an 80-seat theater.

Currently under construction next to the Tacoma Dome is LeMay: America’s Car Museum, which will house one of the world’s largest collections of vintage cars. A first phase, set for completion in 2009, will include 120,000 square feet of display galleries, a theater and conference rooms.

Another change for downtown is the just-completed transformation of the former Sheraton Tacoma, the city’s largest meetings property, into the Hotel Murano. Now operated by Portland, Ore.-based Providence Hotels, the 319-room hotel has undergone a $20 million renovation and features the work of over 40 glass artists from around the world throughout the property.

“We are repositioning the hotel to attract groups who might not have thought there was enough to do in Tacoma in the past,” says Mark Mathews, general manager of the property. “Our theme ties in with the glass museum and will provide opportunities for people to learn more about the city’s unique glass heritage.”

Along with updated guest rooms, the hotel also features a new restaurant and a top-floor function area with sweeping views. With 28,000 square feet of meeting space, the Hotel Murano is a short walk from the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center, which offers 51,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space.

Other major meeting facilities in the area include the Tacoma Dome and the Puyallup Fair and Events Center, which recently completed an expansion and now offers 122,000 square feet of function space. Meetings-friendly hotels include the Tacoma Dome Hotel, Courtyard Tacoma Downtown, Red Lion Hotel Tacoma, Silver Cloud Inn, and La Quinta Inn and Suites.

South of Tacoma in Grand Mound, the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation are about to open the 393-room Great Wolf Lodge, offering amenities that include the state’s largest indoor waterpark, a 30,000-square-foot conference center, themed restaurants, and a miniature golf course.


Snohomish County

North of Seattle and poised between mountains and the waters of Puget Sound, Snohomish County encompasses the communities of Everett, Lynnwood, Snohomish, Marysville, and Edmonds. Modern convention facilities, a wide variety of hotels and flight-themed venues are among the draws highlighting its growing appeal for meetings.

“We can host a diverse range of meetings of various sizes,” says Traci Banfield, convention sales manager for the Snohomish County Tourism Bureau. “Our selling point is our close proximity to Seattle—with hotel rates that average 40 percent less.”

The big news on the local hotel scene is the upcoming opening of the 367-room Tulalip Casino & Resort in June. The four-star property on the Tulalip Indian Reservation will offer 30,000 square feet of meeting space, a 3,000-seat amphitheater, five dining outlets, and an outlet shopping center.

“This is the first resort of its kind in the county and it will open up new meetings business for us,” Banfield says. “We will be able to target larger meetings than before.”

The county’s two major meeting facilities are the Lynnwood Convention Center, which opened in Lynnwood in 2005, and the Comcast Arena & Edward D. Hansen Conference Center, which opened in Everett in 2003 as the Everett Events Center. The Comcast Arena offers a 57,000-square-foot exhibition floor, while the adjacent conference center offers an 11,000-square-foot ballroom.

The Lynnwood Convention Center, which is undergoing sustainability upgrades to make it a green facility, offers 34,000 square feet of meeting space on two floors, with capacity for up to 1,300 people for general sessions. Lynnwood’s largest meetings hotel is the recently renovated Embassy Suites Hotel North Lynnwood, which has 240 rooms and 10,000 square feet of meeting space.

A mixed-use development is currently in the planning stages in Everett, where riverfront land is being prepared for shoreline habitat restoration as well as for a new hotel, residences, offices, and stores.

Flight-themed attractions continue to expand in Everett, where Paine Field is home to the Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour. Opening this spring in a hangar at Paine Field will be the Flying Heritage Collection, featuring rare World War II and Cold War-era airplanes owned by investor and philanthropist Paul Allen.

According to Banfield, the Future of Flight Aviation Center, which can accommodate receptions for up to 1,400 people, has proved to be an extremely successful venue for groups.

“It’s filled with interactive exhibits—you can even design your own airplane and get a blueprint of it,” she says. “Groups really like the Strato Deck, a tented area with views of Mt. Rainer and overlooking a Boeing runway where you can sometimes see test flights taking off."


For More Info

Bellevue Convention Sales Group    425.637.1020     www.bellevueconventions.com

Seattle’s CVB    206.461.5800     www.visitseattle.org

Seattle Southside Office of Tourism    206.575.2489     www.palmspringsusa.com

Snohomish County Tourism Bureau    425.348.5802     www.snohomish.org

Tacoma Regional CVB    253.627.2836     www.traveltacoma.com