It’s not only a new administration that has brought change to Washington, D.C. The district is resplendent with new and improved attractions, including the impressive U.S. Capitol Visitors Center, the reopened Museum of American History and the evocative World War II Memorial.
Hotel choices have never been greater, with options ranging from quaint new boutique properties on up to the gleaming, 2,000-room Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, which opened last year on the banks of the Potomac in Prince
Georges County, Md. Revitalized, pedestrian-friendly enclaves abound, from Washington’s vibrant Penn Quarter and Adams Morgan neighborhoods to the old towns of Alexandria, Va., and Annapolis, Md., places that blend colonial-era charm with up-to-the-minute shopping, dining and nightlife.
Washington, D.C.
While not immune to the economic downturn, the nation’s capital is faring better than most cities these days when it comes to meetings and tourism. According to Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC, the change of administration combined with the abundance of associations headquartered in the area are proving to be advantages.
“While it’s a down year across the country, including D.C., we have built-in factors that other cities don’t have,” he says. “Congressional and other government business always brings demand for sleeping rooms. An administration change is always good for business, and there is a lot of excitement surrounding the new president.”
In particular, the Obama administration has been a stimulus for international tourism, including meetings attendance, Ferguson adds.
“The new administration has changed the perception of coming to the U.S. for the international market,” he says. “When I was at IMEX in Frankfurt [Germany] this year, there was an excitement about meeting in Washington that I had not seen in previous years. We’re also seeing it with tourism this summer, with flocks of international groups turning up at the new Capitol Visitors Center, the new National Portrait Gallery and the reopened American History Museum.”
Like many cities, Washington is finding that association business is holding up better than the corporate segment this year.
“Association continues to be the strongest market for us, although the numbers are a little lower than normal,” Ferguson says. “The good news, however, is that 80 percent of national associations are headquartered in our backyard, and we’re seeing more of them holding meetings in the D.C. area this year.”
Specifically aimed at citywide meetings, Destination DC and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center recently introduced a package of “44” booking incentives, inspired by the inauguration of the 44th president. Groups that book meetings with 1,000 rooms or more on peak nights through March 2010 can take advantage of incentives that include 44 percent off convention center rental fees, 44 free tabletop exhibits, a 44-minute reception with 44-cent beer and wine, and 33 meal options priced at $44 each.
The Washington Convention Center, which opened in 2003 and won acclaim for its art-filled interior and design features that include a 100-foot curved glass entry, plans to add another 40,000 square feet of meeting space by the end of this year. The facility currently offers 150,000 square feet of meeting space, 703,000 square feet of exhibition space and 52,000 square feet of ballroom space.
Plans are also in the works for a 1,125-room Marriott Marquis headquarters hotel to open adjacent to the convention center in late 2012. In the meantime, meetings-friendly hotels near the convention center include the 808-room Renaissance Washington, D.C., and the 888-room Grand Hyatt Washington, D.C.
“The new Marriott Marquis, which will offer two large ballrooms and lots of breakout space, will really complete our convention package,” Ferguson says. “There is a decent amount of rooms near the convention center, but the reality is that you still need more hotels to realize a 4,000-room block compared to some of our competitors. This will offer us a stronger rooms inventory and ballroom space to augment what we already have.”
As an alternative for larger meetings, three neighboring properties, the Marriott Wardman Park, Omni Shoreham and Hilton Washington, offering a combined total of 3,600 rooms and 200,000 square feet of meeting space, have joined forces with Destination DC to market themselves to meeting planners as the Connecticut Avenue Collection. Along with a website (www.connecticutavecollection.com), the properties are offering booking incentives to qualifying groups that include free shuttle service between the hotels, complimentary meeting space and a complimentary VIP reception for up to 100 people.
Washington’s hotel scene continues to grow and diversify, with newcomers including the W Washington D.C., which opened in July, following the conversion of the former Hotel Washington. The 317-room property features 13,000 square feet of meeting space and a rooftop terrace with panoramic views of the city.
Also unveiled this summer, The Jefferson, Washington D.C. is a luxury boutique property four blocks from the White House that originally opened in 1923. The renovation has preserved its Beaux Arts exterior, while adding palatial suites, a spa, a fine-dining restaurant and meeting rooms that include the Pavilion, which accommodates up to 100 people, and the intimate Jefferson’s Cabinet.
Other new hotels include the 218-room Courtyard by Marriott U.S. Capitol, a property with 2,800 square feet of meeting space and the first hotel in the city’s emerging NoMA (North of Massachusetts Avenue) neighborhood. Opened in March, the 327-room Dupont Hotel is an upscale property with 8,000 square feet of meeting space and a bar with floor-to-ceiling windows.
New and renovated attractions and venues are also making the scene. Closed for two years following a fire, the Eastern Market recently reopened after a $22 million renovation. Along with offering locally sourced meats, produce, baked goods and crafts, the market offers spaces such as North Hall, which has a moveable stage, gallery walls and theatrical lighting.
This summer also marked the opening of the Ford’s Theater Museum, which showcases a remarkable collection of artifacts connected with Lincoln’s assassination, including the derringer used by John Wilkes Booth.
Unveiled late last year, the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center is an impressive facility beneath the U.S. Capitol where visitors can browse through galleries of artifacts from the Library of Congress and National Archives or watch video feeds from the House and Senate. An introductory film about the U.S. Capitol is presented in a new theater.
At about the same time, the Smithsonian reopened the National Museum of American History, also known as “America’s Attic,” following a year-long renovation. Highlights include a new state-of-the-art gallery for the original Star Spangled Banner—the flag that inspired the national anthem—and iconic lures that include a Red Cross ambulance once owned by Clara Barton and the Greensboro, N.C., lunch counter that played a role in the civil rights movement.
Suburban Maryland
Last year saw the opening of the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, the centerpiece of the 300-acre National Harbor, a development located eight miles south of the capital on the Potomac River in Prince Georges County, Md. With 2,000 rooms and 470,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, Gaylord National is the largest non-gaming hotel and convention center on the East Coast.
Linked by water taxi to Alexandria, Va., and Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown, and offering regular shuttle service to downtown Washington, Gaylord National also boasts a full-service spa, four restaurants, an ultra lounge and a soaring glass atrium. Other hotels at National Harbor, which also offers shopping, dining and waterfront activities, include a Hampton Inn & Suites, aloft, Westin and Residence Inn by Marriott.
According to Tina Sampson, vice president of sales and marketing for Gaylord National, the property, which had over 1 million room nights on the books 10 months before it opened, had a successful first year, drawing a mix of corporate, association and SMERF business. Many customers had previously met at Gaylord’s other properties in Florida, Tennessee and Texas.
“We’re the only waterfront resort in the D.C. area and, as a result, we’re seeing a high attendance level at meetings,” she says. “We offer the chance for groups to be under one roof—with the hotel and convention center—plus a lot of places for networking between meetings. People aren’t dispersed throughout the city.”
Although equipped to serve large groups, Gaylord National also caters to small meetings, with the average group size in the 250-room range, according to Sampson.
Elsewhere in suburban Maryland, Montgomery County offers group-friendly options such as the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, which recently completed a major expansion, giving it a total of 449 guest rooms and 40,000 square feet of meeting space. The area also includes the 447-room Bolger Center, an IACC-certified Dolce International property; 415-room Bethesda Marriott; and 390-room Hyatt Regency Bethesda.
Maryland’s capital city of Annapolis also provides business groups with a variety of meetings-ready facilities and activities near the nation’s capital, Baltimore Washington International Airport (BWI) and the Chesapeake Bay shoreline.
“We have two distinct areas where hotels are clustered—near BWI and the Arundel Mills mall and also in downtown Annapolis,” says Bill Adams, director of sales for the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Conference and Visitors Bureau. “The BWI area offers convenience to both Annapolis and Baltimore, plus Arundel Mills is a big attraction for groups, offering entertainment venues such as Medieval Times and Jillian’s. It’s a destination unto itself, with 900 rooms within walking distance of these venues.”
Last March saw the debut of the 151-room Hilton Garden Inn Baltimore/Arundel Mills and the 99-suite Homewood Suites by Hilton Baltimore/Arundel Mills, which opened in the same building with separate entrances. A few weeks later, Starwood Hotels unveiled the 142-room aloft and 147-room element hotels, also at Arundel Mills and conjoined in one building.
Hotels in downtown Annapolis, which offers one of the highest concentrations of 18th century buildings in the nation, include the 200-room Sheraton Annapolis, which completed a property-wide renovation in December, the 150-room Annapolis Marriott Waterfront and the 217-room Loews Annapolis.
“The whole district is less than a square mile and you can walk everywhere—to the waterfront, to restaurants, to the U.S. Naval Academy, where groups can hold events in the visitors center or stadium,” Adams says, adding that Segway and trolley tours, historic walking tours and water activities are also popular options for groups.
Suburban Virginia
Across the Potomac from National Harbor, Alexandria is noted for its charming downtown filled with colonial-era buildings housing restaurants, pubs, galleries and boutiques. Linked by underground Metro service to Washington, the city also offers close proximity to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate, where groups have a wide array of event options, including candlelight tours and receptions in the new museum and orientation center.
“Our prime market is midsize association and government meetings,” says Stephanie Brown, president and CEO of the Alexandria Convention & Visitors Association. “We have top-quality hotels at lower rates than downtown [Washington]. We offer a lot of evening options like dinner cruises, pub and art gallery tours and progressive dinners.”
Brown adds that the city has received over $388 million in new hotels and renovations during the past year, including the new 107-room Lorient Hotel & Spa. Major properties include the 319-room Westin Alexandria, 241-room Hotel Monaco, Alexandria and 254-room Crowne Plaza Alexandria Old Town.
Nearby Arlington also offers easy accessibility to the capital, as well as to the Pentagon, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and nearby business hubs, with a generous hotel inventory that includes the 700-room Crystal Gateway Marriott, 386-room Hilton Crystal City, 685-room Hyatt Crystal City, 632-room Doubletree Crystal City and 366-room Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City.
Fairfax County is home to several business hubs, including Tysons Corner, Reston and the Dulles Corridor, which surrounds Washington Dulles International Airport. Many national and international trade associations, technology companies and telecommunications firms are based in the area.
Major meeting facilities in Fairfax County include the 200,000-square-foot Dulles Expo and Conference Center, while the area offers 14,600 hotel rooms in properties such as Westfields Marriott, with 40,000 square feet of function space.
