Georgia
- The Hotel Indigo Athens University Area recently opened. The five-story, 130-room hotel also highlights Athens’ art and entertainment history with a music venue and on-site art gallery—Mercury Art Works—featuring mostly local artists. Each guest room features a high-definition flat-screen television and CD player. Additionally, the hotel provides guests complimentary Wi-Fi in public spaces and 24-hour access to its business center, two meeting rooms and fitness studio. The hotel is slated to achieve LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council by year’s end, one of only five hotels in the nation to achieve Gold status. For more information, call 706.546.0430 or visit www.hotelindigo.com.
- The Macon Marriott City Center Hotel recently debuted. The hotel features 220 guest rooms and suites with wireless Internet access and 37-inch flat-panel televisions. The new hotel is connected to the city’s main convention center, the Macon Centreplex, and features 5,000 square feet of event space, including nine meeting rooms. The recently upgraded convention center offers 120,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including 85,000 square feet of exhibition space, a 9,000-seat arena, a 2,688-seat auditorium and a 9,100-square-foot ballroom. For more information, call 478.621.5300 or visit www.marriott.com.
Louisiana
- Renovations to the former Hotel King in downtown Baton Rouge are under way. Scheduled to open in late 2010, the 48,000-square-foot building will become a 93-room Hotel Indigo. The Hotel Indigo Downtown Baton Rouge Riverfront will highlight Baton Rouge’s cultural, art and entertainment history throughout the seven-story building. Following the $25 million project, the hotel will feature guest rooms with a high-definition flat-screen television and CD player. Dining options will include Phi Bar and Bistro, serving locally inspired gourmet menu items with a full-service bar. Additionally, the hotel will provide guests complimentary Wi-Fi in public spaces and 24-hour access to the hotel’s business center, an on-site meeting space and a fitness studio. For more information, call 877.270.1392 or visit www.hotelindigo.com.
St. Kitts and Nevis
- The Cockleshell Bay Resort is in the planning stages, to be set on 150 acres in St. Kitts’ southeast peninsula. The development will be home to a Park Hyatt hotel and residences as well as a 160-berth yacht marina, a casino, tennis courts, swimming pools and a selection of restaurants. It will be the first Park Hyatt hotel in the Caribbean and will feature 125 guest rooms plus a luxury spa with eight treatment rooms. There will also be 100 Park Hyatt-branded residential townhouses and condominiums and 86 estate villas will also be included in the Cockleshell Bay development, which is scheduled for completion in 2013. Construction of the marina is scheduled to begin in January 2010 and the resort in November 2010. The Park Hyatt Residences are to be completed by 2013 and the Marina Village and Estate Villas by 2015. For more information, call 888.591.1234 or visit www.park.hyatt.com.
Tennessee
- The Hilton Garden Inn Nashville/Vanderbilt is up and running. The hotel includes 194 rooms and suites, a 24-hour fitness facility and nearly 6,000 square feet of meeting space. The property is situated near the Ryman Auditorium, the Country Music Hall of Fame, Music Row, the Sommet Center and Vanderbilt University. For more information, call 615.369.5900 or visit http://hiltongardeninn.hilton.com.
Texas
- Crowne Plaza Dallas Downtown recently opened following a $14 million renovation from the Hampton Inn Dallas-West End-Convention Center. The 23-story hotel offers 300 guest rooms and a variety of amenities, including a business center, fitness center and a ninth-floor rooftop pool with views of downtown’s skyline. Renovations were made to all guest rooms and suites, and the hotel added a restaurant, nightclub and 22 new meeting rooms, encompassing over 22,000 square feet of space. The hotel offers a comprehensive meetings program consisting of three key components: a two-hour response guarantee, a Crowne meetings director and a daily meetings debrief. For more information, call 214.742.5678 or visit www.ichotelsgroup.com.