Americans have more to love now about their national capital region than ever before.
Years of urban revitalization have brought renewed historic neighborhoods in both Washington, D.C., and its suburbs, where visitors find trendy new restaurants and clubs to experience, along with world-famous museums and landmarks, leafy parks and a vibrant nightlife scene.
Next is a new convention center hotel that will join everything else that’s sleek and new, rounding out the package for planners seeking a cosmopolitan, culturally rich ambience for groups.
Washington, D.C.
The Walter E. Washington Convention Center opened seven years ago but a convention center hotel has remained on the drawing boards until now. The Washington Convention and Sports Authority has said it would release funds for site prep by early fall.
On the horizon is a $537 million, 1,167-room Marriott Marquis that’s considered critical to D.C.’s ability to compete with other major meetings and convention destinations. Other inventory nearby includes the 800-room Renaissance Washington, D.C. Downtown, and the 888-room Grant Hyatt, Washington.
"The [Marriott Marquis] hotel will be under construction for about three years, with completion in early 2014," says Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC. "It will be adjacent to the center on its west side and will add 500 parking spaces that will connect with the convention center underground, along with additional ballrooms. The convention center has only one ballroom, so with the addition of the Marriott’s ballrooms, we’ll be able to do simultaneous events and meetings with 5,000 room nights on peak."
As the hotel becomes a reality, the city continues to polish its trendy 21st century face, which is attracting international restaurant companies and other investors to the capital.
"We have three vibrant neighborhoods on the east side and in proximity to the convention center that are enjoying an amazing renaissance—corridors not traditionally known for upscale bars and clubs," Ferguson continues. "You have NOMA (North of Massachusetts Avenue), Chinatown and Penn Quarter that are all getting new growth and change. One good example of all that’s new is Buddha-Bar, the first U.S. installment for that global company."
Suburban Maryland
Prince Georges County is home to one of the metro area’s hottest new meet and play destinations, National Harbor. The new cityscape on the Potomac River has a growing array of restaurants, condo residences, hotels, specialty shops, clubs and activities. It’s also located directly across the river from Alexandria, Va., and is accessible from D.C. and Virginia by road and water taxi.
"National Harbor is our newest destination and contains the largest combined hotel and meeting venue in the Mid-Atlantic area, the 2,000-room Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, with 470,000 square feet of meeting space," says Carl Smith, marketing manager for the Prince Georges County CVB. "We are in the heart of the D.C. metro area—minutes to downtown D.C. and a short drive or Metrorail ride to all the things that matter. We’re home to the University of Maryland, FedEx Field, Six Flags America and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center."
The county is also home to the Surratt House Museum, which is famous for its connections to the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center offers special events, programs and presentations about the space program.
Next door, Montgomery County also provides easy access to downtown D.C. and a wealth of group facilities and diversions. One of the newest is GoApe, a treetop adventure course with zip lines and obstacles. This large county has urban and rural corners, so visitors can take their choice between something as sophisticated as the Music Center at Strathmore concerts or as down home as the King Barn Dairy MOOseum.
Silver Spring Civic Center at Veterans Plaza is one of Montgomery County’s newest meetings destinations. It includes a 5,200-square-foot Great Hall that is divisible by two, as well as three smaller spaces of 1,300 square feet each. Nearby is the new Silver Spring Heritage Trail, which is the county’s first trail dedicated to local history. Both projects are components of Silver Spring’s downtown revitalization program.
Other principal meeting facilities include Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center; Hyatt Regency Bethesda; Gaithersburg Hilton; and Doubletree Hotel Rockville.
Suburban Virginia
All that separates downtown D.C. from the Arlington and Alexandria suburbs is the Potomac River—and access via road bridges and 11 stops on the region’s Metro subway system is easy.
Arlington is home to some of the region’s most popular attractions, including Arlington National Cemetery, the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) and Washington National Airport, as well as great shopping, culturally diverse dining and a sophisticated arts scene in various "urban villages."
Among the city’s 40-plus hotels are group-friendly choices like Crystal Gateway Marriott, Hilton Crystal City, Hyatt Crystal City, Doubletree Crystal City and The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City.
Hilton Garden Inn Arlington Shirlington recently opened in Arlington, as did the Capital Conference Center, with 17 meeting rooms.
Nearby Alexandria offers American Colonial and Civil War-era history around almost every corner, as well as contemporary attractions like the Torpedo Factory Art Center (a great off-site venue of artists’ studios) and Carafe Wine Makers, a micro-winery where groups may make their own wine and label it with the organization’s logo.
"If you are looking for a site with proximity and easy access to downtown D.C., you should consider Alexandria," says Lorraine Lloyd, vice president of sales for the Alexandria CVB. "Our hotel inventory ranges from boutiques to convention hotels—and they are very affordable compared to some in other large metro areas. We are ideal for groups of up to 400 attendees, especially board and regional meetings."
The possibilities include Hilton Alexandria Old Town, Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Historic District and Radisson Hotel Old Town.
Alexandria and Arlington are adjacent to business powerhouse Fairfax County, home to many national corporate headquarters locations in hubs like Tysons Corner, Reston and the Dulles Corridor near Washington Dulles International Airport.
A multibillion-dollar transportation improvement program, the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, is now under way, and will add Metro subway stations throughout the county. New service is expected to open in 2013, and will reach the airport by 2016. Dulles International Airport AeroTrain has been completed.
"We are right on target with this project, and it heightens our appeal to groups who want to have good vantage on everything the capital region offers, but at much better value," says Barry Biggar, president and CEO of Visit Fairfax. "We have large convention hotels like the Sheraton Premiere Tysons Corner; the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner; The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner; and Westfields Marriott, which each offer around 40,000 square feet for meetings. And we’ve just opened our newest on the George Mason University campus, with 20,000 square feet of function space."
Another meetings-ready newcomer in the county is Westin Washington Dulles Airport.
In nearby Loudon County, the town of Leesburg is home to Lansdowne Resort, a AAA Four Diamond property that treats groups to plenty of conference space, golf courses and a spa.
