The Golden State’s meetings product is as diverse as its overall appeal and constantly evolving.
Recently, the state has been paying particular attention to the environment via an increasing number of green architectural elements and eco-savvy initiatives. Meanwhile, from urban convention centers to coastal retreats, California is enjoying a steady stream of improvements and additions to its group-friendly portfolio.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
A map of California’s upper icons would include San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, Santa Cruz’s boardwalk, the wine trails of Napa and Sonoma counties, Sacramento’s California State Capitol and the blue waters of Lake Tahoe. These attractions and much more are all within easy reach of delegates convening in Northern California.
San Francisco Bay Area
The "City by the Bay," anchored by Moscone Center, is a favorite group destination that consistently draws solid attendance. According to the San Francisco CVB, more than a dozen hotels have recently completed major upgrades, and several have emerged from these transformations with new names or a reflag under another hotel brand.
The Parc 55 Wyndham San Francisco-Union Square, which completed a $30 million guest room redesign and expansion of its meeting space to 30,000 square feet last year, was formerly the Parc 55 Hotel before being branded a Wyndham in April. The former San Francisco Marriott, now the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, completed a multimillion-dollar renovation in February.
Among the other properties that recently finished renovations are Hotel Nikko San Francisco, which wrapped up guest room and meeting space updates in September, The Fairmont San Francisco, Omni San Francisco Hotel and W San Francisco.
The newest kid on the block, the San Francisco Marriott Union Square, opened last summer with more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space.
Meetings-equipped properties south of the city in the San Francisco International Airport area include the Westin San Francisco Airport and the newly updated Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, which has more than 52,000 square feet of meeting space and is located just 15 minutes from both Silicon Valley and downtown San Francisco.
One of the strongest meetings trends across the Golden Gate Bridge in Marin County is that hotels and planners are working together to conduct green meetings, according to Christine Bohlke, sales and marketing director at the Marin CVB.
"Marin hotels have realized this process can’t only be left to the planners," she says, explaining many hotels have stopped using plastic water bottles and pre-pouring water in glasses, and they are buying sustainable foods for meetings.
The Novato-based Inn Marin has been named a certified green hotel at the leadership level by the California Green Lodging Program.
Over the Bay Bridge, downtown Berkeley is undergoing a revitalization and historical preservation project. The Hotel Shattuck Plaza, with nearly 8,000 square feet of meeting space, is proud to be part of the effort, as it finished a multimillion-dollar renovation last September.
In Oakland, the Oakland Convention Center will undergo $4 million in interior renovations, with completion targeted for 2011. In combination with the attached Oakland Marriott City Center, which is scheduled to complete a multimillion-dollar renovation of its own by January, the facility boasts more than 89,000 square feet of meeting space.
Oakland is also home to the Fox Theatre, which reopened in 2009 following a complete restoration, and the Paramount Theatre, both premier Bay Area venues for musical artists that are also available for off-site events.
The Tri-Valley area, including Livermore and San Ramon, reports lead times for meetings continue to be shorter than in previous years, and meeting sizes continue to be scaled back.
"Associations in some cases are partnering with one another to hold concurrent meetings in order to achieve better rates and limit risks such as attrition and cancellation fees," says Amy Blaschka, president & CEO of the Tri-Valley CVB.
Still, the area’s wine country is attracting plenty of meetings, and new venues for off-site events continue to pop up, including the Firehouse Arts Center in Pleasanton. The 17,000-square-foot facility features a gallery, theater, grand lobby and meeting space.
Silicon Valley
As part of a destination and organizational rebrand, including the new tagline "Innovation Starts Here," Team San Jose, which manages the San Jose Convention Center and San Jose CVB, launched a redesigned website, www.sanjose.org, in July. It features a new "click-to-chat" feature that connects planners with the appropriate sales manager for a live and quick response to questions about space, dates and rates.
"The new site is meant to be a different and creative way to celebrate San Jose in an interactive way," says Dan Fenton, CEO of Team San Jose. "Although we still have a lot of great content generated by tourism marketing authorities, we know consumers today want more advice from other users, so we’ve devoted a lot of space to giving them a voice and presenting San Jose in a fresh and dynamic way."
In other San Jose news, the historic San Jose Civic is in phase two of an $11 million upgrade to make it a must-play theater for artists and a state-of-the-art venue for convention delegates, and the Mineta San Jose International Airport just completed a $1.3 billion modernization project complete with sustainable design and operations.
Nearby Silicon Valley neighbor Santa Clara has some big news of its own, according to the Santa Clara CVB.
The Santa Clara Convention Center completed a renovation of its 607-seat Elizabeth B. Hangs theater in August. And in June, Santa Clara’s ballot measure to build a 68,500-seat San Francisco 49ers stadium passed. Providing the 49ers come up with funding, construction will begin in 2012 with the first NFL game in Santa Clara in 2014.
Sacramento
In anticipation of an expected growth in meetings visitors, Sacramento International Airport is building a new $1.08 billion Central Terminal due to open in 2011 that will offer three times the space of the existing terminal. According to Steve Hammond, president & CEO at the Sacramento CVB, it’s designed to accommodate 10 million passengers annually.
Event space in the city includes the Sacramento Convention Center and adjacent Sheraton Grand Sacramento.
Wine Country
In Napa and Sonoma, a favorite wine and dine duo in California, new event space and renovated properties are ongoing.
In Napa Valley, the Meritage Resort & Spa has plans for an expansion project, including 165 new guest rooms and a 7,400-square-foot ballroom divisible into 10 salons. Work is scheduled to begin in late October or early November and take about 18 months to finish. The Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa completed a $5 million renovation in May, including guest room upgrades.
Planners seeking a dramatic setting might look to the Timber Cove Inn on the Sonoma coast, where the Ansel Adams Room is now available for meetings and events for up to 70 guests. In January, a renovation of all 18,000 square feet of meeting space at the Doubletree Hotel Sonoma County was completed, and in August, Internet upgrades were finished.
The Rooster Run Event Center, located at the lush Rooster Run Golf Club in Petaluma, recently underwent a makeover and now offers three event rooms, the largest accommodating up to 240 people.
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe, which straddles the California and Nevada border, is a year-round getaway, where visitors enjoy all manner of outdoor pursuits or just relaxing and taking in the gorgeous scenery. It’s also a competitive meetings player with many group-friendly properties.
According to Jason Neary, director of sales for the North Lake Tahoe Visitors & Convention Bureau, North Lake Tahoe continues to invest millions in property and facility renovations to maintain its ranking as one of the country’s best meetings destinations.
On the California side of the North Shore, The Ritz-Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe, situated mid-mountain at the Northstar-at-Tahoe resort, became the newest member of the North Lake Tahoe conference family when it opened in December with 15,000 square feet of meeting space and a wealth of outdoor adventure opportunities at its doorstep. Ski-in, ski-out access, complete with ski valet service, is a highlight. The property is a 10-minute drive from the lake and the historic town of Truckee.
On track to open in late 2011 is Hotel Avery in historic downtown Truckee.
The California side of South Lake Tahoe offers meetings-ready properties such as Embassy Suites Lake Tahoe Hotel & Ski Resort, Forest Suites Resort, Inn by the Lake and Aston Lakeland Village, featuring newly renovated meeting space.
South Lake Tahoe’s Heavenly Mountain Resort, the area’s premier ski and summer resort, broke ground in August on a new on-mountain restaurant with 500 indoor seats and 250 outdoor patio seats.
Monterey & Santa Cruz
Another standby Northern California meetings player with water views is Monterey, where group facilities include the destination’s latest addition, InterContinental the Clement Monterey, located on historic Cannery Row next to the Monterey Bay Aquarium; Hilton Garden Inn Monterey; and Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa.
In Santa Cruz County, groups are increasingly interested in outdoor activities like hiking, sailing and whale watching, according to Christina Glynn, spokesperson for the Santa Cruz County Conference & Visitors Council.
To that end, two new guided canopy tours at Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton invite visitors to view the area’s majestic redwoods up close via zip lines, bridges and platforms.
In property news, the Scotts Valley Hilton Hotel has converted several guest rooms into meeting rooms to join the existing ballroom in accommodating corporate events; the Spa at Chaminade reopened earlier this year following a $2.5 million renovation; and Santa Cruz Dream Inn opened last year with views of the wharf and historic boardwalk.
CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
Group options in the heart of California—home to everything from Santa Barbara, "America’s Riviera," to Mammoth Mountain Ski Area—are plentiful.
Santa Barbara offers the best of California’s lifestyle in a beautiful small-town setting with big-city amenities, according to Catherine Puccino, director of sales at the Santa Barbara Conference & Visitors Bureau and Film Commission.
"Although we have a selection of resort and conference properties, Santa Barbara is ideal for smaller meetings and can be seen as a boutique-style meetings destination," she says. "We have found that flexibility and creativity are increasingly important, especially during these competitive times. Like most destinations we have seen a decrease in business from the corporate meetings sector, however, we’ve experienced a rebound over the past two months."
Last November, the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott became the first hotel in Santa Barbara County to complete the Green Business Program process, a county-wide collaborative effort.
Meetings-equipped properties in Ventura County, another coastal charmer down the road a bit, include the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach, which sits adjacent to the city’s historic pier and features newly renovated meeting rooms like the Top of the Harbor penthouse ballroom, and the Ventura Beach Marriott, which is within walking distance of the beach and pier.
In July, the Museum of Ventura County opened its newly constructed Martin V. and Martha K. Smith Pavilion and Plaza, which can be rented for events including business lunches and corporate seminars.
In the Mammoth Mountain area, a preferred ski destination, the historic Sierra Nevada Lodge, a Mammoth Lakes landmark and one-time escape for Hollywood stars, completed a renovation earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, Tenaya Lodge at Yosemite National Park expanded its offerings with 15,000 square feet of new indoor meeting space, including a 10,000-square-foot ballroom. The prefunction space was also increased to 4,500 square feet. The new venues include the Signature Grand Terrace, offering sweeping views of Yosemite. The property also recently opened Ascent, the Spa at Tenaya Lodge, a 10,000-square-foot facility.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Southern California has star power. From Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world, and Anaheim-based Disneyland Resort, to the booming Palm Springs area and San Diego, where meetings are almost guaranteed to be sunny, the region continues to attract groups seeking to add a little pleasure to the business at hand.
Los Angeles
Much like L.A.’s Hollywood Walk of Fame continually adds new stars, the city’s meetings-friendly properties are ever-evolving.
"As associations and corporate and entertainment groups focus on greener meetings, Los Angeles is making it easier than ever to diminish the carbon footprint," says Michael Krouse, senior vice president, sales at LA Inc., The Los Angeles CVB, citing the LEED Silver-certified W Hollywood as well as and the Green Seal-certified Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites and Radisson Hotel at Los Angeles Airport.
In keeping with Marriott’s corporate commitment to environmental sustainability, the new JW Marriott Hotel Los Angeles at L.A. Live is aiming for LEED certification. Both the JW and The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles, which share a 54-story tower, opened earlier this year at the L.A. Live sports and entertainment complex—one of the city’s hottest developments—and the two properties also share the 100,000-square-foot Gallery Collection meeting and special event space.
In other L.A. news, the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza completed its $1 million-plus plaza level upgrade in April; May marked the completion and opening of the $737 million Tom Bradley International Terminal renovation project at Los Angeles International Airport; and a new off-site meeting venue called LoftSEVEN opened downtown with 16,000 square feet of function space.
In the San Fernando Valley, the Warner Center Marriott recently completed upgrades, while the Airtel Plaza Hotel recently renovated its guest rooms and 21,000 square feet of conference space, and the Beverly Garland Holiday Inn recently finished a $2 million upgrade to its function space, pool and lobby area.
Long Beach
Long Beach isn’t short on meetings happenings.
Joining the newly updated Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center in area news, the Residence Inn Downtown Long Beach Waterfront and the AVIA Long Beach Hotel opened last year.
Operated by Joie de Vivre Hospitality and undergoing an estimated $20 million dollar renovation, the Coast Long Beach Hotel was relaunched as Hotel Maya.
With new management company Delaware North at the helm, The Queen Mary received guest room and banquet space upgrades, and the ship is also updating the menus and decor of its restaurants to embrace today’s sustainable dining practices.
Anaheim/Orange County
The already sunny destinations of Anaheim and Orange County recently launched a new image marketing campaign centered on a Walking on Sunshine video.
"This past year has been a blockbuster year for Anaheim’s convention business, even with a downturn in our national economy," says Elaine Cali, spokesperson for the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau. "Our attendance records have held pretty consistent, and we are promoting more values for attendees as well as reasons to extend their stay and make their meeting/convention or special event a time for a mini-vacation as well."
Area property news includes improvements at Disneyland Hotel through summer 2012, including the Magic Tower’s transformation into the Fantasy Tower.
The Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa completed guest room and meeting space renovations in April, and the Hyatt Regency Orange County underwent a $25 million property improvement project that was completed in June.
In Newport Beach, one of the OC’s favored beachfront locales, meetings-friendly properties include the Balboa Bay Club and Resort, the Newport Beach Marriott Bayview, which finished a renovation last June, and the Radisson Newport Beach, which is on track to complete phase three of an ongoing renovation by early 2011.
Pasadena
News in Pasadena includes last year’s completion of a $150 million expansion at the Pasadena Convention Center, which is awaiting LEED Gold certification.
The Huntington Spa at the Langham Huntington, Pasadena is now open with a fitness center and 13 treatment rooms following major upgrades.
Riverside
Riverside has been charging forward over the past four years to complete its "Riverside Renaissance," a $1.5 billion, five-year initiative of public improvements that has beautified the city, according Debbie Megna, executive director at the Riverside CVB.
In December 2009, the Riverside Convention Center reopened following a $12 million renovation, and after a $35 million renovation, the Fox Performing Arts Center reopened in January. In January 2011, the Riverside Aquatics Complex will open for state and national aquatic competitions.
San Diego Area
San Diego’s transformation in recent years has been monumental. The always-sunny city and neighboring destinations are poised more than ever for group business.
In the La Jolla/Mission Bay area, the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa & Marina and the Paradise Point Resort & Spa recently unveiled meeting space upgrades.
The Cosmopolitan Hotel opened in Old Town State Historic Park in a historic building dating to 1827, and in February, the Handlery Hotel & Resort in Mission Valley completed a $4 million renovation.
Among the downtown properties that enjoyed recent upgrades are the Residence Inn San Diego Downtown/Gaslamp Quarter, the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina and the Porto Vista Hotel & Suites.
In San Diego North, the Pala Casino Spa & Resort put the finishing touches on its $100 million expansion and renovation in December. The property features a Las Vegas-style casino, spa and 40,000 square feet of function space.
Also located in San Diego North is the Grand Del Mar, which announced eco-friendly programs in February, including donating three percent of each meeting’s proceeds to the California Native Plant Society.
"If the participating meeting planner has a charity or nonprofit they would prefer to support, The Grand Del Mar will make the donation to the organization of their choice instead," says Rob Stirling, the property’s director of sales and marketing.
Meanwhile, the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort opened in Carlsbad in June. The property features a spa, an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Arnold Palmer, six tennis courts and 78,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space.
Palm Springs
The thriving hospitality industry in the Palm Springs area is at an all-time high, reflected in more than $2 billion in new product that has recently opened or is in progress throughout its eight desert cities, according to the Palm Springs Desert Resort Communities CVA.
Located 1.5 miles from the Palm Springs airport and within walking distance of downtown Palm Springs, the new Renaissance Palm Springs, formerly a Wyndham property, competed a major renovation in March. The hotel now has 30,000 square feet of meeting space, and when combined with the adjacent Palm Springs Convention Center, it totals 180,000 square feet of function space.
The Mondrian Hotel & Condos will be located adjacent to the Palm Springs Convention Center and feature an 8,000-square-foot ballroom when it opens in 2014.
Planning is under way for the $200 million Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs, which will also sit adjacent to the Palm Springs Convention Center, with 35,000 square feet of meeting space when it debuts in 2015.
Slated to open next year, The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage will sport a spa and 18,000 square feet of indoor function space, as well as outdoor event space.
Meanwhile, the Hyatt Regency Suites Palm Springs emerged from a $15 million dollar transformation in January.
