Happenings - Seattle Area

Seattle

• The Hyatt Place Seattle/Downtown (206.441.6041) opened in June 2010 with 160 guest rooms and 1,460 square feet of meeting space.
• The Courtyard Seattle Downtown/Pioneer Square (206.625.1111) debuted in the 1904 Alaska Building in June 2010 with 262 guest rooms and more than 4,600 square feet of meeting space.
• The Maxwell Hotel (206.286.0629) was unveiled in March 2010 with 140 guest rooms and 1,600 square feet of meeting space.
• Last summer, the Washington State Convention Center (206.694.5000) opened the Conference Center, its newest meeting and event facility, with 71,000 square feet of configurable space, award-winning catering services and an eco-friendly design.

Bellevue

• The 108-room Bellevue Park Hotel is expected to open in spring 2012 and will feature a boutique spa, a 90-seat restaurant and lounge, and 5,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
• Hotel Bellevue (425.454.4424) completed a renovation of its Olympic Ballroom in September 2010. The space can seat up to 200 people in rounds or 300 theater style.
• Silver Cloud Bellevue Eastgate (425.957.9100) recently added two new meeting rooms totaling 780 square feet of space, as well as a new restaurant and new fitness facility.
• Hyatt Regency Bellevue (425.462.1234) is scheduled to finish a renovation of three VIP suites in its Cascade Tower this month, the final component of a $185 million expansion and renovation project that began in 2009.
• The Bellevue Fairfield Inn by Marriott (425.869.6548) expects to wrap up a renovation by early October. The project will include upgrades to guest rooms, the lobby area and meeting rooms.

• Hampton Inn & Suites Seattle/Kent (253.872.8811) recently opened with 95 guest rooms, an indoor pool, a fitness center and two meeting rooms for up to 75 people.
• The Seattle Airport Marriott (206.241.2000) plans to invest $2.7 million into improvements of its meeting space, including new carpeting, vinyl, air walls and doors, as well as adding 1,000 new banquet chairs and digital door signage, and overhauling lighting and sound systems. 
• Museum of Flight (206.764.5720) is building a Space Gallery that is part of a 6.45-acre expansion that will include a viewing room for a Space Shuttle orbiter to begin its new "life on Earth" in July. The expansion costs an estimated $12 million and includes multisensory exhibits that emphasize stories from the visionaries, designers, pilots and crews of the Space Shuttle.

Tacoma

• The Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center (253.830.6601) opened a new meeting space, the Commerce Room, in fall 2010. The new event room has more than 1,800 square feet of flexible space, is full of high-tech gadgetry and has a view of downtown Tacoma and Mount Rainier.
• Holiday Inn Express Puyallup (253.848.4900) unveiled a complete renovation in July 2010, including new paint, a refurnished lobby and a revamp of all 96 guest rooms.
• LeMay–America's Car Museum (253.779.8490) is on track to debut this year in Tacoma. The LeMay Collection is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest privately held car collection in the world. The museum will feature about 10 areas available for events accommodating 500 to 2,500 people.
• The Smithsonian-inspired Harbor History Museum (253.858.6722) opened in September 2010 with original and traveling exhibits and 900 square feet of meeting space.

Snohomish County

• The Tulalip Tribes' Hibulb Cultural Center and Natural History Preserve (360.716.2650) will be a major Native American attraction in the Pacific Northwest when it opens in late summer. The $19 million facility, located on the Tulalip Reservation just north of Marysville in Snohomish County, will showcase the traditional hunting, fishing and gathering lifestyles of the Tulalip Tribes. It will also feature two meeting rooms and a catering kitchen to service banquets.
• The Evergreen State Fairground is constructing a new multipurpose event space building, scheduled for completion in June.