What makes an irresistibly cool city? Take a national reputation for great music, add a technologically savvy business culture and top it off with a funky, cutting-edge college-town attitude, and you have Austin, Texas, one of the hottest destinations in the Southwest.
"People say, 'Wow, we've heard good things, just don't know much about the town," says Roy Behear, senior vice president for the Austin CVB. "It's a place you want to be, a place you want to blend into."
The city of Austin achieves meeting-friendly success with its legendary live music scene, restaurants and attractions, but in 2012 it's moving into a new realm.
Formula One racing is coming to Austin next year, and the new Circuit of the Americas track is currently under construction. The city will be home to the U.S. Grand Prix for the next 10 years, and a 10-year contract for MotoGP, the motorcycle equivalent of Formula One, will start in 2013.
"It's like having a Super Bowl every year," Behear says. "It will have a huge economic impact and open us up to the world."
Behear estimates that the U.S. Grand Prix will draw between 120,000 and 150,000 visitors for race week and will expand Austin's reach into the international and corporate markets.
He says organizers plan to use the track for six major events throughout the year. The venue will also be used for additional concerts and events, and there are plans for a conference center as well. No official date has been set for the opening of the track, but planners can contact the CVB to stay updated on the track's progress and future schedule.
Currently, Austin's main market comes from state associations, which can be 3,000 to 4,000 rooms on peak, according to Behear.
"Our experience with these larger meetings allows us to go aggressively after the national markets," he says. "We target the Chicago areas along with D.C. and other Northeast corporate markets."
Austin is also home to the annual South by Southwest (SXSW) festival, a massive conference of media, music, film and technology that spans 11 days every March. The festival fills 50,000 room nights through the duration of the event, a fact that impresses many potential national customers, according to Behear.
"We hosted a FAM tour this year during SXSW, so people could see how the city easily handles that volume of people," he says.
While Austin is well equipped to host massive events like SXSW, the most comfortable range is 1,500 to 2,500 attendees.
As the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin has several off-site options that are perfect for meetings. With more than 200 live music venues featuring every genre imaginable throughout the city, there are myriad ways to include music in any size meeting, from the recently opened Skinny's Ballroom, an intimate live music venue accommodating 150 guests, to the new Austin City Limits theater, which offers space for presentations and receptions of up to 2,500. The Austin Music Hall can accommodate up to 3,000 for a seated event or 4,000 for a reception.
For a venue with a touch of history, the Texas State Museum on the University of Texas campus is sure to please with marble floors and gorgeous artwork, ideal for an upscale dinner. The Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library is now open to groups as well with a variety of spaces, including the Great Hall, which can accommodate nearly 900 people.
Austin is also a foodie's delight. There are a few chain eateries in the area, but most of the available restaurants are homegrown businesses that do much more than Tex-Mex. One top stop for groups isn't a restaurant, but the 80,000-square-foot Whole Foods location. Founded in Austin, this flagship facility offers several dining stations and cooking classes.
Since HP, Dell, Google, Apple and many other technology companies have offices in Austin, meeting facilities have the latest and greatest in connectivity and hardware. The main meeting facility is Austin Convention Center, one of the most technologically advanced buildings in the country, with on-site engineers and the ability to support 7,000 Internet connections at one time. The center offers nearly 900,000 square feet of event space.
The city continues to add to its 30,000-room inventory with recently opened, meetings-friendly properties like the 140-room Aloft Austin at the Domain, the 340-room Westin at the Domain and the 251-room W Austin.
Other properties geared toward meetings include the 800-room Hilton Austin, located directly across from the convention center; the 448-room Hyatt Regency Austin; the 189-room InterContinental Stephen F. Austin; and the 189-room Driskill Hotel.
Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country region is a rolling green landscape marked by rivers, wildflowers and small-town delights. Twenty-five counties are included in the stretch between Austin and San Antonio, featuring outdoor adventures like tubing, kayaking, hiking and exploring caves. The Hill Country is also home to some unique landmarks, such as a re-creation of Stonehenge near the town of Hunt, and Falkenstein Castle, a Bavarian castle high atop a hill near Burnet.
Thanks in part to the area's antique shopping, golf and top-notch vineyards, the Hill Country region is a popular retirement destination and was selected by the New York Times as a top vacation spot in 2008. With 27 wineries along the Texas Wine Trail, planners can custom-design events for a group, whether they just have time for one winery or plan to take in several over the course of the conference. Highlights include the Bending Branch Winery, a boutique winery devoted to sustainable practices, and Becker Vineyards, which has had its wine served at the White House.
Several resorts in the region cater to meetings with amenities like golf, spas and outdoor activities.
The 492-room Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa has 230,000 square feet of outdoor event space plus 60,000 square feet of indoor meeting space.
Horseshoe Bay Resort also offers a mix of indoor and outdoor event space, along with three golf courses, an 18-hole putting course, a spa and a marina. Accommodations at the resort include vacation apartments, lakefront condominiums and 249 guest rooms at the Horseshoe Bay Resort Marriott Hotel.
The Barton Creek Resort & Spa offers 295 guest rooms and recently upgraded its function space, including its ballroom, meeting rooms, boardroom and public area. There's also the Rock House, an entire ranch house for private functions, as well as four championship golf courses and the 8212 Wine Bar & Grill.
Ranked a top destination spa by Conde Nast Traveler, the 40-room Lake Austin Spa Resort will de-stress any retreat with full spa packages. Day spa retreats are also available for up to 30 people.
Also offering spa services is the 166-room Lakeway Resort and Spa, located on the shores of Lake Travis. The resort also features three swimming pools and 17 meeting rooms.
Vintage Villas, a boutique hotel and events center also along Lake Travis, offers 43 guest rooms, 5,000 square feet of meeting space and a lush abundance of outdoor event areas.
Deeper in the Hill Country is the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort & Spa, with 500 guest rooms, seven eateries, 33,000 square feet of function space, 3,800 square feet of prefunction space and 19,300 square feet of exhibit space. Other amenities include golf, a spa and a waterpark.
Freelancer Beth Bartlett wonders if there's an Austin venue for her great air guitar solo.
