Salt Lake City Area
- City Creek Center (801.521-2012; www.shopcitycreekcenter.com) opened in March as Utah’s newest retail and dining destination. The development covers two downtown city blocks and features a diverse mix of stores and restaurants. The nearly 700,000-square-foot City Creek Center will feature approximately 80 stores and restaurants. The center brings the outdoors inside with two 18-foot-tall waterfalls and a 1,200-foot-long re-creation of historic City Creek, the snow-fed stream that once coursed through Salt Lake City, flowing through the center’s central walkways and plazas.
- The Leonardo (801.531.9800; www.theleonardo.org) opened last October as a unique modern museum focused on art, science and technology. The venue’s group meeting spaces include the lobby and third-floor courtyard, both accommodating up to 500 people for receptions, and the 25-person boardroom, with views of the surrounding Wasatch Mountains.
- Renovations are under way at Hilton Salt Lake City Airport (801.539.1515; www.hilton.com). Its 288 guest rooms are receiving the Serenity Bed by Hilton as well as new carpeting, bathtubs, furniture, televisions, bedding, tile, granite countertops and lighting. The largest function meeting space at the property is a 4,000-square-foot ballroom.
- Hilton Salt Lake City Center (801.328.2000; www.hilton.com) announced plans for a multimillion-dollar guest room enhancement project. The downtown convention hotel will modernize its 479 guest rooms and 20 suites with new furnishings and fixtures, and the corridors on all guest floors will also be updated with new carpeting and wall coverings.
- The Embassy Suites West Valley City (614.629.9907; www.renascenthospitality.com) is slated to open in late 2012. The property, West Valley City’s only full-service hotel, is the cornerstone of the new Fairbourne Station redevelopment. The property will offer 7,000 square feet of banquet and meeting space, a restaurant, an indoor pool and recreational facilities. Its 162 guest suites will be equipped with amenities such as two LCD HD televisions and the Embassy Essentials Bedding Collection with Serta Suite Dreams beds. The hotel is slated to open in late 2012.
- Marriott International opened the 124-suite SpringHill Suites Salt Lake City Draper (801.572.1800; www.marriott.com) in February. Owned and managed by the Woodbury Corporation of Salt Lake City, the property is located in Draper and features 1,600 square feet of meeting space.
Park City
- The Washington School House Hotel (435.649.3800; www.washingtonschoolhouse.com) was recently renovated and reopened in December as a high-end boutique property near Park City’s historic Main Street. The original 16 rooms were transformed into 12 luxurious rooms and suites. An outdoor pool and hot tub were added as well as an apres ski lounge, and a private meeting space is available for smaller groups.
Provo/Sundance (Utah Valley)
- The new Utah Valley Convention Center (888.414.8824; www.meetinutahvalley.com) opened in Provo in May. The LEED Silver-certified building offers 83,600 square feet of combined meeting, prefunction and garden space, including a 19,600-square-foot exhibit hall and a 16,900-square-foot ballroom.
Northern Utah
- Comfort Suites (801.621.2545; www.comfortsuites.com) in Ogden finished a renovation of its 142 guest rooms, public and meeting spaces last fall.
- The Davis area saw a 107-room Home2 Suites (www.hilton.com) open in March 2011, and a new Best Western Plus (www.bestwestern.com) will open in August. Both properties are within walking distance of the Davis Conference Center. The new hotels boost what is referred to as the community’s Hospitality Zone, which now has more than 600 guest rooms and 90 restaurants within walking distance of the conference center.