SPRINGFIELD AREA
Reflagged from the Country Inn & Suites, the 62-room D. Hotel & Suites in Holyoke is attached to the Delaney House, one of Western Massachusetts’ premier event venues. The property offers group rates for events at the Delaney and its sister facility, the Log Cabin. Shuttle service is also available to and from meeting sites throughout the region.
Scheduled to open in fall 2013, the brand new Residence Inn by Marriott Springfield-Chicopee offers 115 suites and meeting space accommodating 35 to 40 people.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is currently reviewing applications for a destination resort casino for Hampden County, of which Springfield is the seat and largest city. The commission reportedly anticipates awarding the license no later than April 2014.
BERKSHIRES
The historic ballroom housed in the 1897 Gilded Age Mansion at perennial planner favorite Cranwell Resort, Spa and Golf Club recently received a complete makeover. One of the largest banquet facilities in Berkshire County, the elegant ballroom is the only one of its kind in the region that can accommodate up to 225 for dinner and dancing.
In late September 2013, the celebrated MassMoCA in art complex in North Adams opened a new 10,000-square-foot concrete and aluminum-clad art space to house large-scale sculptures and paintings by contemporary German artist Anselm Kiefer.