Canada
Marriott Bonvoy’s Moxy Hotels brand marked its debut in Canada with the recent opening of Moxy Halifax Downtown. Located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a rapidly growing coastal city in Atlantic Canada, the hotel provides guests easy access to Halifax’s vibrant downtown scene.
The 160-room Moxy Halifax Downtown was developed and designed to stay true to the brand’s experiential nature, boldly reinventing the traditional hotel stay with vibrant guest experiences, communal spaces, industrial design and lively, sociable service.
The hotel’s main lobby pays homage to industrial Halifax, with steel bridge columns flanking the bar area, exposed brick, an original cannon, a custom-built DJ booth and an installation of vintage luggage as a nod to the city’s global influences. The property’s stately steel lion sculpture at the main entrance references the Nova Scotia flag.
Moxy Halifax Downtown offers 1,520 square feet of open and airy meeting space as well as a boardroom and several private meeting rooms. The 850-square-foot Main Stage meeting room can host up to 100 standing or 50 banquet-style.
[Related: Historic Eastern Property Updates and a New Meetings Program]
Massachusetts
Earlier this year, W Boston, the contemporary hotel celebrating the “rebels” of Boston’s past, completed a multimillion-dollar renovation of its 5,000-square-foot meeting and event space. The transformation, “a continuation of the duality between righteousness and rebellion,” promises an elevated atmosphere and cutting-edge experiences for meetings, conferences and events in the heart of downtown Boston.
At the center of W Boston’s meeting space renovation is a bold, large-scale graphic work of art created in partnership with local Boston artist Cedric Douglas. The piece is a “mystical portrayal” of outstretched hands that are barely touching and aims to embody the “sensuality and sparks of connection.” The space also boasts a handcrafted chandelier designed as a bonfire and reflective of a piece of the area’s history that has become commonly known as the Salem witches.
Standout features of W Boston’s renovated meeting space include state-of-the-art technology, a wired business center and 80-inch wireless TVs in studios with built-in ceiling projectors. Studio spaces feature floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views overlooking downtown Boston and can be combined to accommodate groups of various sizes.
[Related: Nobu in New Jersey and More Eastern Developments]
New York
Convene, a global lifestyle hospitality company that designs and manages premium meetings and events spaces, recently partnered with landlord RXR for the fifth time to open the company’s 15th New York City location in the heart of the Theater District.
The new meeting and conference center opened last month as Venue 42 by Convene and occupies approximately 30,000 square feet of space on the fifth floor of 5 Times Square, a 1.1-million-square-foot building in Midtown Manhattan.
“We’re seeing the flight-to-experience manifest at Convene where Midtown Manhattan continues to be one of the top-performing markets for us,” said Alex Adelman, vice president of managed services at Convene, in a press release announcing the new event space. “Demand for meeting and event space in the area remains strong.”
Venue 42 by Convene is comprised of nine meeting rooms, each of which can be custom-configured to accommodate various event types, from conference breakouts to corporate social gatherings. The largest meeting room at Venue 42 by Convene has a capacity of 240 guests.
Convene, the largest single provider of dedicated meeting and event venues in North America and the UK, ensures its meeting and event spaces provide everything necessary for a turnkey event experience including full-service event production resources, catering and a dedicated audiovisual team for in-room and hybrid tech support.
[Related: New York City's New Renaissance Hotel and Renovations in Maryland]
Rhode Island
The reimagined Newport Harbor Island Resort is set to celebrate its grand reopening this spring on April 15 following a $50 million complete transformation and rebranding. The quintessential New England coastal destination was formerly known as Gurney’s Newport Resort & Marina and is the only resort on Goat Island, a small island in Narragansett Bay. Renovations pay homage to the destination’s coastal New England spirit.
The resort’s “understated but elevated” guest rooms and suites, which are adorned with natural color palettes and organic materials, tout water views and a feeling of “effortless elegance.” Many rooms and suites also feature private outdoor spaces.
Newport Harbor Island Resort offers multiple meetings and events spaces, including the 8,000-square-foot Beacon Ballroom, with 12-foot ceilings and space for 600 banquet-style. The Rose Island Ballroom measures just over 4,000 square feet and can accommodate 280 seated or up to 400 for a reception, while the 4,500-square-foot Lewis Hall features an unobstructed layout with space for up to 28 exhibition booths.
