California
The largest resort in the Napa Valley region, Meritage Resort & Spa, recently unveiled its $25 million renovation and reimagination, which introduced a new steakhouse, a champagne tasting room, a transformed lobby, updated meetings and event spaces and more. The resort has a total of 467 guest rooms, 322 of which were also newly renovated to include new carpeting, linens, cabinetry, updated bathrooms and new furnishings.
The Meritage Resort & Spa has over 80,000 square feet of combined meeting and event space including the region’s largest indoor ballroom and a hillside deck overlooking the nine acres of active vineyards on property. Both ballrooms on property, the Meritage Ballroom and the Carneros Ballroom, were recently renovated in January 2023 and can accommodate up to 1,000 or 800 attendees, respectively.
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There are also a variety of other meeting spaces across the resort including the candle-lit Vintner’s Room and the 16,570-square-foot outdoor event lawn. The resort offers a variety of programming for groups including classes, concerts, group wine tastings, wellness activities and other activities and was also named one of the top 100 resorts in North America by Cvent.
Set to be completed early this summer, the renovations to the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad will include upgrades to its guest rooms and villas, spa, championship golf courses and event spaces. The renovations are the last part of a three-year transformation plan that began in 2021 with a refresh of the resort’s lobby, bar, ballroom and meeting spaces. The 500 guest rooms set to be renovated include villas, suites, hospitality rooms and presidential suites and will be transformed with a brighter and more vibrant feel.
The resort’s event spaces will also receive an upgrade, including a refresh and expansion to the Coastal Events Center. The hotel features over 100,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting spaces spread across 46 resort venues, offering the largest amount of meeting space in Southern California.
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Following an extensive renovation and name change, the Hotel Zessa, a DoubleTree by Hilton, is officially welcoming guests and attendees to experience everything Orange County has to offer. Located close to popular Southern California attractions like Disneyland and Angel Stadium in Anaheim, the hotel has undergone a complete renovation of all 254 of its guest rooms, its fitness center and has introduced a new yoga studio.
The hotel also has over 12,000 square feet of meeting and event space spread across two ballrooms. The largest of these ballrooms, the Champagne Ballroom, is able to accommodate over 1,000 attendees in its largest configuration. www.hilton.com
Hawai'i
Located just steps away from the famous Waikiki Beach, the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani is nearing the completion of renovations to its 664-room Ainahau Tower. The renovations are set to be complete this June and are the final part of a full renovation of all of Ainahau Tower’s guest rooms, including new color palettes and furniture such as platform beds, ambient lighting, wall coverings, drapes and flooring.
The hotel’s redesign draws inspiration from Waikiki’s history, the namesake Princess Kaiulani’s fashion and the surrounding natural landscapes. The hotel also has over 14,000 square feet of event space spread across five event rooms. The largest of these rooms, the Ainahau Showroom, can accommodate up to 450 attendees.
Colorado Convention Center's Rooftop Expansion
The long-anticipated expansion of the Colorado Convention Center (CCC) is now complete. The expansion is located on the roof of the existing convention center building, with its main point of focus being the new 80,000-square-foot Bluebird Ballroom. The Bluebird Ballroom is now the largest multifunction ballroom in Colorado and can be subdivided into 19 rooms of varying sizes. The expansion now gives the Bluebird Ballroom the capacity to host over 7,500 attendees for a general session or 4,600 guests for a catered event.
The expansion also includes 35,000 square feet of wrap-around prefunction concourse space with floor-to-ceiling windows and a 20,000-square-foot outdoor rooftop terrace with views of the Rocky Mountains and Denver’s skyline. The expansion seamlessly integrates with the rest of the convention center, providing easy access to its 600,000 square feet of exhibit space, 105,000 square feet of meeting space, two existing ballrooms of 50,000 square feet and 35,000 square feet, respectively, and the 5,000-seat Bellco Theatre.
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