Looking forward to the Hyatt acquisition of Two Roads Hospitality

Last month, Hyatt Hotels announced that they would be acquiring Two Roads Hospitality in a move that will add multiple brands including Alila, Destination, Joie de Vivre, and Thompson to the World of Hyatt Portfolio. While a merger such as this always begets a period of transition, we are excited for the benefits this partnership will bring to the hospitality community. Hyatt is going to gain a great collection of upscale and unique properties where the Two Roads properties gains the partnership of a hospitality giant and its rewards program. Change is in the air!

https://newsroom.hyatt.com/news-releases?item=123739

Spotlight on a New Property: Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport – Opening 2021

“Boston is an oasis in the desert, a place where the larger potion of people are loving, rational and happy” - Julia Ward Howe

We at Meeting Sites Pro, Inc. were so happy to hear that Omni Hotels will be adding to the oasis that is Boston with a stunning Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport, opening early 2021. While 2021 seems eons away, we know how time flies and could not wait to express our excitement for the future development. Located in the budding Seaport neighborhood, guests will have access to rich art, history and culture.

The hotel will feature 1,055 guest rooms with 52 suites overlooking the Boston Harbor. Guests will be able to elevate their stay with a visit to the Mokara Spa or the state-of-the-art fitness center. Flexible indoor and outdoor meeting space, including the largest hotel ballroom in Boston’s Seaport, will occupy approximately 100,000 square feet of the hotel. The Omni Boston will also have direct access to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. This, along with an array of food and beverage options and climate controlled year-round pool access, will make this property an optimal location for all meetings.

We at Meeting Sites Pro, Inc. look forward to the promising future of the Omni Boston Hotel at the Seaport!
For more information visit https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/boston-seaport!

Spotlight on a New (And Unique) Property - Hilton Inventory in Chicago

Hilton recently opened the first triple -branded hotel at the Chicago McCormick Place. The hotel features the Hilton Garden Inn, the Hampton Inn by Hilton, and Home2Suites by Hilton. Hilton feels that this triple-branded hotel will be able to add value to their guests by fitting a variety of guest’s needs at different price points.

With just over 8,000 square feet of meeting space and located in the perfect area of Chicago, Meeting Sites Pro, Inc. can’t wait for the opportunity to plan a meeting at the first ever triple-branded hotel.

Click on the link below to read more!

https://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article101149.html

Spotlight on a Property - LINE DC

New DC Inventory - Inspired by The District and housed inside a 110-year old historic church, the LINE DC is the product of a community effort by local chefs, bartenders, artists, and designers. Full Service Radio broadcasts live from the hotel lobby daily; the LINE delivers a richly rounded experience unlike any other in DC.

https://www.thelinehotel.com/dc/ 

Spotlight on a New Property - New Luxury Inventory in San Diego

Coming this fall there will be one more property added to the San Diego skyline. The InterContinental San Diego will overlook San Diego Bay from the former location of Lane Field baseball park, the original home of the Pacific Coast League Padres and will be completed by September/October 2018. 

The InterContinental brand is making a return to San Diego following a 30-year absence and the property will feature 400 rooms and suites, a two-story Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse, nearly 33,000 square feet of street-level restaurants and shops, and a 686-space subterranean parking garage. The hotel’s meeting space of 35,000 square feet includes both indoor and outdoor venues with two ballrooms.

We at Meeting Sites Pro, Inc. can't wait for this new property in our home city!

https://www.intercontinentalsandiego.com/

Spotlight on a Property - Pala Casino Spa and Resort

The Pala Casino Spa & Resort located in North San Diego County is over halfway through with a  $170 million renovation to upgrade and enlarge their already beautiful property. When the renovation is complete in May 2019, Pala will have added a new 349 room hotel tower with an inventory of unique hotel suites that will overlook the Starlight Theater and event lawn, bringing their total number of deluxe rooms and suites to 854. They are also expanding their gaming/casino bar space and their parking garage as well as giving their restaurant promenade, casino interior, and existing hotel tower a refresh. This is their third major expansion since their opening and we look forward to watching this property continue to grow.  

https://www.palacasino.com/home

Tips to Facilitate a Successful Meeting

At Meeting Sites Pro, Inc. we plan meetings, we participate in meetings, we host meetings to discuss meetings. Meetings are our lifeblood and we have noticed that one of the pillars of a successful meetings is effective facilitation. We follow industry opinions on this matter as well and wanted to share a recent article from Forbes that agrees with our observations. Forbes’ recommends 7 major steps to running a productive and efficient meeting as seen below.

1. Make your objectives clear
2. Consider who is invited 
3. Stick to your schedule
4. Take no hostages
5. Start on time, end on time
6. Ban technology
7.  Follow up

Our biggest recommendations from this list are making your objectives clear, sticking to the outlined schedule, and following up. A clear objective communicated early with a specific schedule helps all in attendance come to the meeting prepared with materials, topics of conversation, and the right mindset. We have found that providing an agenda early and then sticking to that agenda is one of the best ways to keep your group focused whether you are facilitating a small conference call or a large summit. After the meeting, it is always beneficial to follow up as soon as possible with items like meeting summaries and action items.

Meetings big and small can benefit from efficient and effective facilitation. To hear more of our thoughts on meeting facilitation, please feel free to contact us and if you are interested in the full article, “The Seven Steps to Running the Most Effective Meeting Possible”, please visit Forbes.com.

Spotlight on a New Property: The LINE Austin

Love Austin? There’s new hotel in downtown Austin; LINE which overlooks Lady Bird Lake offering 428 guest rooms and 20K square feet of meeting and event space. This hotel features a unique infinity pool where you can lounge poolside with your favorite cocktail and is located in the center of the city walking distance to theater, music, and shops.

For more information, check it out at….

https://www.thelinehotel.com/austin/

Happy Earth Day!

In lieu of Earth Day this Sunday, all of us at Meeting Sites Pro wanted to show our support of going green! Lots of companies including hotels, have created initiatives to make more environmentally friendly meetings.

Recently, Starwood Hotels & Resorts has implemented Sustainable Meetings at their properties. Stating: “Good for business — and our planet. You’ll plan a meeting that’s thoughtful to the environment, your budget and your attendees’ experience. We do this by making sustainability the standard.”

Some of their strategies include hosting paperless meetings, using recycled paper for printed materials and providing access to sustainable transportation services. Starwood even provides you with an “environmental report card” after your event to sum up your sustainable strategies and allow you to calculate the carbon footprint.

We look forward to the creativity and innovation of hotels to help us make your meetings green!

www.starwoodhotel.com/preferredguest

Switch Up Your Meeting Breaks

At Meeting Sites Pro, Inc., we know how important the big functions of your meeting are from the General Session to the Welcome Reception. That said, we also like to put an emphasis on the little things, like snack breaks. Often, breaks are straightforward and traditional, including a few snacks with some beverage options and an opportunity to stretch.

We like to get creative with our breaks when possible to include both fun and interesting food items as well as themed displays. Our goal is always to partner with our venues and create an experience for our clients and attendees. Take a look below at what we have done in the past.

One of our favorite publications to follow, “Successful Meetings” posted a recent article on how you can revamp your traditional meeting breaks by creating an activity focused experience like mixology breaks (non-alcoholic), picnic breaks, spa breaks, and fitness breaks. Each of these creative breaks will make your attendees feel more energetic or refreshed once they go back to their sessions.

These are just a few options that you can implement in your future meetings to give your attendees an experience they won’t forget.

Successful Meetings - Creative Meeting Breaks

Spotlight on a Property!

The Westin Denver International Airport hotel opened in late 2015 with over 37,500 square feet of incredible meeting space and a grand total of 519 guest rooms. Located at the Denver airport, the University of Colorado A-Line commuter train gets you to downtown in just 37 minutes making transportation a breeze and lots of activities very accessible. Let this Westin’s marvelous winged architecture elevate your event into a truly unique experience. Click on the link for more details on the hotel.

 

The Westin Denver International Airport

A New Look for Meeting Sites Pro, Inc.

One of the best ways to signal continued relevance is to evolve. After 18 successful years, Meeting Sites Pro, Inc. has re-branded, creating a new logo and look while staying focused on our core purpose and key values.  We continue to emphasize serving our clients and building lifelong partnerships. We have kept our purple color, symbolizing ambition, creativity, luxury, and loyalty. In the process of this refresh, what emerged was a new logo as well as a company slogan which reinforces our promise of quality and relentless client focus to create memorable meetings. Your Meeting is Our Passion.

Take a look at our new look on our website: http://meetingsitespro.com/ 

Spotlight on a New Property!

There is a brand-new option out there to host your next meeting. Check out the Hyatt Regency's most recent addition, the Hyatt Regency Lake Washington at Seattle's Southport! This property has created their meeting spaces with stunning views of the mountains and Seattle's city skyline. With various activities both on and off property, and with over 60,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, they are sure to create a memorable experience for any function! To learn more, click on their link below.

Hyatt Regency Lake Washington at Seattle's Southport

Top Meeting Locations from 2017

As we begin the jump into 2018, before we start thinking about recommending meeting destinations, we’ve taken some time to look back at our past year and the numbers to the industry in its entirety. As in years past, we’ve noticed cities like Orlando and Las Vegas remain on top due to their year-round favorable weather, large convention centers, and cost effectiveness. Destinations like Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York are forever popular, despite higher costs, due to the attraction of the city itself as well as the accommodations they provide. 

Below you will see CVENT’s Top 10 U.S. Meeting Destinations for 2017. We've managed meetings in 9 of the top 10 locations in the last year and personally love placing meetings in Dallas due to the cost effectiveness and ease of air travel as well as San Diego due to the large number of unique properties and great year-round weather (though we may be biased given that it’s our home). One of our recommended destinations that didn’t crack the CVENT top 10 is Denver, CO. With its central location, large number of upscale hotels, vibrant downtown, and over 300 sunny days a year; Denver is definitely worth considering for a sure-fire meeting.

Denver, CO

CVENT Top 10

1. Orlando, FL
2. Las Vegas, NV
3. Chicago, IL
4. Atlanta, GA
5. San Diego, CA
6. Washington, D.C.
7. Nashville, TN
8. Dallas, TX
9. New York, NY
10. Phoenix, AZ 

If you’ve found yourself entering 2018 head first into planning a meeting, Meeting Sites Pro, Inc. would love to help you get started on a personalized site selection in any of these locations today. We hope you get the chance to visit one of these top meeting destinations in 2018. Happy travels!