The Renaissance at World Golf Village Retools Property, Image
St. Augustine, FLAs it approaches the end of a $10-million top-to-bottom renovation, the Renaissance Resort at World Golf Village is looking to attract non-golfing corporate and association attendeesand their spousesby casting a spotlight on spa, shopping, and beach options.
"We've been marketing as purely a golf resort until now," said Mark Schwantner, general manager, during a press tour. That meant focusing on the adjacent World Golf Hall of Fame, the Village's two championship courses, golf instruction at the PGA Tour Golf Academy, and a massive, standalone pro shop.
Now, revised marketing means a partnership with the Serenata Beach Club, about 30 minutes away, where Renaissance guests have privileges at the private beach and pools.Also, the Renaissance offers complimentary shuttles to the PGA Tour Spa Laterra within the Village. And, it offers excursions to historic St.Augustine.
"We're highlighting what to do in and out of the Village," said Scott Selvaggi, sales and marketing director.
Slated for completion in , the hotel's upgrade will include a renewed lobby and atrium and outfitting the 301 guest rooms with new soft goods and business traveler-friendly features.
William Ng
Next-Gen Crowne Plaza Debuts in the Midwest
Wauwatosa, WIInterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) last month opened the first Crowne Plaza based on the brand's prototype for new properties in emerging markets, unveiled two years ago. The 198-room Crowne Plaza Milwaukee-Wauwatosa, which has more than 7,000 sf of meeting space, precedes 10 such hotels in the pipeline.
IHG plans to open prototype-based properties in several cities, including Raleigh-Durham, Baltimore, and Fort Lauderdale. The design is meant to be scalable so there is no set property size. However, on average, Crowne Plaza hotels offer room counts ranging from the "high one-hundreds" to 300, and 8,000 to 9,000 sf of meeting space, according to a spokesperson.
Elements of the prototype benefit groups. For example, meeting space is separate from other areas, and close to the kitchen. In addition, because many meeting-goers look to do business throughout a hotel, the lobby and lounge have soft seating with adjacent hard surfaces, multiple power sources, and Wi-Fi access. Furnishings that can be found in homes, and business traveler-friendly amenities,were put in guest rooms.
Five Conscientious Conference Centers
New YorkA quintuplet of conference centersthree in Virginia that are managed by Benchmark Hospitality and two mid-Atlantic properties run by Destination Hotels & Resortsare going green.
The Founders Inn and Spa, in Virginia Beach; Virginia Crossings Resort, in Richmond, VA; and Lansdowne Resort, in Leesburg, VA, have earned the Virginia Green Lodging Certificate of Environmental Commitment, and Virginia Crossings also received the Clean Business Award. Meanwhile, at DH&R's Hamilton Park Hotel and Conference Center in Florham Park, NJ, and Tarrytown House, in Tarrytown, NY, many ecoconscious upgrades have been made.
At Hamilton Park,meeting attendees are now given the option to not change out their water bottles during breaks, employees participate in a program to reduce cars on the road, and wire hangers are recycled. At Tarrytown House, notepads now have fewer pages, water coolers outside the meeting rooms replace individual bottles, and motion-sensitive thermostats are in guest rooms. Officials at these facilities want to serve as role models.
"We want to be a positive part of our community," said Ellen Ruane, general manager at the Founders Inn.
Added Steve Sackman, DH&R's regional director of sales and marketing: "Our efforts hopefully educate our employees and customers, while giving other hoteliers ideas."
Originally published April 7, 2008