Special Events

VENUE NEWS: FLORIDA HOTEL REVEALS NEW GRAND BALLROOM

Located in Orlando, Fla., the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort and Convention Center boasts 2,000 rooms and the recently renovated Grand Ballroom. The ballroom features 38,000 square feet of venue space...

VENUE NEWS: STONE ROSE LOUNGE

The latest venue from Rande Gerber's After Midnight Co., the Stone Rose Lounge, recently opened in Los Angeles. Located in the newly renovated Sofitel Los Angeles hotel, the 5,000-square-foot lounge ...

CONFETTI: ROCK RESORTS EXPERTS LET GUESTS ROCK ON

The Rock Star program, offered at the upscale Rock Resorts chain, provides experts from specific fields to share their knowledge with a group. For example,...

Marriott hotels to go smoke-free

Washington-based hotel giant Marriott International announced today that all of its lodging brands in the U.S. and Canada will become 100 percent smoke-free beginning in September. The new policy covers more than 2,300 hotels and corporate apartments and nearly 400,000 guest rooms....

ARE YOU MISSING NEW ORLEANS

BY KELLIE HOPE MATHAS, CSEP, CMP

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter...

GUEST ROOM: HYATT CATERING'S CHERYL MARTIN'S WINNING WORDS

BY LISA HURLEY

IT'S a tough award to win. Being named catering manager of the year at Hyatt Hotels means hitting sales targets, winning the support of management and...

FLEXIBLE EVENT SPACE: THE SECRET'S OUT

BY DEBBIE MEYERS, CSEP

LOOKING for flexible event space can be a challenge. Hotel ballrooms land convention center spaces offer many amenities, yet often come with restrictions...

WEDDING VENUES UNVEILED

BY NATASHA GARBER

WEDDINGS are one occasion when the right location is a requisite. In the current event market, that often means taking the festivities out of traditional...

PRIVATE CLUBS GO HIGH-TECH

BY KELLY WARDLE

EVENTS are big business at city and country clubs, but to keep up with the high-tech demands of members and competition from other venues, clubs feel...

Westin Hotels go smoke-free

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, based in White Plains, N.Y., announced Monday that its upscale Westin Hotels & Resorts brand will become the first hotel chain to introduce a systemwide policy banning smoking. Effective next month, all 77 Westin hotels ...