Boston Market Soars, Rejuvenating Hotel Demand
<B> Boston Market Soars, Rejuvenating Hotel Demand</B>
By Robert Selwitz
<I>Boston</I> - According to the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau, Boston's hotel market currently is enjoying its strongest period in history.
In response to soaring demand, a number of new properties have opened or will debut in Boston in the near future. Among them is a new 427-room Seaport Hotel, a waterfront property located directly across from the 250,000-sq.-ft. World Trade Center.
Along with proximity to one of Boston's leading exhibition centers--and just a four-minute cab ride from Logan Airport--Seaport features 17,000 square feet of banquet and meeting space, including an 8,300-sq.-ft. ballroom, a restaurant and lounge, a health facility with pool, a business center and indoor parking for 1,250 vehicles.
All meeting space is connected via a site-wide fiber optic network that instantly and digitally delivers communications throughout the property and World Trade Center. Seaport also offers in-house videoconferencing and satellite uplink facilities, allowing meetings to be transmitted anywhere in the world with downlink capabilities, and each guest room provides call-forwarding that tracks guests anywhere in the complex. Another recent hotel opening was the August debut of the 210-room University Park Hotel adjacent to the MIT campus in Cambridge.
There also have been a number of major property renovations, including the 552-room Omni Parker House Hotel, which has undergone a $45 million renovation. Each Omni Parker room has been upgraded to include computer modem hookups. Banquet and event facilities also have been remodeled.
Meanwhile, at the 1,100-room Sheraton Boston Hotel & Towers, New England's largest property, the hammers are still in action. When completed late next year, the $30 million renovation will have converted 171 rooms into 114 suites, featuring more spacious workstations for the business traveler. Also planned for the Sheraton is a redesign of the lobby and registration area, the installation of a state-of-the-art light and sound system in the grand ballroom, and the completion of a new 6,485-sq.-ft. junior ballroom.
Properties scheduled to open in January include a 362-suite Wyndham Grand Heritage Hotel (see accompanying story) and the 63-room Fifteen Beacon Hotel. One block from the Massachusetts State House on Beacon Hill, the Beacon hotel is a conversion of a former 1902 Beaux Arts structure.
A 221-room Marriott Residence Inn is scheduled to be completed in February at Kendall Square, Cambridge, adjacent to the 431-room Boston Marriott Cambridge.
A 197-room Bayside Center Hotel will open adjacent to the Bayside Expo & Conference Center in April. Operated by Doubletree, the property will have its own 18,000 square feet of space containing ten meeting rooms and a ballroom.
During October 1999, a 600-room, $100 million Logan Hilton, to be directly connected to terminals at Logan Airport via walkways, will debut. The Hilton will feature 30,000 square feet of meeting space. When that is completed, the current Logan Ramada will be demolished.