Competition Fostering Infrastructure Improvements

<B> Competition Fostering Infrastructure Improvements</B>

By Frank Rosci

To meet the growing demands of corporate travelers and to beat the increasing competition, several big-name Atlanta properties recently have completed or are in the midst of major upgrades to their business travel services and conference capabilities.

At the 272-room Hilton Atlanta Northeast, located 20 miles from the city in Norcross, a $2 million renovation has improved guest rooms, enhanced amenities and added more meeting and event space, said Curt Gross, general manager of the hotel. Groups will find more than 19,000 square feet of multi-purpose meeting space in 18 rooms, a 7,000-sq.-ft. ballroom, and a tiered, auditorium-style learning center.

"With the addition of the new meeting room, we now offer some of the most complete meeting facilities in the Atlanta area," Gross said. The hotel also is among the first in the Atlanta area to offer T-1 high-speed Internet access in all guest and meeting rooms, and the renovation, Gross said, has had an immediate impact on its group business, with bookings up more than 10 percent compared with last September.

Another of Atlanta's well-known business hotels, the 360-room Sheraton Buckhead Hotel Atlanta, located in the city's business district about 10 miles from downtown, is involved in a $5.5 million renovation that is expected to be completed by March 2000. As part of the work, each of the hotel's new Corporate Club Rooms, a Sheraton hallmark, will feature a large desk with ergonomic chair, task lighting, and a fax and copy machine, said Edward M. Walls, area managing director, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.

A third Atlanta hotel, the 370-room Westin Atlanta North, has begun a $7 million renovation that is scheduled for completion in January. To better serve business travelers, the hotel is converting more than 70 rooms to Westin Guest Offices, said Jason Heath, the hotel's director of sales and marketing. The new Westin Guest Offices will include copiers, computers, fax machines, printers, as well as other convenient capabilities and services for the road warrior. "The concept affords the comfort and convenience of an office away from home, and gives the hotel an edge on competition in the Atlanta area," Heath said.

Groups with videoconferencing needs will find one of the Atlanta area's most sophisticated setups at the 199-room Marietta Conference Center and Resort, which recently installed dedicated phone lines for the process. "MCCR is one of only two or three places in the area that offers the service permanently onsite," said Chuck Ocheltree, vice president of sales and marketing for the facility located 18 miles north of Atlanta. The $1,200 per-half-day fee covers unlimited off-premises sites with "a group or company's need usually justifying the price in terms of convenience and travel and lodging costs," he said.

Elsewhere in Atlanta, the top-flight executive conference center at Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, which slashed room rates and other costs last year, has witnessed a significant increase in bookings, said a spokesperson for the facility. To encourage the bookings rebound, room rates were slashed from $900 to $575 per night, while hourly rates for the board room were cut 45 percent, from $200 to $110.