Fairmont Adds Suites

<B> Fairmont Adds Suites</B>

By Cheryl Rosen

<I>Dallas</I> - The Fairmont Hotel in the Dallas Arts District is half way through a $20 million renovation program that already has added 50 new suites, and brought new appointments and business traveler amenities to all 550 guest rooms. Throughout 1999, the renovation schedule will move on to the Fairmont's 70,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space.

Already complete are upgrades to all guest rooms, each of which now contain two telephone lines and three phones, plus a separate computer data port, an oversized desk and a fax machine.

Meanwhile, meeting buyers looking for a new off-site venue here in the nation's second-largest convention market might consider the new Grapevine Mills mall, 1.5 square-mile oasis of air conditioning just five minutes from DFW International Airport. In addition to 200 retails stores and several themed restaurants, the mall has a Sega GameWorks outlet, which groups can rent for private time in virtual reality. This February, the mall will add the nation's largest Bass Pro shop, offering 200,000 square feet of indoor sports, including archery and rifle ranges, right inside the store.