Kansas City Builds Broader Biz Base

<B>Kansas City Builds Broader Biz Base</B>

By Robert Selwitz

With an 11 percent jump in available hotel rooms last year, Kansas City, Mo., is experiencing a hotel boom.

Tom Holden, executive director of the Hotel and Motel Association of Greater Kansas City, said last year's additional 4,000 rooms brought the total to more than 22,000, and rate-wise, "we are a hell of a good buy, far cheaper than most similar-size cities. More often than not, for the cost of a limited service hotel in many other locations, you can book a downtown Kansas City full- service property."

Wayne Chappell, president of the Greater Kansas City Convention and Visitors Bureau, said recent hotel tidings include the doubling of the downtown Marriott into a 1,000-room property. Another area addition is the new 400-room Doubletree.

In other news, a 54,000-sq.-ft. Crown Center Exhibit Hall now is open and taking bookings. The new facility complements the Center, which already offers nearly 90,000 square feet of exhibit space in its two resident hotels, the Westin Crown Center and Hyatt Regency Crown Center. Together the properties offer 1,400 guest rooms. Also, both hotels recently completed a total of $16 million in room renovations.

According to Crown Center spokeswoman Anne Deuschle, "the complex is designed to serve midsize groups requiring between 800 and 1,200 guest rooms and that are seeking a large exhibit hall at a single site. We're confident there's a niche market for groups of that size. We expect the new exhibit hall to broaden our customer base and bring new business to Kansas City.