South Florida Expands Corporate Meetings Offerings

<B> South Florida Expands Corporate Meetings Offerings</B>

By Frank Rosci

Several new developments--including the construction and renovation of a number of hotels, an airport improvement project and the probability of at least one new conference center--bode well for continued growth of the business travel and corporate meetings markets in South Florida.

Out of Boca Raton comes news that the 189-room Sheraton Boca Raton Hotel is being turned into the area's first four-diamond business hotel. "With the extensive makeover of the hotel, we are letting corporate travelers know it offers services and amenities designed specifically for them, that it's the kind of hotel they would expect to find in Chicago or Miami," said managing director Tom Rotz.

To improve service, the hotel significantly increased the ratio of staff to guests, and among a slew of aesthetic changes, upgraded its guest rooms. Each unit on the 42-room Club level will feature Sheraton's "Smart Rooms," with two telephones, voicemail and easy-access computer/modem hook up. All other rooms will offer oversized desks with convenient power strips deskside. All rooms are scheduled for completion by Sept. 1.

The introduction of executive checkin, where guests are served at individual checkin desks rather than at a traditional counter, and free transportation to and from Boca Raton Airport are added bonuses for the business traveler.

Other changes include private key access to the Club level, where the business center will offer a full-time concierge, a full-service business center, new equipment in the 24-hour fitness center, with complimentary access to a Bally's Total Fitness adjacent to the hotel, and 24-hour bellman services.

The Sheraton's 10 meeting/banquet rooms, accommodating from five to 500 people, are being redecorated, and four executive boardrooms, two for up to 12 attendees and two for up to 20, will open in September. Internet access and "an executive feel" will be a key part of the boardrooms, Rotz said. The lobby will be redone and a fireplace added.

In Miami, where the Convention & Visitors Bureau reports that business travel grew 3 percent in 1998, a new 122-room Candlewood Suites is set to open near the airport on July 29. The company's first hotel in South Florida, it will cater to midmarket business travelers, said David Redfern, vice president of sales and marketing. With business travelers comprising 75 percent of Candlewood's market, he said, "we felt it was the perfect time to be in South Florida, where there is an increase in demand for business-style hotel rooms."

While group numbers in Miami may be down--from 1.45 million in 1997 to just 856,000 last year, related partly to economic woes in Latin markets, and fewer attendees per meeting group--individual business travel is still strong, Redfern said.

The hotel, a prototypical Candlewood Suites property with about 46,000 square feet in guest studios and suites, offers suites that are 30 percent larger than the average hotel room. "Business travelers tell us they like the full work support and spacious comfort the larger room delivers," Redfern said.

Suites feature two phone lines with speaker phone, voicemail and dataports; complimentary local calls, incoming faxes and five outgoing faxes; and fully equipped kitchens. A convenient tie-in is the Candlewood Honor Cupboard, an honor system-based sundry item and food pantry open 24 hours a day, featuring 25-cent soft drinks. Free laundry facilities also are offered.

Members of the military, government employees and representatives of government contractors are expected to make up the lion's share of the hotel's bookings, since the company's rates are at or below the per diems allowed by the federal government.

Daily room rates for the hotel will be $69 for a studio and $79 for a one bedroom for the first 30 days after opening. After that, rates will be $69 to $99 for a studio and $89 to $119 for a one-bedroom, depending on length of stay.

Elsewhere in Greater Miami, in the heart of the city's financial district, the J.W. Marriott Hotel Miami is scheduled to open in December. The 21-story, 271-room, 29-suite hotel will offer two executive level floors with a concierge lounge, a full-service business center and 18,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, including a 10,000-sq.-ft. ballroom that will accommodate up to 800 attendees. Guest rooms will feature Marriott's "Room That Works," a workstation equipped with a mobile writing desk, two power outlets and PC modem jack, and fully adjustable ergonomic chair.

Other new hotels in Greater Miami include the 302-room, $50 million Miccosukee Resort & Convention Center, which offers more than 46,000 square feet of meeting space. In Miami Beach, a Ritz-Carlton is scheduled to be built at the former site of the 380-room DiLido Hotel, which will undergo a $95 million renovation and reopen sometime in 2000.

Also, the 350-room Roney Palace in Miami Beach is undergoing a $25 million renovation that by the end of the summer will add a new ballroom, more meeting space and a business center.