The 404-room Radisson Plaza Myrtle Beach Hotel recently broke ground in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The $48 million, 14-story hotel will adjoin the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. The lobby and second-floor lounge will open directly onto the 249,000-square-foot convention center's pre-function space. A 30,000-square-foot outdoor special events plaza will also be added to the complex. The hotel is expected to open in February 2003. www.myrtlebeachconventioncenter.com
In Boston, The Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common opened in September. The property offers 193 guest rooms, and seven meeting rooms totaling 4,000 square feet of function space. All meeting rooms offer broadband Internet access and videconferencing, and the boardroom features a plasma screen. The Ritz will also have available four of the adjacent Loews Theatres Boston Common's high-technology screening rooms, which accommodate from 200 to 600 people. The Ritz also offers 309 luxury condominiums, 62 extended stay apartments, and a 100,000-square-foot fitness facility across the street. www.ritzcarlton.com
The new Hotel Monaco New Orleans, just steps from the French Quarter, was originally a Masonic Hall built in 1926. The hotel offers 6,000 square feet of meeting space, including two ballrooms and three boardrooms, and can accommodate up to 190 people banquet-style. The 250 guest rooms and suites feature two-line phones, voice mail, and 24-hour room service. www.monaco-neworleans.com
The St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa recently opened in Dana Point, Calif. The 400-room resort, perched on 200 acres overlooking the Pacific, features a 30,000-square-foot spa, an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., and 30,000 square feet of indoor meeting space. All meeting facilities have teleconferencing capabilities, videoconferencing, and the capability for satellite downlinks. www.stregismonarchbeach.com
An 18-story, 405-room Courtyard by Marriott opened recently in San Francisco in the convention center district. The San Francisco Downtown Courtyard has 7,000 square feet of meeting space, including seven meeting rooms accommodating up to 250 people. www.marriott.com
