Tulalip Resort Casino in Tulalip, Wash., north of Seattle, celebrated the grand opening of its new 12-story hotel on August 15, marking the end of a two-year, $130 million construction project. It features 370 guest rooms and suites. All standard rooms have granite counters, 47-inch flat-screen TVs, iPod docks, triple-headed showers, and floor-to-ceiling windows. The hotel has 30,000 square feet of meeting and reception space, including the 15,000-square-foot Orca Ballroom. Also on premises: the 14,000-square-foot, full-service T Spa; the Oasis Pool; six restaurants, headlined by Tulalip Bay, which features a wine room lighted with a handcrafted chandelier by glass artist Dale Chihuly; and Mpulse Lounge, a cocktail bar adjacent to the new high-limit gaming room. Tulalip Casino, with 192,000 square feet of gaming, is sited on 83 acres within the municipality of Quil Ceda Village on the Tulalip Indian Reservation between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia, just off Interstate-5.

VENUE NEWS

Openings

InterContinental Chicago O'Hare

Rosemont, Ill.

The News: This new InterContinental is under construction and will open soon.

Specs: 560 guest rooms; 53,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including four grand ballrooms, which can each accommodate up to 1,100 guests; an on-site 250-seat live entertainment venue; and restaurants that include Osteria di Tramonto, McCormick & Schmick's, and The Capital Grille.

Time Frame: Scheduled to open September 3, 2008

Extras: 5 minutes from Chicago O'Hare International Airport and 14 miles from downtown Chicago; across the street from the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center

Hilton Baltimore

Baltimore

The News: Opened August 22, the hotel is connected to the Baltimore Convention Center by skybridge.

Specs: In the Inner Harbor area, 757 guest rooms, 60,000 square feet of flexible function space, including a 25,000-square-foot grand ballroom

Extra: Some of the guest rooms feature views of the playingfield at Camden Yards. The hotel also has a living “green roof” 32,000 square feet in area.

Stowe Mountain Lodge

Stowe, Vt.

The News: In Vermont ski country, this new lodge is managed by Destination Hotels & Resorts.

Specs: 139-room lodge with more than 12,000 square feet of function space

Timeline: Opened in June 2008

Extra: Reserve tee times at the 18-hole championship mountain golf course designed by Bob Cupp, or let your attendees unwind in the Spa at Stowe Mountain Lodge.

Renaissance Austin Hotel

Austin, Texas

The News: The hotel will open the Glass Oaks ballroom, a 5,000-square-foot addition.

Specs: 492 guest rooms; 65,000 square feet of function space, including a newly renovated 30,000-square-foot carpeted exhibit hall and the Glass Oaks ballroom.

Timeline: Will open September 2008

Sandpearl Resort

Clearwater Beach, Fla.

News: This year-old resort has been designated a Florida Green Lodging facility by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

Specs: 253 guest rooms; 25,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space, including a 5,200-square-foot ballroom

Timeline: Opened in August 2007

Hotel Palomar Los Angeles-Westwood

Los Angeles

The News: New hotel opens on the Wilshire Corridor in LA.

Specs: 19 stories; 264 guest rooms, including 24 suites; 5,000 square feet of meeting space

Timeline: Opened May 8

News Makers:

• The Tenn.-based Chattanoogan hotel has hired Jay Hudson as sales manager. Previously, Hudson was national sales manager at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn.

• Doug Copeland will become director of sales and marketing at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center at The University of Texas at Austin when it opens this month..