At the Top of the Kahler Grand Hotel in Rochester, Minn., the new International Hotel opened in April. This hotel within a hotel offers 19 upscale rooms and suites, with a dedicated, round-the-clock concierge. The Kahler Grand is the closest property to the Mayo Clinic and is connected via subway and skywalk to it. The Kahler has 14 meeting rooms with more than 25,000 square feet of meeting space, including the newly renovated Heritage Hall, with 7,150 square feet, divisible into three sections. An additional 100,000 square feet of meeting space is available at the adjoining Mayo Civic Center.
Gaming News
In June, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City unveiled a $200 million Phase I expansion. Borgata now features three celebrity chef restaurants; an additional 36,120 square feet of casino floor space; Atlantic City's largest poker room, with 85 tables; and a new nightclub.
Foxwoods Resort Casino, Uncasville, Conn., broke ground on a $700 million development last November that will add an 825-room tower with a spa, 115,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, and more. The project is expected to be done by summer 2008. Foxwoods currently has 1,400 hotel rooms and suites, 55,000 square feet of meeting space, and six casinos. The resort recently completed a $300 million expansion, adding a Hard Rock Café and the golf destination Lake of Isles, which includes two Rees Jones — designed courses.
Baha Mar Resorts Ltd., Harrah's Entertainment Inc., and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. plan to create the Caribbean's largest single destination resort, Baha Mar, a 1,000-acre, mixed-use project in Nassau, Bahamas. The $1.6 billion initial phase includes a spa, a water park with a lake, and 175,000 square feet of meeting space. The resort will have a total of 3,550 guest rooms. Harrah's Entertainment will operate a new 1,000-room Caesars Resort Hotel, which will have a 95,000-square-foot casino. Starwood will have four brands represented: a 300-room W at Baha Mar; a 300-room St. Regis at Baha Mar; a Westin at Baha Mar with 700 rooms; and a 700-room Sheraton at Baha Mar. Construction is set to begin in 2007. Renovation of the 550-room Wyndham Nassau Resort is also planned.
