The commercial and industrial center for a three-state region known as the Ark-La-Tex and the home of Louisiana State University’s School of Business and School of Education & Human Development, Shreveport, La., recently received a notable upgrade to its hospitality portfolio aimed at convention groups.
In early December, the Hilton Shreveport that’s adjacent to the Shreveport Convention Center unveiled a multi-million-dollar renovation of its 311 guest rooms as well as its public spaces and exterior. Its reimagined lobby now has a centerpiece in the form of a large freestanding fireplace. On both sides of the fireplace is lounge-style seating including plush couches, chairs, and footstools to entice event attendees to spend more time in the common area.
The hotel also revamped its meeting rooms to complement the Shreveport Convention Center’s 240,000 square feet of event space. New touches include green abstract carpeting, chandelier light fixtures, and fresh wallpaper. An additional small-meeting room was built to bring the total to five, while updated audiovisual equipment and high-definition monitors were also installed in those rooms. And the prefunction area received new seating throughout.
For attendee dining, the hotel has reimagined its restaurants. Market 104 is an all-day restaurant that serves classic American cuisine in a downtown bistro atmosphere, while River & Rye offers Southern coastal fare along with craft cocktails and local beer. There’s also the lobby bar with big-screen televisions throughout. And at the entrance to the hotel’s convention-center connector is the Coffee Talk Café.
The Shreveport Convention Center offers 95,000 square feet of exhibit space (see photo of general-session layout here) as well as an 18,000-square-foot ballroom with a 25-foot ceiling. (see photo of awards-luncheon set-up, at bottom) There are also 10 breakout rooms of 1,600 square feet apiece, all with 20-foot ceilings.
The two other large hotels typically used for conventions’ room blocks are the 403-room Bally’s Shreveport, which is half a mile from the center, and the 395-room Margaritaville Resort & Casino, 1.5 miles away
Shreveport Regional Airport has daily non-stop flights to and from Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Orlando. The airport is eight miles from downtown, a 13-minute drive. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is a three-hour drive from Shreveport.
