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This is the view down the Esplanade de La Défense from the Meliá Paris La Défense, opened in March, the first new four-star hotel built in Paris in ten years. Designed in the shape of a boat hull, the property features 369 guest rooms, including 29 suites; two restaurants and a lounge; a 24-hour fitness center, and 2,775 square feet of meeting space in the city’s main business district, La Défense. The 19-story property boasts spectacular views as well as the convenience of direct access to the subway system.
Kalahari Resorts & Conventions owner Todd Nelson, posing here with Kalahari-inspired art work in Capetown, South Africa, will open his third African-themed family resort in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains two hours from Philadelphia. With a ribbon cutting expected in June, phase one will include 457 guest rooms, a 65,000-square-foot convention center, a 100,000-square-foot indoor water park, and a 10,000-square-foot spa. The meeting space will have both a 25,000-square-foot and a 9,000-square-foot ballroom. Phase two, targeted for 2016, will add 500 more guest rooms and double the size of the water park. The first Kalahari property opened in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., in 2000, and the second opened in Sandusky, Ohio, in 2005..
In suburban Denver, The Inverness hotel and conference center has unveiled a new look that incorporates Western themes and the work of Colorado artists into the design of its entrance and lobby. The $1.3 million renovation also updated the food and beverage outlets, and the corridors around its 60,000 square feet of event space. In addition to 302 guest rooms and 43 meeting rooms, Inverness offers an on-property 18-hole golf course and full-service spa.
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.'s 156-room Pelican Grand Beach Resort unveiled its new 1,400-square-foot Atlantic Ballroom and Terrance in February, and has more in store later this spring. By May, the property plans to complete its multimillion dollar expansion with the opening of a new penthouse suite, with a terrace and private dining room; the new 2,055-square-foot Ocean View Ballroom on the 11th floor, and, one floor up, the new 3,700-square-foot Ocean View Terrace and Gazebo. Pelican Grand sits on 500 feet of Atlantic beachfront and offers Fort Lauderdale’s only lazy river pool.
The Hard Rock Hotel at the Universal Orlando Resort has given its rooms and corridors a total makeover. The 650-room hotel, operated by Loews Hotels & Resorts, has switched from an earthy palette of tans and greens to a more whimsical cream and gray design, with pops of raspberry, blue, and orange. Favorite feature: guest room mirrors etched to display the height of various rock stars. The hotel offers 6,000 square feet of meeting space, as well as 140,000 square feet of additional function space at the nearby Hard Rock Café and Hard Rock Live venues at Universal CityWalk.
The Gleneagles Hotel, the Scottish golf resort that hosted the Ryder Cup in 2014, will open The Gleneagles Arena this spring, a new 26,910-square-foot event space. When not in use for conferences and exhibitions, the new facility will serve as a four-court tennis center. This project follows a renovation last year of the property’s 3,552-square-foot conference center, The Gleneagles Suite, and other upgrades in anticipation of the Ryder Cup and in celebration of the property’s 90th anniversary. The hotel sits on 850 acres in the middle of rolling hills, and offers golfing on three courses, falconry, horseback riding, shooting, and a spa.
Hyatt launched its all-inclusive hotel brands—Zilara (adults only) and Ziva (family friendly)—in late 2013 with the opening of two properties in Mexico, Hyatt Ziva Los Cabos and Hyatt Zilara Cancun. The second hotel for each brand has now opened side by side in Jamaica—Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall and Hyatt Ziva Rose Hall—on the site of the former Ritz-Carlton, Golf & Spa Resort, Rose Hall. The 387-suite Ziva and 234-suite Zilara share 1,200 feet of Caribbean coastline and 18 restaurants, bars, and lounges just 10 minutes from Sangster International Airport.
In Southwest Louisiana, about a two and a half hour drive from Houston, the $700 million Golden Nugget Lake Charles opened in December. Adjacent to L’Auberge Casino Resort, the new property features 740 guest rooms and suites, 30,000 square feet of meeting space, restaurants and retail shops, and a casino floor with 60 table games, a poker room, and 1,600 slot machines. The Cadillac Bar terrace space, on the meeting level, offers a beautiful view of Lake Charles. The resort also features an 18-hole golf course, a full-service spa, and the H2O pool and bar, with built-in seating areas, a lazy river, fire pits, hot tubs, and private cabanas.
On the banks of San Antonio’s River Walk, the 265-room Hotel Contessa recently completed a nine-month renovation that upgraded the meeting and event space, including the 2,277-square-foot Contessa Ballroom, and as well as every guest room, right down to the tile and showers in the bathrooms. The all-suite property, next door to The Briscoe Western Art Museum, includes the 1,700-square-foot Woodhouse Day Spa, a heated rooftop pool, and Las Ramblas, a Spanish steakhouse.
