| Earlier in the week, I went to Charlotte to meet a client who had booked a program there at the Westin. After the pre con, but before the meeting started, I had some time to walk around the city and do some site visits. The Westin is the first hotel at the edge of downtown, and is right across Stonewall Street from the Charlotte Convention Center. They have 700 guest rooms, and all are either being renovated or have just been completed in the last month or so. All will be done by June. The 44,000 sq ft of meeting space is on two levels, and is highlighted by the grand ballroom, which is 16,000 sq ft. They also have nice pre function space with natural light and windows. The staff were professional and friendly, and the food was very impressive. All public spaces have also been redone within the last few months. On the other side of the convention center, is the Hilton City Center. They only have 400 rooms, but all have been renovated in the last year and really look nice. The Hilton has about 30,000 sq ft of meeting space, and their largest room is just over 11,000 sq ft. The hotel is right across the street from the Epicenter, which is a large outdoor mall with dozens of restaurants and bars at all different price points. Places like Five Guys, Firehouse Subs, as well as finer dining. I went into the Omni, and it is currently a disaster, as they are undergoing major construction. It should be done soon, but for the next few months, I would go with a different hotel. They were installing new carpeting throughout the hotel public space. The hotel has 375 rooms but only 16,000 sq ft of meeting space. I then went into the Marriott City Center, and this hotel was very tired looking. The meeting space looked like it had not been touched in 15 years, and had that very dated look to it. The largest ballroom at the hotel was 9,000 sq ft, but everything had low ceilings. The Ritz across the street was much nicer, but I was not able to see a sleeping room. The lobby was very sleek and modern, and the meeting space looked pristine. Went into the Blake hotel, and left quickly. It is not a hotel I would ever put a group into, and this is after their construction. Later that night, I went to their opening reception at the NASCAR hall of fame. This is an amazing space, and they had so many interactive things to do, including racing simulators, team building challenges (changing tires, fueling cars, etc), and some cool exhibits on the history of NASCAR. Overall, Charlotte has about 3000 rooms in the downtown core, and would be a great destination for just about any group. It is easy and cheap to fly into, and downtown is very close to the airport. All my best, Timothy Arnold, CMP, CMM Profile from MPI Magazine One+ |
|
Charlotte, NC Hotel Reviews
Written by Timothy Arnold
Friday, 18 February 2011 17:26
|
|