Marcus Whitman Hotel and Conference Center
Walla Walla, Washington
In 1927, an investment company was willing to put in $300,000 to build a hotel in downtown Walla Walla, Washington, but only if the community raised $150,000 in matching funds in 90 days. They did, and the 12-story Marcus Whitman Hotel opened in 1928.
But like many historic properties, the hotel fell into disrepair. In 1999, a local investor bought the hotel, restoring and expanding it to add conference and meeting space. The hotel reopened in 2001, and a 2007 renovation converted three floors of the tower from office space to guest rooms, giving the hotel 127 rooms and suites.
The renovation added state-of-the-art technology and convenience, including in-house audiovisual services, but it also restored the original grandeur, assistant general manager Dan Leeper said.
“It’s almost like you’re stepping back in time; it’s kind of like the Roaring ’20s in our lobby,” he said.
The hotel has 13,000 square feet of conference space, including two original ballrooms: The 1,950-square-foot Renaissance Ballroom and the 1,300-square-foot Empire Room both still wear their elegant late-1920s chandeliers. The expansion added the 5,300-square-foot Explorer Ballroom, as well as the 960-square-foot Native American Room, both of which can be divided into two or three rooms.
Six wine-tasting rooms that ring the main lobby feature local Walla Walla Valley wineries and helped the hotel earn the Washington State Wine Commission’s 2015 Hotel of the Year award.
Rizzo Conference Center
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Without the DuBose family, there would be no Rizzo Conference Center. The family donated its home and surrounding 28 acres to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and, in 1997, the school launched a $24 million project to transform the grounds into a conference center with the historic DuBose house as its centerpiece.
Most of the IACC-certified center’s 20,000 square feet of flexible space is in Loudermilk Hall. McLean Hall now has 120 guest rooms and 4,500 square feet of meeting space, but when the ongoing $35 million renovation and expansion wraps up this fall, McLean will have a total of 186 guest rooms and 14,500 square feet of meeting space, as well a new courtyard with an infinity-edge lap pool and a new fitness center.
The 16,000-square-foot DuBose house was built in 1933 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The house, which serves as the dining and social hub, was restored to reflect its era, said Joe Blake, director of sales and marketing for the Rizzo Conference Center. Guests mingle in elegant rooms that were once the family library, the parlor and Mr. DuBose’s office — rooms that have the original molding, ornate draperies and rich rugs.
The DuBose family’s four-acre garden was also restored using original plans. The brick-walled garden has pergolas, benches and a reflecting pool, and “our guests love it,” Blake said
