Hilton Garden Inn St. Charles
St. Charles, Illinois
Though you expect a certain amount of familiarity when you stay at a Hilton property, the chain is pushing the envelope with a brand revitalization that has become known as Project Grow.
Focused on inspiring a garden party atmosphere through interactive spaces and a green garden environment complete with communal, inviting food-and-beverage service spaces, the project has resulted in a huge growth in customer satisfaction and has now made its way to Illinois.
On October 27, 2014, the Hilton Garden Inn St. Charles opened the doors to its Project Grow reboot, offering gathering spaces not only for incoming leisure guests but also for planners looking to rent the space for an evening reception, a breakfast or a registration area.
“We’re a corporate hotel during the week, and in the morning when we’re full, I walk around with a pot of coffee, and people are sitting around chatting,” said general manager Peter Ehrenberg. “The openness of the lobby and the ability to feel like you are in a garden atmosphere welcomes people to get together. I can see people are engaging.”
Filled with bamboo, flowers and other greenery, the window-lit, two-story lobby offers three distinct spaces. One section features a communal table that seats around 20 people and is spread far enough from other seating areas to offer a sentiment of private dining, the second space features a small bar, and the third seating area includes a television screen and an audiovisual setup for small meetings.
www.hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com
Courtyard Marriott Lafayette Hotel Courtyard Convention Center
Lafayette, Indiana
When the Courtyard Marriott Lafayette surveyed the convention bureau and its meeting clients about what it could do next to better meet local demand, the answer was clear: Area meeting planners were on the lookout for a fresh new venue with outdoor meeting space.
Now accepting bookings for quarters three and four of 2015, the new convention center will be able to accommodate 462 guests in its 3,700-square-foot grand ballroom when it opens, now projected to be in May, according to Richard Hamrlik, area sales manager for the Courtyard Conference Center.
“The research is that there aren’t really any Courtyard Marriotts with an attached conference center of this size,” said Hamrlik. “There’s one in Atlanta, but otherwise, this is unique for a Courtyard Marriott.”
The addition will nearly double the length of the hotel and will incorporate 32 additional guest rooms to bring the on-site total to 122. The addition includes a two-story 650-square-foot bridal suite on the courtyard level that can be used as a hospitality suite or an executive meeting space.
With 11 meeting rooms of different sizes capable of holding anywhere from16 to 177 attendees, depending on the configuration, the indoor spaces provide diverse options for breakouts or smallerevents.
The star feature of the expansion will be the 10,000-square-foot courtyard, which will be able to accommodate more than 1,000 people; it will feature a fire pit, an artificial brook and other landscaping created with events and photo backgrounds in mind.
