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Condo-hotels--hotel and resort properties made up of individually owned condominiums--have become a full-throttle trend. To wit: Hendersonville, Tenn.-based Smith Travel Research tallies a total of 95,000 'condotel' guest rooms now [...]

With luxury meetings on the rise again, gone are the days when simply putting attendees up in a glitzy room with a famous five-star name was enough to keep them [...]

New on the Scene fresh look IT'S A WRAP. The Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa will finish a $60 million renovation this December. The property's spa and 20 oceanview [...]

New on the Scene fresh look MORE LUXE. Guests will find a fresher, plusher Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, since its $40 million renovation. A cream, aubergine and plum-heavy palate pervades every [...]

It's not news that hotel ballrooms aren't the only venues suitable for creative events. Yet, with an increasingly interesting choice of places available to meeting planners--from museums and zoos to [...]

To hear hotel occupancy numbers have never looked so good--at least not in this century. This year's Trends in the Hotel Industry report from San Francisco-based PKF Consulting calculated a [...]

'Theme parties have taken on a somewhat different complexion now,' says Andrea Michaels, president of Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based Extraordinary Events, 'especially in the world of corporate events.' Although themes still [...]

For some meeting-goers on free time, the Florida sun must be enjoyed in a particular fashion: over the hum of a gently revving golf cart motor, under the hands of [...]

As most mammoths do, the Native American casino industry started small, but its growth has been swift and imposing. According to the National Indian Gaming Association in Washington, D.C. (www.indiangaming.org), [...]

New on the Scene stay here VIPS ONLY. Beautiful Places began leasing luxury homes in Napa and Sonoma in 2003; last year, the house count exploded from 15 to 50. [...]

When Ellen Adelman, director of sales for Shutters on the Beach and Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica, Calif., speaks of January 2005, there's a hint of wonder in her [...]

Thanks to the new boutique hotel boom, wireless Internet and cushy beds aren't the only must-haves this season. Todays discerning guests want a little architectural pizzazz for their buck. 'Customers [...]

When Katherine Sidor, former executive director of Connecticut's Housatonic Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau, suspected her CVB was about to go under in spring 2003, she went directly to the [...]

For planners expecting to throw a good old-fashioned theme party for their next event, a word of caution: Themes aren't what they used to be. With an increasingly shrewd and [...]

New on the Scene GRAND MARQUIS. The 239-room Marquis Los Cabos Beach, Golf, Spa an Casitas Resort opened a 27,000-square-foot spa last December and a gourmet restaurant in January. The [...]

New on the Scene FOXY GREENS. Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn., will bring in two Reese Jones-designed gold courses by next Match. Meanwhile, a new Hard Rock Cafe opens [...]

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus was no doubt speaking of event design when he said nothing endures but change. The wow tactics of recent years have lost nearly all of their [...]

For the event on a shoestring budget, a crafty financial shortcut can be a planner's greatest friend. Like any friend, however, such tricks can turn on the planner, especially if [...]

While much of the travel industry continues to register mixed results in efforts to regain business lost in the past few years, at least one segment can proclaim, quite literally, [...]

New on the Scene Fresh Look PALM PERFECTION. The 292-room Pacific Palms Conference Resort, just outside of L.A., will undergo $17 million in renovations this year. An 80,000-square-foot patio will [...]

New on the Scene f.y.i STILL GROWING. Foxwoods Resort Casino will begin a $700 million expansion this summer, set for a summer 2008 completion. Expect an 825-room hotel tower (with [...]

New on the Scene stay here READY FOR TAKEOFF. Following a $14 million revamp, the 802-room, newly haute Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles International Airport now has red ostrich finishes, textured [...]

What's the peg for a story on tents? The consensus of a number of savvy planners can be summed up in one word: novelty. 'Tents are amazing,' enthuses Ria Bruns, [...]

New on the Scene check it out GOLD COAST. January 2003 saw the debut of the Delamar, the first luxury waterside hotel in Connecticut. The 83-unit property in Greenwich offers [...]

New on the Scene must see RESCULPTED. The Museum of Latin American Art opened a lush, 15,000-square-foot sculpture garden in September, with more than a dozen works and 40 varieties [...]

Even with off-hours generously scheduled, it's nearly impossible for attendees to enjoy all any one destination has to offer. is this more true than in Florida, whose natural and human-made [...]

The following checklist was compiled with the assistance of Madelyn Marusa, DMCP, vice president of industry relations, PRA Destination Management (www.pra.com), and Wendy W. Scott, CAE, executive director, DMC Network [...]

Brad R. Van Dommelen has been named president of the Traverse City (Mich.) Convention & Visitors [...]

Keith Voets is the new sales and marketing manager for the Greater Hartford (Conn.) Convention & Visitors [...]

Neil C. Pompan, CMP, was named CFO and EVP of consulting solutions operations for EMCVenues, a Mt. Vernon, N.Y.-based conference center and resort [...]

Yulita Osuba, CMP, has been named senior director for the sales, marketing and event management division at the Orange County (Fla.) Convention [...]

Carolyn Poole is the new director of group sales, Canada, Western Region, for InterContinental Hotels & [...]

Peter Woods has been named director of event planning for the Renaissance Schaumburg (Ill.) Hotel & Convention [...]

Anna Marie Presutti has been promoted to vice president of sales and marketing for the U.S. arm of Hotel Nikko [...]

Larry Colton is the new director of sales and marketing for Phoenix's Pointe South Mountain [...]

Michael Krouse is the new vice president of convention sales for L.A. Inc., the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors [...]

Dwayne McKiliop is global sales and marketing director for Toronto, Ontario-based event company Exposoft Solutions [...]

Michelle Deegan is the national sales manager, specializing in the Northeast Region, for the Palm Beach County (Fla.) Convention & Visitors [...]

Richard Cimilluca was named the director of sales and marketing for The Heldrich in New Brunswick, [...]

Scott D. Mununa is now director of sales and marketing at Basking Ridge, N.J.'s North Maple [...]

John C. Touchette, CMP, has become senior manager, meetings and special events, at Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon Co. Previously, he served as assistant vice president, meeting management, at Boston-based John [...]

Steven Topple, executive sous chef at The Lodge at Vail (Colo.), a RockResort, is something of a favorite chef among small, luxurious properties. His enviable career has led him from [...]

The following checklist was compiled with the help of Robyn Baker, marketing manager, and Les Goldberg, CEO, LMG Inc., 2350 Investors Row, Orlando, Fla. 32837 DETERMINING NEEDS [] What is [...]

Destination management companies in California are battling with state officials over an effort to impose taxes on DMC revenue. The issue was sparked this past February, when California's State Board [...]

It was odd timing, to be sure. At this year's Lodging Conference at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, Starwood Hotels and Resorts announced its hotly anticipated spin-off of the [...]

After 14 years of planning events for M&C and its sister publications, Alina Dalmau brought her planning talents to Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines and then Pembroke Park, Fla.-based MPBid. In [...]

The following checklist was compiled with the assistance of Brian Palmer, president of the National Speakers Bureau, 14047 W. Petronella Dr., Libertyville, Ill. 60048; www.national speakers.com DETERMINING NEEDS [] What [...]

'When most people go on a diet,' says Tim Stein, director of food and beverage for Greenwood Village, Colo.-based restaurant/lodge operator Xanterra Parks & Resorts, 'they usually choose low-cal, Low-carb [...]

William Wilkins III has been appointed sales representative for Belmont, Mass.-based production and audiovisual company Bluefin [...]

Michael Krouse, CMP, is working at LA Inc., The Convention and Visitors Bureau, as vice president, convention [...]