Destination Guide | Texas
MEET BIG IN TEXAS
By Richard Varr
Oct 16, 2009
Texas is as big as the sky is wide, it seems, with its own brand of pride and hospitality carved and shaped by its rugged 173-year frontier history.
Once a republic within itself, the Lone Star State stretches 773 miles from the barren desert of West Texas’ Big Bend Country to the Piney Woods on the east side, and 801 miles from the northern Panhandle to the silt-filled shores of the Rio Grande—through verdant pastures, ranchlands, mountain ranges and scenic lake districts.
When it comes to planning a meeting, however, Texas’ sheer size is also reflected by its wide-ranging metropolitan areas, dominating central U.S. location and its lower cost of living—critical factors that help make a meeting planner’s job a bit easier. “Texas is a very affordable state,” says Debbie Farnum, a meeting planner with the Texas Association of School Boards in Austin, a group that holds its meetings only in Texas. “We have a diverse range of hotels, activities and cultures, and that makes Texas very attractive.”
Represented by Texas Tourism, three of the nation’s 10 most populated cities are in the state: Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. Each have rich cultural highlights—from performing arts in Dallas and Houston to Fort Worth’s cattle drives; or spicy Tex-Mex in San Antonio to Austin’s world-renowned music scene. “For meeting planners, our exciting cities feature world-class facilities, hotels, resorts, dining and entertainment where you can get the job done and also have fun,” says Aaron Demerson, executive director for the Texas Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism Division. “Our focus on business has led Texas to be home to more Fortune 500 and 1000 headquarter companies than any other state.”
CVB staffs statewide are eagerly awaiting bookings with a Texas welcome. “I look for what fits at the right price,” Farnum says. “I use the CVBs in each of these locations. They know everything about the venues, so I don’t have to do all the legwork.”
“Smart meeting planners are bringing their meetings to Houston,” says Ken Middleton, vice president of sales at the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. “You can get New York energy at an affordable price in Houston.”
Because Houston’s two airports provide direct flights to more than 125 cities, it’s easily accessible from either coast. “I can be in New York before noon,” he says, “and I can leave Houston and be in L.A. [on a] later morning flight.”
Houston has two of the country’s top 10 convention centers. The downtown George R. Brown Convention Center has 1.2 million sq. ft. of leasing space, including 639,000 sq. ft. of contiguous exhibit space on the ground level and an additional 223,000 of upper level exhibit space. There’s also 185,000 sq. ft. within 100 meeting rooms. The other convention facility is Reliant Center in Reliant Park, a complex spanning 350 acres that is ideal for sporting events and oversized trade shows. Reliant Center and three other venues, Reliant Astrodome (Houston Astrodome), Reliant Stadium and the Reliant Arena, offer a total of 1.6 million sq. ft. of exhibit space.
Available hotel rooms range upward of 5,000 downtown, 3,000 in the Reliant Park area and 6,000 in Uptown, with the landmark Williams Tower and Houston Galleria shopping complex. Leading the way is the city’s foremost convention hotel, the 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston. The Hilton connects to the GRB with skywalks and is directly across from Discovery Green, a recently opened park with shady trees, fountains, a putting green, stage and even a shallow lake for remote-controlled watercraft. “Discovery Green is Houston’s new front porch,” Middleton says. “When people come out of the convention center, they can walk there to take a ‘chill pill.’”
Close in size to the Hilton is the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, with 1,840 guest rooms. Only a few blocks from the convention center, the newly remodeled Sheraton offers 260,000 sq. ft. of ballrooms, boardrooms and entertainment suites.
Other Houston meetings options include the newly renovated Hyatt Regency Houston, which features 947 guest rooms and 71,300 sq. ft. of meeting space, including an on-site exhibition hall; the Omni Houston Hotel, with 378 rooms and 32,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and a new 10,000-square-foot ballroom; and The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa, with 289 rooms and 32,000 sq. ft. of function space, as well as a 17,000-square-foot spa.
Your group can relax by taking in a show at the nearby Theater District, also downtown, which includes the Wortham Center, home to Houston’s Ballet and Grand Opera, and the Jesse H. Jones Hall, where the Houston Symphony performs. A short distance away is the Museum District, with 18 museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, located near the Texas Medical Center, Rice University and Herman Park.
One of those partners is the 119-room Tremont House, a Wyndham historical hotel in the Strand District that reopened June 1. “The main message is that Galveston has done an amazing job of coming back after Ike,” says Patty Rouse, director of sales and marketing with the Tremont House and its sister properties, the Hotel Galvez and smaller inn-style Harbor House. Both the Tremont House and 224-room Hotel Galvez offer significant meeting space, 14,700 and 14,025 sq. ft., respectively. “We had a pretty fair summer all the way around,” Rouse adds, “but we’re starting to see the meeting and convention business come back to the island.”
Larger meetings and functions usually flock to the island’s two convention centers. The Galveston Island Convention Center at the San Luis Resort sits along bustling Seawall Boulevard and has 140,000 sq. ft. of total meeting space, including 43,100 sq. ft. in a column-free exhibition hall, 15,500 in the grand ballroom, 29,000 for prefunction space and 12,000 of breakout meeting space. There are more than 700 adjacent hotel rooms, 250 of which are in the San Luis Resort, Spa & Conference Center, which in itself has 23,540 sq. ft. of meeting space. Across the island, the Moody Gardens Hotel & Convention Center offers 428 guest rooms and 100,000 sq. ft. of combined meeting space, including 60,000 within a barrier-free ballroom.
The city’s convention center, the American Bank Center has more than 500,000 sq. ft., with a 76,500-square-foot exhibit hall, 22 meeting rooms, a 20,000-square-foot ballroom and the 2,526-seat Selena Auditorium. Nearby is the Ortiz International Center, with a banquet hall and outdoor plaza, and meeting rooms ranging from 580 to 16,500 sq. ft.
Time spent between and after meetings can include trips to the Texas State Aquarium, the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History with its re-creations of Columbus’ ships, and the USS Lexington Museum, where the aircraft carrier’s hangar deck offers 40,000 sq. ft. of unique space for meetings, banquets and more.
Many conventioneers find themselves in the city’s premier venue, the Dallas Convention Center, located downtown near architect I.M. Pei’s angled City Hall design and the bronzed longhorn statues of Pioneer Plaza. With 203,000 sq. ft., the convention center is in the largest column-free exhibit hall in the country. It also has 726,700 sq. ft. of contiguous exhibit space, 96 meeting rooms, a theater seating 1,750 and a 9,800-seat arena. A venue popular for hosting car, boat and RV shows is Market Hall in the Dallas Market Center, a consumer exhibit hall with 200,000 sq. ft. of space.
The Metroplex also has its share of excellent stadiums. American Airlines Center is home to the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and has 840,000 sq. ft., with 20,000 seats for center-stage events and smaller meeting rooms holding 200, 100 and 50 seats. The legendary Cotton Bowl at Fair Park seats 68,000 and offers more than 500,000 sq. ft. of outdoor malls, plazas and festival areas for special events. The newly opened Dallas Cowboys Stadium and Rangers Ballpark are in Arlington.
There’s no shortage of spacious Dallas chain hotels, including such brands as Marriott, Westin and Hyatt, to name a few—starting off with the Grand Hyatt DFW, an elegant airport hotel integrated into International Terminal D. The hotel offers 298 guest rooms and 34,000 sq. ft. of function space, with 45 meeting rooms and 20 conference suites.
Other options are The Fairmont Dallas, located in the Dallas Arts District, which provides 545 guest rooms and 73,000 sq. ft. of space, including 27 meeting rooms, and The Adolphus, founded in 1912, which has 422 guest rooms and 24,000 sq. ft. of meeting space. For smaller functions in what may be the city’s most prestigious hotel, the 143-room Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek has 6,000 sq. ft. accommodating up to 300 people for meetings and 400 for events.
The city’s up-and-coming star is the newly opened, multivenue Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. With its opera house, theater and outdoor entertainment, it’s now one of the largest such complexes in the country. Other new developments include the 1,000-room Dallas Convention Center Hotel, scheduled to open in 2011 or 2012.
That Western feel is reflected within some of the city’s historic areas and venues. The Stockyards National Historic District with gas-lit cobblestone streets, has retained its turn-of-the-20th-Century look, and it’s where the world’s only daily cattle drive takes place. Weekly rodeos are held in the 2,300-seat Cowtown Coliseum where the world’s first indoor rodeo was held in 1918. Home of the annual livestock show, the Will Rogers Memorial Center has 100,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, a livestock facility, coliseum, theater and equestrian center.
The city’s Western heritage, however, should not overshadow first-class meeting space and cultural institutions, including downtown’s Bass Performance Hall, which hosts the ballet, opera and symphony, and the Kimbell Art Museum in the Cultural District. The recently renovated Fort Worth Convention Center has more than 253,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space, 41 breakout rooms, a 28,000-square-foot ballroom and a 10,500-seat arena.
Hotels near the convention center include the 614-room Omni Fort Worth with nearly 68,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, and 22,000 sq. ft. in the 431-room Sheraton Fort Worth Hotel and Spa. “The number of guest rooms downtown has doubled thanks to new and renovated hotels, allowing the city to host larger meetings than ever before,” DuBois says.
Centrally located in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, the Arlington Convention Center offers 48,600 sq. ft. of column-free space with 30,000 in its Grand Hall, more than 10,000 for indoor prefunction space, and 12 smaller meeting rooms with 8,500 sq. ft. Hotel meeting space includes 26,000 sq. ft. at the Sheraton, 11,000 at the Hilton and 5,300 at the Crowne Plaza.
Just southeast of DFW Airport, Irving is looking forward to the late-2010 opening of the new Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, which will offer close to 100,000 sq. ft. of exhibit, conference and event space. Irving also has a dozen or so full-service meeting hotels—Four Seasons, Marriott, Hilton, Omni, Westin and Sheraton—offering a total of 200,000 sq. ft. of meeting space.
Larger conventions, however, should look into booking their functions at Grapevine hotels. The colossal Gaylord Texan Resort, with its spacious glass atriums, is surrounded by pastureland and overlooks shimmering Lake Grapevine. With 1,511 guest rooms, the Gaylord Texan offers more than 400,000 sq. ft. of meeting, prefunction and exhibition space in more than 80 rooms. The 811-room Hyatt Regency DFW has 92,000 sq. ft. of function space, including a 21,000-square-foot ballroom, an 18,000-square-foot exhibit hall and 70 meeting rooms.
Among things to do in between meetings include riding in early 20th century, Victorian-style coaches aboard the Grapevine Vintage Railroad, and visiting some of the local wineries.
For a unique Frisco meeting experience, Pizza Hut Park Stadium Club sits within this suburban stadium that hosts soccer games, high school football and other functions. The Stadium Club has 6,500 sq. ft. with a view of the playing field. The newly renovated Dr Pepper Arena, formerly the Dr Pepper StarCenter, sits across from the Frisco Conference Center and is ideal for sporting events, trade shows, exhibitions and concerts, providing seating for up to 6,100.
Meeting planners opting for more of a rural experience in the heart of Texas—one offering treks into the outdoors—might opt to hold their meetings at a resort surrounded by the likes of golf courses, vineyards and waterways within forested areas that are ideal for canoeing, kayaking and hiking. Twenty miles north of downtown San Antonio and 12 miles from the airport, the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa is scheduled to open in early 2010. The sprawling hotel has 1,002 rooms and 140,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including 40,500 sq. ft. in the ballroom and 12 meeting rooms, plus two TPC golf courses.
Closer to Austin, Horseshoe Bay Resort sits adjacent to peaceful Lake LBJ, close to an hour’s drive west-northwest of Austin’s airport. This complex includes 50 luxury lakefront condominiums, 117 suites and villas, and the 385-room Horseshoe Bay Resort Marriott Hotel, which features 50,000 sq. ft. of meeting space in 31 rooms. The Lakeway Resort and Spa overlooks scenic Lake Travis with 173 guest rooms and 24,000 sq. ft. of IACC-approved conference space, including 17 meeting rooms and four ballrooms, one of them a 5,200-square-foot glass-enclosed ballroom.
It’s an easy stroll from many of the upscale and boutique hotels along the tree-shrouded River Walk to the city’s main meeting venue, the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, adjacent to the landmark Tower of the Americas and the Institute of Texan Cultures museum. The convention center has more than 600,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, with 440,000 sq. ft. as a contiguous exhibition area, a 40,000-square-foot grand ballroom and the 2,521-seat Lila Cockrell Theatre for the Performing Arts.
San Antonio’s main convention hotels can also accommodate large groups. The 1,003-room Grand Hyatt San Antonio flanks the convention center and has more than 115,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including two ballrooms, 29 breakout rooms and balcony space. Also with 1,001 rooms, the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter towers over the Rivercenter Mall and features 60,000 sq. ft. within 36 meeting rooms. For a contemporary setting with a mix of Old World palazzo and modern luxury, the 213-room Hotel Valencia Riverwalk is one of many River Walk hotels that are ideal for corporate meetings and smaller conferences. Its more than 7,000 sq. ft. of meeting space includes 975 sq. ft. in an open-air courtyard—a good way to enjoy San Antonio’s mild climate while working.
“Some groups have heard about a Texas feel, but what they want is an Austin feel—the music scene, Austin City Limits, barbecue and (the popular music venue) Antone’s,” says Linda Atkins, director of convention services for the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau. “They like that it’s not a huge city, there’s still plenty to do, it’s compact and walkable, and there’s entertainment at their back door,” she says.
The city’s main meeting and conference venue, the Austin Convention Center, sits just a block or two from the shaded jogging and biking trails along Lady Bird Lake, and within walking distance to many of downtown’s 5,500 hotel rooms. The convention center offers 374,255 sq. ft. of meeting space—five exhibit halls with 246,097 sq. ft., including a 43,000-square-foot grand ballroom and 55,000 sq. ft. within meeting rooms and offices.
Across Lady Bird Lake is another large venue, the 131,000-square-foot, two-level Palmer Events Center, which features 70,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space and excellent views of downtown.
Austin’s newest meeting facility, the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, skirts the University of Texas campus just to the north of the State Capitol Building. It has 40,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and 297 guest rooms. Visits to the nearby Texas State History Museum and the Blanton Museum of Art is time well spent.
For hosting parties in some of Austin’s music hotspots, Stubbs BBQ is a roomy restaurant/music venue three blocks from Sixth Street that brings in national acts. Described as very “Sinatra,” The Belmont is nearby on West Sixth Street. Attracting an older, upscale crowd, it offers an upstairs and downstairs patio in addition to a small private dining room. And there’s Maggie Mae’s, a 25-year-old rockin’ institution that’s ideal for evening receptions, with 14,000 sq. ft. of event space.
Post-meeting sightseeing should include visits to the area’s three historic missions along the Mission Trail. Or take your group on the Wyler Aerial Tramway, which ascends the 5,632-foot-high Ranger Peak in the Franklin Mountains, where dramatic views stretch into bordering Mexico and New Mexico.
For exhibitions and meetings, the Midland Center features the 12,500-square-foot Exhibit Hall, accommodating up to 900 people for banquets and 1,200 for seminars or concerts. The Clarion Hotel & Conference Center is situated between the downtown and the airport, with 25,300 total sq. ft. within ballrooms, boardrooms and the 15,000-square-foot Villa Convention Center. Odessa’s meeting venues include the Ector County Coliseum with 158,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, horse arena area and theater that seats up to 7,000. The West Texas Event Center offers a total of 20,000 sq. ft. in nine meeting rooms.
Other popular meeting venues are within the city’s most noted institution, Texas Tech University. The 15,000-seat United Spirit Arena hosts Texas Tech basketball games, exhibitions, concerts and meetings, with 81,000 sq. ft. within its concourse and 31,900 on the arena floor. Its meeting facilities include the City Bank Conference Center, which divides into four 1,300-square-foot meeting rooms. Texas Tech’s football games are held at the Jones AT&T Stadium, with meeting space available at its Stadium Club and Suite Level I Lounge, accommodating up to 600 and 400 people respectively.
Conventions are held in the 340,000-square-foot Civic Center, housing a coliseum, two exhibit halls, two auditoriums and ballrooms for banquets and meetings. Hotels include the Holiday Inn Amarillo with 248 guest rooms and nearly 4,900 sq. ft. of meeting space. The Ambassador Hotel has 265 guest rooms and eight meeting rooms totaling 8,500 sq. ft.
Richard Varr is a Houston-based freelance writer and has traveled extensively throughout the state of Texas. He is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers.
For more information on properties, venues and attractions in Texas, visit smartmeetings.com/showcases/texas. Back to Top
Fort Worth: Located within the Stockyards National Historical District, Billy Bob’s Texas has been referred to as the “World’s Largest Honky-Tonk.” It includes live bull riding and hosts country music’s top performers.
San Antonio: On the south side of town, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park with its four well-preserved, early 18th century missions is an excellent choice for sightseeing.
Houston: No trip to Houston would be complete without a stop at Space Center Houston, where the gripping words “Houston, we have a problem” echoed when the crippled Apollo 13th spacecraft drifted back to Earth. Located 25 minutes south of downtown, visitors can browse old spacecraft, spacesuits and moon rocks, and can tour training facilities and the old Mission Control inside the adjacent Johnson Space Center.
Dallas: The life and legacy of the 35th U.S. President is honored at downtown’s John F. Kennedy Memorial and Sixth Floor Museum, formerly the Texas School Book Depository Building, from where President Kennedy’s fatal shots were fired.
Lubbock: Favorite son, guitarist and songwriter Buddy Holly is memorialized with the Buddy Holly Center and the nearby Buddy Holly Statue and Walk of Fame. Back to Top
When it comes to planning a meeting, however, Texas’ sheer size is also reflected by its wide-ranging metropolitan areas, dominating central U.S. location and its lower cost of living—critical factors that help make a meeting planner’s job a bit easier. “Texas is a very affordable state,” says Debbie Farnum, a meeting planner with the Texas Association of School Boards in Austin, a group that holds its meetings only in Texas. “We have a diverse range of hotels, activities and cultures, and that makes Texas very attractive.”
Represented by Texas Tourism, three of the nation’s 10 most populated cities are in the state: Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. Each have rich cultural highlights—from performing arts in Dallas and Houston to Fort Worth’s cattle drives; or spicy Tex-Mex in San Antonio to Austin’s world-renowned music scene. “For meeting planners, our exciting cities feature world-class facilities, hotels, resorts, dining and entertainment where you can get the job done and also have fun,” says Aaron Demerson, executive director for the Texas Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism Division. “Our focus on business has led Texas to be home to more Fortune 500 and 1000 headquarter companies than any other state.”
CVB staffs statewide are eagerly awaiting bookings with a Texas welcome. “I look for what fits at the right price,” Farnum says. “I use the CVBs in each of these locations. They know everything about the venues, so I don’t have to do all the legwork.”
GULF COAST
Flanked by the warm Gulf of Mexico waters, 624 miles of Texas’ sandy coastline stretch from Louisiana to Mexico. It’s where some of the state’s premier meeting facilities can be found within vibrant coastal area cities—Houston, Galveston and Corpus Christi, home to such attractions as Houston’s world-class cultural institutions, NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the Texas Aquarium.Houston
Those who call Houston home—most of whom are from somewhere else—will tell you that their city is cosmopolitan, progressive and prosperous, and despite its being the nation’s fourth largest city, surprisingly friendly. When it comes to booking meetings in the Bayou City, accessibility and affordability are big draws as well.“Smart meeting planners are bringing their meetings to Houston,” says Ken Middleton, vice president of sales at the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. “You can get New York energy at an affordable price in Houston.”
Because Houston’s two airports provide direct flights to more than 125 cities, it’s easily accessible from either coast. “I can be in New York before noon,” he says, “and I can leave Houston and be in L.A. [on a] later morning flight.”
Houston has two of the country’s top 10 convention centers. The downtown George R. Brown Convention Center has 1.2 million sq. ft. of leasing space, including 639,000 sq. ft. of contiguous exhibit space on the ground level and an additional 223,000 of upper level exhibit space. There’s also 185,000 sq. ft. within 100 meeting rooms. The other convention facility is Reliant Center in Reliant Park, a complex spanning 350 acres that is ideal for sporting events and oversized trade shows. Reliant Center and three other venues, Reliant Astrodome (Houston Astrodome), Reliant Stadium and the Reliant Arena, offer a total of 1.6 million sq. ft. of exhibit space.
Available hotel rooms range upward of 5,000 downtown, 3,000 in the Reliant Park area and 6,000 in Uptown, with the landmark Williams Tower and Houston Galleria shopping complex. Leading the way is the city’s foremost convention hotel, the 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston. The Hilton connects to the GRB with skywalks and is directly across from Discovery Green, a recently opened park with shady trees, fountains, a putting green, stage and even a shallow lake for remote-controlled watercraft. “Discovery Green is Houston’s new front porch,” Middleton says. “When people come out of the convention center, they can walk there to take a ‘chill pill.’”
Close in size to the Hilton is the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, with 1,840 guest rooms. Only a few blocks from the convention center, the newly remodeled Sheraton offers 260,000 sq. ft. of ballrooms, boardrooms and entertainment suites.
Other Houston meetings options include the newly renovated Hyatt Regency Houston, which features 947 guest rooms and 71,300 sq. ft. of meeting space, including an on-site exhibition hall; the Omni Houston Hotel, with 378 rooms and 32,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and a new 10,000-square-foot ballroom; and The Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa, with 289 rooms and 32,000 sq. ft. of function space, as well as a 17,000-square-foot spa.
Your group can relax by taking in a show at the nearby Theater District, also downtown, which includes the Wortham Center, home to Houston’s Ballet and Grand Opera, and the Jesse H. Jones Hall, where the Houston Symphony performs. A short distance away is the Museum District, with 18 museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, located near the Texas Medical Center, Rice University and Herman Park.
Galveston
A historic port city and weekend escape destination for Houstonians, Galveston’s sandy beaches are often a scenic backdrop for meetings and conventions. Despite taking a direct hit from Hurricane Ike in September 2008, the island city has made steady progress cleaning up and rebuilding after a massive storm surge flooded the Strand Historic District and washed away shoreline homes. “More than 90% of our tourism partners are up and running,” says Meg Winchester, director of the Galveston Island Convention and Visitors Bureau. “The resilience of both the hospitality community and residents has been remarkable.”One of those partners is the 119-room Tremont House, a Wyndham historical hotel in the Strand District that reopened June 1. “The main message is that Galveston has done an amazing job of coming back after Ike,” says Patty Rouse, director of sales and marketing with the Tremont House and its sister properties, the Hotel Galvez and smaller inn-style Harbor House. Both the Tremont House and 224-room Hotel Galvez offer significant meeting space, 14,700 and 14,025 sq. ft., respectively. “We had a pretty fair summer all the way around,” Rouse adds, “but we’re starting to see the meeting and convention business come back to the island.”
Larger meetings and functions usually flock to the island’s two convention centers. The Galveston Island Convention Center at the San Luis Resort sits along bustling Seawall Boulevard and has 140,000 sq. ft. of total meeting space, including 43,100 sq. ft. in a column-free exhibition hall, 15,500 in the grand ballroom, 29,000 for prefunction space and 12,000 of breakout meeting space. There are more than 700 adjacent hotel rooms, 250 of which are in the San Luis Resort, Spa & Conference Center, which in itself has 23,540 sq. ft. of meeting space. Across the island, the Moody Gardens Hotel & Convention Center offers 428 guest rooms and 100,000 sq. ft. of combined meeting space, including 60,000 within a barrier-free ballroom.
Corpus Christi
Halfway between Houston and the Mexico border, Corpus Christi is refreshed by cooling gulf breezes. Its skyline consists of two prominent hotel towers—the Omni Corpus Christi Bayfront Tower and Omni Corpus Christi Marina Tower with 474 and 346 guest rooms, respectively. The Bayfront Tower has eight meeting rooms ranging from 455 sq. ft. to 10,050 sq. ft., while the Marina Tower offers more than 10,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting space.The city’s convention center, the American Bank Center has more than 500,000 sq. ft., with a 76,500-square-foot exhibit hall, 22 meeting rooms, a 20,000-square-foot ballroom and the 2,526-seat Selena Auditorium. Nearby is the Ortiz International Center, with a banquet hall and outdoor plaza, and meeting rooms ranging from 580 to 16,500 sq. ft.
Time spent between and after meetings can include trips to the Texas State Aquarium, the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History with its re-creations of Columbus’ ships, and the USS Lexington Museum, where the aircraft carrier’s hangar deck offers 40,000 sq. ft. of unique space for meetings, banquets and more.
PRAIRIES AND LAKES
Referred to as North Texas, this region of ranchlands and pastures includes the sprawling Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, Texas’ largest metropolitan area and the nation’s fourth largest. Separated by about 30 miles, Dallas’ urbane feel comfortably blends with Fort Worth’s Western heritage, although both cities have outstanding cultural venues and fine arts museums. Growing suburban cities within the Metroplex offer expansive meeting facilities of their own, providing a wide-ranging choice of venues and prices.Dallas
The nation’s 9th largest city, the “Big D” as it’s called, exudes glitz and panache through its sparkling glass towers, vibrant entertainment districts and trendy restaurants. Coupled with its central location, this upscale image has made Dallas one of the state’s most popular meeting places.Many conventioneers find themselves in the city’s premier venue, the Dallas Convention Center, located downtown near architect I.M. Pei’s angled City Hall design and the bronzed longhorn statues of Pioneer Plaza. With 203,000 sq. ft., the convention center is in the largest column-free exhibit hall in the country. It also has 726,700 sq. ft. of contiguous exhibit space, 96 meeting rooms, a theater seating 1,750 and a 9,800-seat arena. A venue popular for hosting car, boat and RV shows is Market Hall in the Dallas Market Center, a consumer exhibit hall with 200,000 sq. ft. of space.
The Metroplex also has its share of excellent stadiums. American Airlines Center is home to the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and has 840,000 sq. ft., with 20,000 seats for center-stage events and smaller meeting rooms holding 200, 100 and 50 seats. The legendary Cotton Bowl at Fair Park seats 68,000 and offers more than 500,000 sq. ft. of outdoor malls, plazas and festival areas for special events. The newly opened Dallas Cowboys Stadium and Rangers Ballpark are in Arlington.
There’s no shortage of spacious Dallas chain hotels, including such brands as Marriott, Westin and Hyatt, to name a few—starting off with the Grand Hyatt DFW, an elegant airport hotel integrated into International Terminal D. The hotel offers 298 guest rooms and 34,000 sq. ft. of function space, with 45 meeting rooms and 20 conference suites.
Other options are The Fairmont Dallas, located in the Dallas Arts District, which provides 545 guest rooms and 73,000 sq. ft. of space, including 27 meeting rooms, and The Adolphus, founded in 1912, which has 422 guest rooms and 24,000 sq. ft. of meeting space. For smaller functions in what may be the city’s most prestigious hotel, the 143-room Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek has 6,000 sq. ft. accommodating up to 300 people for meetings and 400 for events.
The city’s up-and-coming star is the newly opened, multivenue Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. With its opera house, theater and outdoor entertainment, it’s now one of the largest such complexes in the country. Other new developments include the 1,000-room Dallas Convention Center Hotel, scheduled to open in 2011 or 2012.
Fort Worth
Texas has several truly distinctive cities and Fort Worth, the nation’s 17th largest, is one of them. Known for its “unique blend of ‘cowboys and culture,’ Fort Worth offers an incredible mix of historic and cultural attractions,” says David DuBois, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The city is easily accessible, too, with a central U.S. location and the convenience of many direct flights to DFW International Airport.”That Western feel is reflected within some of the city’s historic areas and venues. The Stockyards National Historic District with gas-lit cobblestone streets, has retained its turn-of-the-20th-Century look, and it’s where the world’s only daily cattle drive takes place. Weekly rodeos are held in the 2,300-seat Cowtown Coliseum where the world’s first indoor rodeo was held in 1918. Home of the annual livestock show, the Will Rogers Memorial Center has 100,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space, a livestock facility, coliseum, theater and equestrian center.
The city’s Western heritage, however, should not overshadow first-class meeting space and cultural institutions, including downtown’s Bass Performance Hall, which hosts the ballet, opera and symphony, and the Kimbell Art Museum in the Cultural District. The recently renovated Fort Worth Convention Center has more than 253,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space, 41 breakout rooms, a 28,000-square-foot ballroom and a 10,500-seat arena.
Hotels near the convention center include the 614-room Omni Fort Worth with nearly 68,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, and 22,000 sq. ft. in the 431-room Sheraton Fort Worth Hotel and Spa. “The number of guest rooms downtown has doubled thanks to new and renovated hotels, allowing the city to host larger meetings than ever before,” DuBois says.
Arlington/Irving
The big excitement in Arlington this fall has been the newly opened Dallas Cowboys Stadium, in which the Cowboys have played their games this season. The stadium, which seats 80,000 but can be expanded to 100,000, is expected to host Superbowl XLV in early 2011 (book early for this time period). Meeting planners intrigued with the team may want to plan their events in Cowboy Stadium’s two main concourse clubs accommodating up to 2,500 guests, or 700 guests in the two Silver Level clubs. Arlington is also home to Rangers Ballpark, where its Diamond Club has 17,000 sq. ft. and the Legends of the Game Museum has 24,000 sq. ft.Centrally located in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, the Arlington Convention Center offers 48,600 sq. ft. of column-free space with 30,000 in its Grand Hall, more than 10,000 for indoor prefunction space, and 12 smaller meeting rooms with 8,500 sq. ft. Hotel meeting space includes 26,000 sq. ft. at the Sheraton, 11,000 at the Hilton and 5,300 at the Crowne Plaza.
Just southeast of DFW Airport, Irving is looking forward to the late-2010 opening of the new Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, which will offer close to 100,000 sq. ft. of exhibit, conference and event space. Irving also has a dozen or so full-service meeting hotels—Four Seasons, Marriott, Hilton, Omni, Westin and Sheraton—offering a total of 200,000 sq. ft. of meeting space.
Grapevine
Also centrally located within the Metroplex, Grapevine may be the answer for meeting planners who want their events held in an airport’s backyard. This city, with its world-class facilities, is the home of DFW International Airport, one of the country’s largest central hubs. The Grapevine Convention Center is only a five-minute drive away and has 23,500 sq. ft. of flexible meeting space.Larger conventions, however, should look into booking their functions at Grapevine hotels. The colossal Gaylord Texan Resort, with its spacious glass atriums, is surrounded by pastureland and overlooks shimmering Lake Grapevine. With 1,511 guest rooms, the Gaylord Texan offers more than 400,000 sq. ft. of meeting, prefunction and exhibition space in more than 80 rooms. The 811-room Hyatt Regency DFW has 92,000 sq. ft. of function space, including a 21,000-square-foot ballroom, an 18,000-square-foot exhibit hall and 70 meeting rooms.
Among things to do in between meetings include riding in early 20th century, Victorian-style coaches aboard the Grapevine Vintage Railroad, and visiting some of the local wineries.
Frisco
This suburban community is home to the Frisco Conference Center, the largest meeting facility in the growing northern Dallas area. The center houses the second largest ballroom in Texas and features 90,000 sq. ft. of meeting and event space, 14 breakout rooms and a full-service business center. It’s connected to the 330-room Embassy Suites Dallas-Frisco/Hotel, Convention Center & Spa. Also nearby is The Westin Stonebriar, a 301-room hotel with 24,000 sq. ft. of meeting space of its own. Eight other hotels offering a range from standard to luxury accommodations bring the total room count to 1,500.For a unique Frisco meeting experience, Pizza Hut Park Stadium Club sits within this suburban stadium that hosts soccer games, high school football and other functions. The Stadium Club has 6,500 sq. ft. with a view of the playing field. The newly renovated Dr Pepper Arena, formerly the Dr Pepper StarCenter, sits across from the Frisco Conference Center and is ideal for sporting events, trade shows, exhibitions and concerts, providing seating for up to 6,100.
HILL COUNTRY
Sparkling rivers and streams meander around gently sloping hills, draining into some of the state’s most impressive lakes in an area where springtime tints the countryside with the blue hues of Bluebonnets. The Texas Hill Country sits to the west and northwest of Austin and San Antonio, with many popular areas easily within an hour’s drive from both cities and their international airports.Meeting planners opting for more of a rural experience in the heart of Texas—one offering treks into the outdoors—might opt to hold their meetings at a resort surrounded by the likes of golf courses, vineyards and waterways within forested areas that are ideal for canoeing, kayaking and hiking. Twenty miles north of downtown San Antonio and 12 miles from the airport, the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa is scheduled to open in early 2010. The sprawling hotel has 1,002 rooms and 140,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including 40,500 sq. ft. in the ballroom and 12 meeting rooms, plus two TPC golf courses.
Closer to Austin, Horseshoe Bay Resort sits adjacent to peaceful Lake LBJ, close to an hour’s drive west-northwest of Austin’s airport. This complex includes 50 luxury lakefront condominiums, 117 suites and villas, and the 385-room Horseshoe Bay Resort Marriott Hotel, which features 50,000 sq. ft. of meeting space in 31 rooms. The Lakeway Resort and Spa overlooks scenic Lake Travis with 173 guest rooms and 24,000 sq. ft. of IACC-approved conference space, including 17 meeting rooms and four ballrooms, one of them a 5,200-square-foot glass-enclosed ballroom.
San Antonio
Walkable, historic and one-of-a-kind are words often used to describe the nation’s 7th largest city. Home of the stone-chipped Alamo, Tejano culture and festive River Walk, San Antonio offers a cultural experience like no other. “Ours is a very unique city and it’s not like going to a downtown location that looks like any other city,” points out Steve Clayton, vice president of sales with the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We have great Mexican restaurants and those who come to visit love to try them.”It’s an easy stroll from many of the upscale and boutique hotels along the tree-shrouded River Walk to the city’s main meeting venue, the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, adjacent to the landmark Tower of the Americas and the Institute of Texan Cultures museum. The convention center has more than 600,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, with 440,000 sq. ft. as a contiguous exhibition area, a 40,000-square-foot grand ballroom and the 2,521-seat Lila Cockrell Theatre for the Performing Arts.
San Antonio’s main convention hotels can also accommodate large groups. The 1,003-room Grand Hyatt San Antonio flanks the convention center and has more than 115,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including two ballrooms, 29 breakout rooms and balcony space. Also with 1,001 rooms, the San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter towers over the Rivercenter Mall and features 60,000 sq. ft. within 36 meeting rooms. For a contemporary setting with a mix of Old World palazzo and modern luxury, the 213-room Hotel Valencia Riverwalk is one of many River Walk hotels that are ideal for corporate meetings and smaller conferences. Its more than 7,000 sq. ft. of meeting space includes 975 sq. ft. in an open-air courtyard—a good way to enjoy San Antonio’s mild climate while working.
Austin
With one walk down club- and bar-studded Sixth Street on any given night, visitors to this youth-driven city will quickly realize why Austin has earned the title “Live Music Capital of the World.” Home to 200 live music venues and the city’s signature Austin City Limits performance show, it’s this vibrant music scene and an extraordinary environmental consciousness that give Austin its grassroots character.“Some groups have heard about a Texas feel, but what they want is an Austin feel—the music scene, Austin City Limits, barbecue and (the popular music venue) Antone’s,” says Linda Atkins, director of convention services for the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau. “They like that it’s not a huge city, there’s still plenty to do, it’s compact and walkable, and there’s entertainment at their back door,” she says.
The city’s main meeting and conference venue, the Austin Convention Center, sits just a block or two from the shaded jogging and biking trails along Lady Bird Lake, and within walking distance to many of downtown’s 5,500 hotel rooms. The convention center offers 374,255 sq. ft. of meeting space—five exhibit halls with 246,097 sq. ft., including a 43,000-square-foot grand ballroom and 55,000 sq. ft. within meeting rooms and offices.
Across Lady Bird Lake is another large venue, the 131,000-square-foot, two-level Palmer Events Center, which features 70,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space and excellent views of downtown.
Austin’s newest meeting facility, the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, skirts the University of Texas campus just to the north of the State Capitol Building. It has 40,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and 297 guest rooms. Visits to the nearby Texas State History Museum and the Blanton Museum of Art is time well spent.
For hosting parties in some of Austin’s music hotspots, Stubbs BBQ is a roomy restaurant/music venue three blocks from Sixth Street that brings in national acts. Described as very “Sinatra,” The Belmont is nearby on West Sixth Street. Attracting an older, upscale crowd, it offers an upstairs and downstairs patio in addition to a small private dining room. And there’s Maggie Mae’s, a 25-year-old rockin’ institution that’s ideal for evening receptions, with 14,000 sq. ft. of event space.
BIG BEND COUNTRY
This is the birthplace of many a Texas legend: Wild West roots, arid desert plains, rocky mountain ranges and “big sky” as far as the eye can see. Stretching from the Rio Grande on the southern edge to the New Mexico border, highlights of this wide-open region include the jagged Chisos Mountains of Big Bend National Park, the mysterious Marfa Lights and Fort Davis, one of the best preserved old western frontier posts.El Paso
The Big Bend region’s largest city, El Paso is in fact the nation’s 21st largest, and often considered the gateway to the area. In the heart of downtown, the Judson F. Williams Convention Center accommodates the city’s largest groups and conventions with 80,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space—14,900 sq. ft. within its 17 meeting rooms, and banquet seating for up to 5,300. Two adjacent theaters offer facilities for presentations and entertainment: the 2,500-seat Abraham Chavez Theater and the 2,000-seat Plaza Theater. In addition, the McKelligon Canyon Amphitheater holds 1,500.Post-meeting sightseeing should include visits to the area’s three historic missions along the Mission Trail. Or take your group on the Wyler Aerial Tramway, which ascends the 5,632-foot-high Ranger Peak in the Franklin Mountains, where dramatic views stretch into bordering Mexico and New Mexico.
Midland/Odessa
Once home to both Presidents Bush (41st and 43rd) as they developed the family’s oil business, the Bush family roots come to life with George W. Bush’s Childhood Home in Midland and Odessa’s Presidential Museum and Bush Home. The Midland-Odessa Metroplex sits within the Permian Basin Oil Field, one of the world’s largest.For exhibitions and meetings, the Midland Center features the 12,500-square-foot Exhibit Hall, accommodating up to 900 people for banquets and 1,200 for seminars or concerts. The Clarion Hotel & Conference Center is situated between the downtown and the airport, with 25,300 total sq. ft. within ballrooms, boardrooms and the 15,000-square-foot Villa Convention Center. Odessa’s meeting venues include the Ector County Coliseum with 158,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, horse arena area and theater that seats up to 7,000. The West Texas Event Center offers a total of 20,000 sq. ft. in nine meeting rooms.
PANHANDLE PLAINS
Twenty-first Century cowboys and Indians still ride the plains of the Texas Panhandle, nestled between New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east. Meeting planners visiting the region’s largest cities, Lubbock and Amarillo, will find not only venues for meetings and conventions, but also livestock and rodeo arenas indicative of the region’s western themes.Lubbock
Birthplace of legendary ’50s rocker Buddy Holly, Lubbock is home to the Buddy Holly Center, a cultural arts center highlighting the life of one of West Texas’ favorite sons. Its central location is not far from downtown’s Lubbock Memorial Civic Center, ideal for conventions, trade shows and large meetings. The civic center has 300,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including 40,000 with its exhibit hall, 12 meeting rooms and a 14,105-square-foot banquet hall. The 15-story, 303-room Overton Hotel and Conference Center has nearly 20,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting space, which encompasses a 11,250-square-foot, column-free ballroom, the largest in Lubbock.Other popular meeting venues are within the city’s most noted institution, Texas Tech University. The 15,000-seat United Spirit Arena hosts Texas Tech basketball games, exhibitions, concerts and meetings, with 81,000 sq. ft. within its concourse and 31,900 on the arena floor. Its meeting facilities include the City Bank Conference Center, which divides into four 1,300-square-foot meeting rooms. Texas Tech’s football games are held at the Jones AT&T Stadium, with meeting space available at its Stadium Club and Suite Level I Lounge, accommodating up to 600 and 400 people respectively.
Amarillo
Cows and steers graze all over the Lone Star State, but the largest city in the Texas Panhandle city is a major cattle town with, likely, the world’s largest private cattle auction. Following along its true Western heritage, the Tri-State Expo Complex holds many farming and ranching events. The facility can seat up to 10,000 people within its 160,000-square-foot event center, which includes exhibit buildings, stalls and a 54,000-square-foot covered livestock/all-purpose building.Conventions are held in the 340,000-square-foot Civic Center, housing a coliseum, two exhibit halls, two auditoriums and ballrooms for banquets and meetings. Hotels include the Holiday Inn Amarillo with 248 guest rooms and nearly 4,900 sq. ft. of meeting space. The Ambassador Hotel has 265 guest rooms and eight meeting rooms totaling 8,500 sq. ft.
Richard Varr is a Houston-based freelance writer and has traveled extensively throughout the state of Texas. He is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers.
For more information on properties, venues and attractions in Texas, visit smartmeetings.com/showcases/texas. Back to Top
Getting There
- Houston is served by two airports. George Bush Intercontinental Airport is situated 23 miles north of downtown Houston. Seventeen scheduled airlines provide service to more than 170 international and domestic destinations. Located seven miles south of downtown, William P. Hobby Airport is served by five scheduled airlines that offer nonstop or direct service to more than 31 U.S. destinations.
- One of the largest and most centrally located airports in the country, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport sits between Dallas and Fort Worth and serves 171 destinations through 18 domestic and foreign airlines. The region’s other major airport, Love Field Airport, is served by three airlines and is located seven miles northwest of downtown Dallas, just 20 minutes from the convention center and other nearby venues.
- With 15 airlines flying to more than 30 destinations, San Antonio International Airport is eight miles north of downtown. Located about seven miles from downtown, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport has nonstop service to 36 destinations in the U.S. and Canada through nine airlines. Five miles east of downtown, El Paso International Airport offers nonstop service to 16 cities.
- Lubbock Preston Smith Airport, located seven miles north of the city’s central business district, provides service to eight destinations through four airlines. The Midland/Odessa Metroplex uses the Midland International Airport and is served by three airlines—the same number that also fly into Corpus Christi International Airport and Amarillo International Airport.
Not To Be Missed
Austin: The Lyndon B. Johnson Library and Museum on the University of Texas campus details the life of the 36th U.S. President with documents, photos, state gifts and other items, including his 1968 limousine.Fort Worth: Located within the Stockyards National Historical District, Billy Bob’s Texas has been referred to as the “World’s Largest Honky-Tonk.” It includes live bull riding and hosts country music’s top performers.
San Antonio: On the south side of town, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park with its four well-preserved, early 18th century missions is an excellent choice for sightseeing.
Houston: No trip to Houston would be complete without a stop at Space Center Houston, where the gripping words “Houston, we have a problem” echoed when the crippled Apollo 13th spacecraft drifted back to Earth. Located 25 minutes south of downtown, visitors can browse old spacecraft, spacesuits and moon rocks, and can tour training facilities and the old Mission Control inside the adjacent Johnson Space Center.
Dallas: The life and legacy of the 35th U.S. President is honored at downtown’s John F. Kennedy Memorial and Sixth Floor Museum, formerly the Texas School Book Depository Building, from where President Kennedy’s fatal shots were fired.
Lubbock: Favorite son, guitarist and songwriter Buddy Holly is memorialized with the Buddy Holly Center and the nearby Buddy Holly Statue and Walk of Fame. Back to Top
Fast Facts
| Population | 1,240,499 |
|---|---|
| Altitude | 430 ft |
| Temperature | 85°f - 48°f |
| Nearest Airport | Austin-Bergstrom International Airport |
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