Cresent Terrace photo from Marriott’s press release
Marriott International Convention & Resort Network (CRN) recently reached a milestone of 100 properties in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, was the latest property to come on board, the brand announced this week.
The Disney resort’s lobby is currently undergoing a $12 million renovation that is set to be unveiled in Fall 2017. The Hemispheres Ballroom totals 54,238 sq. ft. and can accommodate nearly 9,500 attendees for a reception.
Swan Ballroom photo from Marriott’s press release
The wide array of brands in Marriott’s CRN includes Westin Hotels & Resorts, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts, JW Marriott, Autograph Collection Hotels, Renaissance Hotels, Marriott Hotels and Gaylord Hotels. The expansion has taken CRN into several new markets, including Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Seattle, Hilton Head, Savannah, Charlotte, Birmingham and Hawaii Island’s Kona Coast. The network also has presence in near Kansas City Crown Plaza, Houston Galleria, Denver Convention Center, downtown Dallas and the Boston waterfront and convention center.
Swan Ballroom photo from Marriott’s press release
“We are excited to enter all of these markets, as CRN can now offer customers increased distribution of highly respected brands across the most-sought-after destinations,” Mike Wainwright, vice president of sales for CRN, says. “These increased markets and locations now allow our Marriott Account Representatives to source additional hotels for those large group meetings to ideally match their desired dates, patterns and space requirements.”
Booking these venues has been made easier as well. CRN debuted a new website with enhanced features for event professionals. It has preselected hotel-search groupings, narrated videos and the MeetingsImagined platform.
“Planners can now view easily grouped options such as hotel type, rooms and space to help them identify potential hotels and destinations. Then they can click on a hotel’s site-visit video to learn more about the CRN properties,” Wainwright explains. “Customers can easily identify like properties for multi-year rotation, as well as visit the Meetings Buzz section to access MeetingsImagined, along with valuable tips, tools and resources. MeetingsImagined is an inspirational planning tool. Meeting planners can use this interactive platform to match key components and events to the meeting purpose and work directly with property event teams to bring their vision to life.”
