HOTEL HAPPENINGS & PROGRAM PROMOTIONS – JULY 2021
Sexual Discrimination in golf packages? You’ll have to read on to see which resort chain only thinks men golf. Venue alert: new hotels and renovated properties are vying for your business. The Galapagos say, “Welcome back”!
OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS
The new Crystal River Rapids ride is an exhilarating way to cool off in Gaylord Palms’ Cypress Springs Water Park.
The two-year, $158 million renovation and expansion of the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center (Kissimmee, FL) has been completed. More than 100,000 sf of meeting space and 306 guest rooms in the new Gulf Coast Tower have been added. Gaylord Palms has 482,745 sf of meeting space, with 76 event rooms and 10,000 sf in the largest space. Florida Exhibition Hall, Florida’s largest in-hotel exhibition facility has 178,500 sf of flexible space. The new meeting spaces add 30,000 sf of breakout space and 30,000 sf of pre-function space. The expansion includes the 306 additional guest rooms, 13,000 sf outdoor terrace and function space, parking garage, and expanded pool offerings. Added fun for adults and youth: the new Crystal River Rapids ride has twists and turns through varied currents amid limestone rock walls in the Cypress Springs Water Park.
The flames from the large stand-alone heater flicked closer to my hair with each breezy gust. I have thick, long curly hair. One errant spark and both my hair and the nightmarish trauma witnessed by the guest seated across from me would turn this corporate event from a fun, relaxing tropical party in the hotel gardens, to absolute disaster.
A short while back there was a viral-bound joke that if vaccination site managers wanted to have their operations, appointments and follow through go smoothly, they should turn to meeting and event planners. The joke continued that not only would the task be done skillfully and to everyone’s satisfaction, but all those seniors who had endured standing in long lines, (sometimes throughout the night), unsure if they’d even score a shot, would have been served snacks, a drink and maybe even a chair. I was likely among the meetings & event Insiders who didn’t see the surface humor in the proposition. I had discussed that same “duh moment” ad nauseum with industry friends and my husband and wondered why no one in charge hadn’t already figured that out. Who better to strategize all the minutia of appointments, parking, cue lines, qualified staff, and follow up visits to fulfillment, than a planner?
