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HOTEL HAPPENINGS SADDLEBROOK RESORT IN TAMPA BECOMES NEW MEMBER OF ALHI Tampa, Florida’s popular Saddlebrook Resort has joined Associated Luxury Hotels International (ALHI) as its newest member. The newly renovated resort with exceptional meeting facilities will now receive dedicated National Sales services and support by ALHI as their authorized National Sales extension to the meetings, incentive/recognition travel, and convention marketplaces. Saddlebrook Resort is owned and operat- ed by the Dempsey family. Saddlebrook Resort becomes ALHI’s fifth member on Florida’s West Coast, joining the impressive 485-room South Seas Island Resort on beautiful Captiva Island; the recently renovated Naples Grande Beach Resort & Club, offering 48,770 sq. ft. of meeting space in Naples; the leg- endary Don CeSar Beach Resort, A Loews Hotel on pris- tine St. Pete Beach; and the sophisticated new InterContinental Tampa in the upscale Westshore busi- ness and shopping district in Tampa. For information on any of the ALHI members in Florida, and worldwide, visit www.alhi.com. Saddlebrook Resort is best served by the award-win- ning Tampa International Airport, and features a wealth of offerings to appeal to virtually any group, including 95,000 sq. ft. of versatile meeting and function space with 34 meeting rooms. Newly renovated accommodations surrounding the meeting facilities include 133 deluxe hotel rooms, 162 one-bedroom suites, 240 two-bedroom suites, and 5 VIP suites. Recreational offerings include two Arnold Palmer 18-hole signature golf courses, the Arnold Palmer Golf Academy, a full-service European-style Spa, 45 ten- nis courts in every major tournament surface, a five-acre Team Building site on property, three heated pools including a half- million gallon Superpool, four exceptional restaurants, a state-of-the-art fitness center, Saddlebrook Kids Club, an on-site audiovisual company, and a business center. The resort is located just 30 minutes north of Tampa International Airport. “West Florida has become a very popular choice for meeting and incentive planners worldwide, so we’re very pleased to have such an outstanding addition to our portfolio as Saddlebrook Resort,” said David Gabri, president and CEO of ALHI. “Its destination resort setting, impressive meting venue options, and supporting world-class recreational offerings are truly out- standing, making the resort a wonderful option for planners.” ALHI’s professional National Sales team can help planners with its diverse and distinctive portfolio of more than 125 Four- and Five-Diamond quality hotels and resorts worldwide, offering over 90,000 rooms and suites and more than 9 million sq. ft. of meeting space. ALHI serves its dues-based membership as a reliable sales extension to planners, providing nearly 25 years of dedicated National Sales services to planners with reliable one-call, experienced national sales access. There is no cost to planners’ organizations to utilize the services of ALHI, as its members’ dues fund the organization. To see the ALHI portfo- lio, visit www.alhi.com. ALHI has 16 professionally-staffed National Sales Offices to serve, with locations in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, Louisville, New York City, North Carolina, Orange County (CA), Orlando, Philadelphia, Richmond, San Diego, Toronto and Washington, DC. Go to www.alhi.comto identify the ALHI sales professional in your area. For more information about ALHI, or to inquire about a potential meeting at any of the ALHI member properties, con- tact your nearest ALHI National Sales Office, call the “ALHI Group Desk” toll-free at (866) 303-ALHI (2544), and visit www.alhi.com. HAMPTON HOTELS OPENS 12 NEW PROPERTIES IN NOVEMBER Hampton Hotels, the international brand of more than 1,700 mid-priced Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, and Hampton by Hilton Hotels, recently announced that it opened 12 new properties in November, totaling over 1,000 new rooms. “November was yet another great month for us,” said Phil Cordell, global head, Hilton Focused Service and Hampton 14 Black Meetings & Tourism March/April 2010: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com