Black Meetings and Tourism

Black Meetings & Tourism June/July 2009: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 20 HILTON AMERICAS-HOUSTON RANKED NUMBER ONE IN HOUSTON-AREA Hilton Americas-Houston is ranked number one again this year by the Houston Business Journal, May 1, 2009, as the largest Houston-area hotel, covering 1.8 million gross sq. ft. With 1,203 guest rooms, including two presidential suites, two chairman suites, and 36 one-bedroom and two-bedroom suites, the 24-story downtown Houston hotel offers direct access to the George R. Brown Convention Center via indoor skywalks on two separate levels. From its beginnings in December 2001, with what is reported to have been the largest concrete foundation mats ever poured in Houston, Hilton Americas-Houston has remained as number one. In a single weekend that December, begin- ning at 3 a.m. on a Saturday morning, a constant stream of more than 100 cement trucks and eight stationary concrete pumpers delivered loads to the then-job-site. By late Sunday evening of that same weekend, 12,000 cubic ft. of concrete weighing 1.2 million pounds had been poured – enough to pave a 19-mile sidewalk from downtown Houston to Bush Intercontinental Airport. From those unique record-breaking beginnings came the start of a unique record-holding hotel. Hilton Americas-Houston offers 91,500 sq. ft. of meeting and banquet space, including the 40,000-sq. ft. Grand Ballroom. This ballroom, divisible into 12 separate rooms, accommodates 3,000 guests banquet-style or 3,500 guests theater-style, and when fully opened is roughly one-and-a-half football fields long and more than half a football field wide. The Ballroom of the Americas, offering 26,000 additional sq. ft. divisible into six independent meeting rooms, has a capacity for 2,300 guests, theater-style. With ceiling heights of 23 ft. in the Ballroom of the Americas and 28 ft. in the Grand Ballroom, the expansive area offers a vast column- free space for both meetings and exhibits. The ballrooms, along with 30 meeting rooms, allow the Hilton Americas- Houston the ability to accommodate most any group. Also available to guests and meeting attendees is the 10,000-sq. ft. pre-function space, flanked by expansive panoramic windows overlooking Houston's refreshing urban 12 acre green- space park, Discovery Green. With so many record breaking statistics, plus the added distinction of being the very first Green Seal certified prop- erty in the entire state of Texas, Hilton Americas-Houston continues to be Number One in Houston! H O T E L H O T E L HAPPENINGS MILLENNIUM BROADWAY HOTEL PERFECT MANHATTAN MEETING PLACE As the Millennium Broadway Hotel is the only and largest IACC-accredited hotel in Manhattan, meetings are more than just a corporate gathering, they're an experience. From the setting, to the food & beverage, attention is paid to the smallest of details, boasting comfort, convenience and customization. Michael Lotwich, the director of Conference Center for the Millennium Broadway Hotel is responsible for the overall operation and maintenance of both the Conference Center with its 43 flexible meetings rooms and over 110,000 sq. ft. of conference space and the hotel's historic Hudson Theatre. Built in 1903, and since renovated, the Hudson Theatre is the optimal location for memorable meetings, product launches, weddings, concerts and other cos- mopolitan events. With nearly 30 years of experience, Lotwich can provide tips and insight that will allow people to maximize on both personal and corporate gains from a meeting as well as comment on recent trends in regards meetings and incen- tives. The property is located in the heart of New York City's Times Square. The Millennium Broadway Hotel boasts 750 guest rooms and suites, with access to Broadway theaters, Fifth Avenue shopping, midtown business and fine dining at the hotel's elegant Restaurant Charlotte, ideal for pre or post-Broadway show dining. The Millennium Broadway Hotel offers newly renovated meeting space and is the only hotel in New York with an on-site meeting facility approved by the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC).

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