otrowski is general manager of the Omni Fort Worth Hotel — which hosted the AFC cham- pion Pittsburgh Steelers when they were in town to play in Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium. Against the NFC champion Packers. “I had my Pittsburgh Steelers hat on up until the coin toss,” Piotrowski said, chuckling, “and after that it was a little bit of rooting for my hometown team.” About 20 miles away, the Packers were staying at the Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas, in Irving — where General Manager Andrew Casperson had no such divided loyal- ties. On game day, TVs were set up throughout the hotel in preparation for a post–Super Bowl party. “As the game went on, the entire hotel was jumping up and down and getting excit- ed,” Casperson said, “because you want your team to win. A lot of the staff, after their areas were prepped, they were in there watching, and absolutely they were all Packers fans by the time it was over. How could you not be?” But for Casperson and Piotrowski and their people, the Feb. 6 game was almost an afterthought — the culmination of a year of hospitality and event-management work that started at the 2010 Super Bowl, when both hotels sent teams to host city Miami. Casper- son said: “We were able to really identify the ins and outs of how the NFL works.” Things shifted into high gear last fall, Piotrowski said, “once the football season began,” and the hotels periodically hosted meetings for NFL security directors, travel
HE HUMORWASN’T LOST ON DAN Piotrowski. A Milwaukee native and lifelong Green Bay Packers fan, Pi-
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WIN-WIN: Two Dallas-area Omni
hotels hosted this year’s Super Bowl teams. Both general managers called it “a great experience.”
A lot of the staff, after their areas were prepped, they were in there watching, and ab- solutely they were all Packers fans by the time it was over. How could you not be?
managers, and other personnel. The week before the AFC and NFC championship games that would determine who would go to the Super Bowl, representatives from the AFC’s Steelers and New York Jets did a walkthrough of the Omni Fort Worth, while groups from the NFC’s Packers and Chicago Bears toured the Omni Mandalay. The Tuesday after the championship games,
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advance teams from the victorious Packers and Steelers set up shop at the hotels. They were followed by the players themselves the Monday before the big game. All told, the 614-room Omni Fort Worth gave 544 rooms to the Super Bowl, while the 421-room Omni Mandalay was 97-percent NFL occupied. “It’s definitely not business as usual,” Piotrowski said, “outside of the normal meeting require- ment we’d have with any group in house — food-and-beverage, audiovisual.” When it came to security issues, both hotels
took their cues from the NFL, Piotrowski said, “who have been doing this for 45 years now.” The properties also put their staff through extra training in advance of the Super Bowl. Both general managers described Super
Bowl week as “a great experience.” There were no over-the-top requests from either team, and no security incidents. And even the Steelers, who lost, had a good time at the afterparty. “We thought it would be a little more sub- dued,” Piotrowski said. But “it’s a celebration of a culmination of a great season. The party ... shut down about three o’clock in the morning.” Added Casperson: “It was a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun at the same time.” n —Christopher Durso