WESTIN’S SKYTERRACE: “A lot of people love this space because of its views of the ocean and the IntracoastalWaterway,” said DavidWahba, theWestin Fort Lauderdale’s director of sales and marketing. “It’s one of the coolest places in the hotel. Every group we book wants to hold a reception here.”
FOLLOWUP
Fort Lauderdale Sparkles and Shines With Possibilities
L
ONG GONEARE THE SWARMING student masses that used to descend on Fort Lauderdale every
spring break.These days, a decidedly more elegant clientele frequents the lux- ury hotels that line the scenic beachfront, shops at the city’s upscale boutiques, and dines at its first-rate restaurants. On a recent four-day familiarization
tour hosted by theWestin Fort Laud- erdale Beach Resort and the Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB, participants experi- enced the newly rejuvenatedWestin property and its stunning ocean vistas. The hotel’s sleekly renovated convention center—which opened in December in the final phase of the 433-room hotel’s multimillion-dollar overhaul—was on
display when the group attended a glit- tering fundraiser for the Miami Dolphins Foundation. Following performances by a classi-
cally trained opera singer and fantastically clad acrobats, the group went to an after-party at the hotel’s Sky Terrace (see photo above). DavidWahba, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing, shared with the group that the hotel had beta-tested a “tremen- dous” new Starwood tool for planners, ePlanner, to debut company-wide this spring. “It’s aWeb site where planners can get information on menus, the desti- nation, DMCs,AV, and other meeting services,” he said, adding that a Star-
wood promotion (ending April 30) offers a 4-percent rebate on rooms and planned F&B with a minimum number of rooms booked for meetings in 2010. During their remaining time
CONVENE ON SITE
in Fort Lauderdale, fam partici- pants indulged in a variety of Heavenly Spa treatments.A water taxi ferried them to trendy shops on Las Olas Boule-
vard, where they took in a visiting Nor- man Rockwell exhibit at the Museumof Art, Fort Lauderdale (available for special events).You Only Live Once, also known as YOLO, dished up a delectable dinner in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The next morning, participants rode
ALL DRESSED UP: TheWestin’s reno- vated convention center offers 32,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, a 10,192- square-foot ball- room that holds up to 1,053 people, a second 8,376- square-foot ball- room that can accommodate 842 people, two dedi- cated meeting planner offices, 22 function rooms, and a full-service business center.
bikes to nearby Hugh Taylor Birch State Park, working up an appetite for an ocean-view breakfast at theWestin’s Starbucks. Next on the agenda was a tour of a sister Starwood property, the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel, which had reopened that day after extensive renovations. The 490-room, ship-shaped landmark hotel, formerly known as the Sheraton Yankee Clipper, sits on a private beach just a few blocks from theWestin. The afternoon was spent aboard a spacious catamaran owned by Tropical Sailing, which cus- tomizes sailing outings for groups. At a farewell dinner at Shula’s on the
Beach, participants dug into tender steaks and sweet lobster tails, savoring the night’s warm breeze and bracing for the trek home to chilly northern cities. For more information about Fort Lauderdale, visit www.sunny.org. —Maureen Littlejohn