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The Dispatch wrote
Columbus has a smaller budget and fewer hotel rooms than other comparable cities What can it do to compete?
BY MARLA MATZER ROSEColumbus competes hard for conventions with cities such as Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Kansas City. Some say that Columbus is in danger of not only losing new business, but also seeing some of its current business drift away.
In Columbus alone, convention and meeting groups brought in $2 billion in direct spending in 2007, along with $180 million in city and county tax revenue. In 2005, more than 142,000 full-time jobs were created in Columbus related to business travel and tourism, mostly at restaurants, tourist attractions and hotels.
Plans for a new convention hotel on land controlled by the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority have been on-again, off-again in recent years. The project awaits the blessing of the city and county, which would need to back the bonds used by the convention authority to help finance the project.
Comments
- cheap: i highly recommend the Millersport sweet corn festival of course,the cor
- Jimmy Mak: Thanks for the write-up! Just to clarify - this is the third year we've do
- Briana Henry: Well, eventually they plan to add more bands from the region...gotta start
- bucki12: I like the business model, but the internet sales part seems like something
- racheltb: I don't see the Ohio Shrimp Fest on the list. It is truly a good time. h
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Keeping the Convention Center competitive
By: Walker
Related Posts:
That’s a pretty tough generalization to swallow. It varies greatly depending on the type of business, and it’s also worth observing that there are *many* conventions that are not business oriented.
Not bragging, by any means, but I consider myself a well seasoned traveller. For the past 8 years, I’ve spent 30-50% of my life on the road. I agree that most business travelers stay in chains, but the W is not the traveler’s draw. If you look at most business travelers they are not at the C-level (CEO, CIO, etc…). Yes, those people travel quite a bit, but the big numbers are in contractors. They don’t stay in posh hotels all the time, but they do stay often. The big market is in suites, at least in my experience. Executives are usually in and out within the week, contractors stay the whole week, come back the next, you know the verse…
Besides, I stayed in a W in New York about a month ago and was sorely disappointed (although I did get to meet Snoop). I’d rather have stayed in the Affinia. Not a chain, but much, much nicer.
Besides, I stayed in a W in New York about a month ago and was sorely disappointed (although I did get to meet Snoop). I’d rather have stayed in the Affinia. Not a chain, but much, much nicer.
I’m not a huge Starwood fan, but would take them over most other chains. I’m guessing you had a bad experience at the W on 14th? I know some Limited execs I’ve spoken with mentioned they usually stay at the Tribeca Grand. I’ve even heard Gansevoort, which is a really pricey as a hotel option for those execs.
I’m not a huge Starwood fan, but would take them over most other chains. I’m guessing you had a bad experience at the W on 14th? I know some Limited execs I’ve spoken with mentioned they usually stay at the Tribeca Grand. I’ve even heard Gansevoort, which is a really pricey as a hotel option for those execs.
Yeah, you’re right. And, I stand corrected on the Affinia not being a chain: It is, just a smaller one. I actually like Sheratons and Four Points, so I can’t say that I’m a Starwood hater, but I might give the Tribeca Grand a shot next time in in NY.
By the way, back to the original topic: Anyone think that once the waterfront is better developed things my change? I know that I’ve been to some cities where that’s the redeeming factor. Do you think we can ever make that happen in Cbus?
I’m not a huge Starwood fan, but would take them over most other chains. I’m guessing you had a bad experience at the W on 14th? I know some Limited execs I’ve spoken with mentioned they usually stay at the Tribeca Grand. I’ve even heard Gansevoort, which is a really pricey as a hotel option for those execs.
Yeah, you’re right. And, I stand corrected on the Affinia not being a chain: It is, just a smaller one. I actually like Sheratons and Four Points, so I can’t say that I’m a Starwood hater, but I might give the Tribeca Grand a shot next time in in NY.
By the way, back to the original topic: Anyone think that once the waterfront is better developed things my change? I know that I’ve been to some cities where that’s the redeeming factor. Do you think we can ever make that happen in Cbus?
I think waterfront development could help, but we need a lot of energy down there (retail, dining, bars) before that is going to happen. The usual chicken egg deal.
I think one redeeming factor for big city hotels is having a bar/ restaurant attached to the hotel that local people would love to visit. When I lived in NYC we thought nothing of hanging out for drinks or dining at hotels and often did so. Latitude is trying to work it, there food is fantastic, but their decor and vibe sucks. Did the Westin grill and that was a joke. Hotel’s bars and restaurants generally don’t enter into local’s thinking here.
Two older threads about boutique hotels worth reading:
- Yankee Trader Building may become Boutique Hotel
- Where are all the Boutique Hotels in Columbus?
I’ve stayed at a couple of the W’s in New York. The one on 50th and Lex is terrible. The one in Union Square had the worst service ever. The W is simply one of the most over-rated brands ever.
The Aloft proposed for Indianapolis appears to be dead, killed by the finance crunch and a change of administration in that city that is much more hostile to subsidies. Effectively every hotel in downtown Indianapolis was built with large amounts of government subsidies. A new 1000-room JW Marriott complex is starting construction, for example, with somewhere in the neighborhood of $45-65 million in TIF money invested plus a ten year tax abatement. As for rates, the Conrad Indianapolis, their highest end property, frequently has rates in the $250 range. They’ve not been able to command much premium pricing. Most of the people choosing a market like Indy (or Columbus) for their conventions are doing so because they are budget conscious. BTW: That Conrad in Indy has terrible service too. If you are going to stay at a hotel there, I would recommend the Homewood Suites on South Meridian. The valet parking is slow, but otherwise it’s a great hotel.
I have not stayed at the 21C in Louisville, but have been in the lobby and eaten at Proof, the restaurant there. It’s a very cool experience. It’s hard for me to justify a hotel in Louisville because my parents live there, but there are a number of properties I’m tempted to try out.
You guys are nuts, I have stayed at the times square W and the two in chicago, and never had a bad time. Anyway, that is off the subject of what we are talking about here so I digress.
I think a lot of you guys are confusing what I am saying with what i would personally like to see. The city has said they wish to attract more convention business, in order to do this, they need a 500 room hotel. I am not saying attracting conventions is the best plan of action for the city, heck I have no clue. I tend to put my faith into the city and figure they know what they are doing, maybe you guys do not have the same faith? Maybe you could share your ideas with Mike Brown? He seems open to taking suggestions.
If you want my personal opinion, well then here it is.
For hotels the city should not focus on conventions nor boutique hotels. It is my undderstanding that for any new hotel development anything less than 500 rooms would cannibalize existing hotels. This is from my basic knowledge of the hotel market downtown. IF a developer is not willing to put up the money then we need to move on and try a different idea. I do believe there is a glut of hotel rooms downtown for the business traveler, would adding new hip hotels downtown bring in any new money to downtown? I think you would just be cannibalizing the other hotels, business travelers are still going to come here if they have too no matter what type of hotels are here, those luxury hotels are a function of demand and right now we do not have it without cannibalizing existing hotels, they are not bringing new people here as a new large convention hotel would.
I would like to see another boutique hotel besides pizzuti in the short north, I also believe there is a lack of decent hotels around the OSU campus. the city should work with OSU to make OSU a tourist destination, you would not believe how many people live and breate osu, and they did not even attend it as a college. There could be packages that are offered to attract tourists to osu, and columbus. A package where maybe you get a hotel room, tickets to a football game, tour of the campus, whatever.
I’ve recently helped on arrangements for a convention to be held here two years from now. Since we’re only about 500-600 people, the Hyatt convention center wasn’t interested: they hoped for something bigger to appear between then and now. Too bad, because I wanted to put the group closer to the Short North/North Market.
The only other downtown space with meeting rooms that work for the group was the Hyatt Capitol Square. So there we will be, with me hoping that the area around it picks up some between now and then. Folks won’t walk very far, in my experience, in a city they don’t know.
Anyway, meeting space tends to be the issue, not just the number of rooms. No one else downtown really has very much.
I stayed at the W in Union Square when it first opened — the staff was nice then! And it fit into my per diem then — no so later. When I did my own booking I’d look for smaller chains or groups. The office manager would always pick big chains.
I’d think that a fair number of business travelers to Columbus have some business with the state. I know I did. I wouldn’t have wanted the hassle of staying even at a boutique hotel if it put me in the Short North — the hassle of getting to where I needed to be from there, even (especially?) if I had rented a car.
That’s a pretty tough generalization to swallow. It varies greatly depending on the type of business, and it’s also worth observing that there are *many* conventions that are not business oriented.
It doesn’t just vary by business; it will vary by city. Different law offices in different cities have different hotels that they have established relationships with for hosting clients, interviewees, etc. I interviewed with a major international firm in Columbus that put me up for a night at the Lofts. Obviously, their offices in NYC or DC or Cleveland would have their own relationships with local places–could be chains, could be other independents.
The “corporate travel agent” may be one centralized agent, but it may also be a small part of each local office’s HR job.
With respect to the convention center, though … I think if any national chain not already present in Columbus actually agreed with the cheerleader-esque assessments of city leaders that they’re just one big hotel short of being able to attract massive conventions, then that chain would already have been, or be making, the steps to get into the Arena District/northern Downtown market.