Top 5 convention cities heat up for summer

By Mark Chesnut

Crescent City: New restaurants and venues await conventioneers in New Orleans. Credit: Donn Young.

Work may not stop during the summer months, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy business travel while hitting the nation’s top convention cities and hotels. Here are some ideas about how to make the most of your next meeting — and any free time that you might be able to squeeze in.

Las Vegas hotels: The latest major addition to Vegas’ legendary hotel scene is The Cosmopolitan, which opened in December, bringing some 200,000 square feet of new meeting space and several new restaurants to the city’s mix. Summer visitors can also sign up for a new VIP pool experience at The Mirage Hotel and Casino, Mandalay Bay, Luxor Hotel and New York-New York Hotel & Casino. The new feature includes access to a private pool area and amenities such as chilled towels and tropical drink tastings. If you’re looking for gifts for family back home, head to the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, which is adding more than 50,000 square feet of new and remodeled retail space throughout this year.

Los Angeles hotels: Travelers using the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport can rejuvenate at the new reLAX Lounge, the airport’s first pay-to-use public access lounge. Groups looking for new event venues will have plenty of options this year, including the 2.22-acre LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, which has exhibits related to Mexican American culture, and Rolling Stone Restaurant, located at the Hollywood & Highland Center. New entertainment options are available at the Kodak Theatre, which in July will debut a new production, IRIS, which highlights Hollywood’s place in the history of movies.

New Orleans hotels: The Big Easy is known for its culinary creativity, and there are several new restaurants on the scene. Local restaurateur Ralph Brennan has opened Heritage Grill, a lunch only-restaurant featuring a New American menu, as well as café b, a chic rendition of a retro brasserie that serves American comfort food. Ste. Marie Restaurant has opened its doors in downtown New Orleans, offering guests a dining experience inspired by France’s champagne houses. Scheduled to open in July is the new Irvin Mayfield I Club, a music venue at the JW Marriott New Orleans that is the creation of Irvin Mayfield, a Grammy Award- and Billboard Award-winning trumpeter, composer and arranger.

Orlando hotels: Central Florida is dotted with countless attractions that double as interesting group venues. Among the newest is Touch Orlando, which opened in March on Church Street in downtown Orlando. Patrons at this 3,700-square-foot nightclub order drinks via interactive touch screens, which can also be used to play games and send drinks to other club patrons. Up to 375 people can be hosted for private events, and special lighting, audio and sound equipment is available. Other recent openings in Downtown Orlando include Mojo Cajun Bar & Grill, a New Orleans-themed restaurant and bar with space for private groups of upto 414 people, and Baby Grands Dueling Piano Bar, which offers live piano entertainment nightly and accommodates private groups of up to 400. New attractions include Star Tours, a 3-D attraction that opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in May, and the Screamin’ Gator Zip Line, a 1,200-foot zip line slated to open this summer at Gatorland.

New York hotels: Since last year, conventioneers have been making use of Javits Center North, an expansion of the city’s largest event venue. The Big Apple has also witnessed growth in the hotel market, especially in the so-called “outer boroughs” of Queens and Brooklyn, where 40 percent of all new hotel rooms are opening. New properties include a new Four Points by Sheraton Long Island City/Queensboro Bridge and a new Aloft that is to open in Brooklyn in June. The largest hotel to open this year is the 669-room YOTEL in Manhattan. Summer should be an ideal time to stroll along the High Line, a former elevated railway converted to park space; the second phase of this innovative green space opens in June.

Mark Chesnut is a travel writer, editor and publisher of LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on business and leisure travel to Latin America.

Tagged: Las Vegas, New York