New Orleans Marriotts Offer "Green Meetings" Deal

The Marriott group of hotels in New Orleans has launched its Meet. Live. Drive. Green program, which offers "green" incentives for meeting planners who submit an RFP by Dec. 15, 2009, for a qualifying date at any of the 12 participating properties, which include Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites and TownPlace Suites. Each RFP submitted earns the planner the chance to win a hybrid car; bookings and meetings get additional eco-friendly perks. Meetings with 100 to 299 rooms earn a $150 gift certificate to ecoexpress.com, a site offering earth-friendly products. Once the meeting is held, the hotel group will donate 5 percent of the group’s guest-room costs to Amazonas Sustainable Foundation.

Hawaii's Bishop Museum Reopens Gallery

Honolulu's Bishop Museum, a 14-acre site offering a vast collection of Hawaiian artifacts amid landscaped grounds, has reopened its Hawaiian Hall gallery after a three-year renovation. Event spaces at the campus include the Great Lawn, the Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden and the Mamiya Science Adventure Center (see photo). The 19,000-square-foot Mamiya Center, which can accommodate receptions for 400 and seated dinners for 300, features a simulated volcano that erupts every five minutes, audiovisual capabilities, indoor and outdoor spaces, and a theater venue.

Caesars Palace Offers Expanded Meeting Space

Las Vegas Meetings by Harrah's Entertainment has added 11,000 square feet to its meeting facilities at Caesars Palace, with brings the Las Vegas property's total meeting space to more than 300,000 square feet. The addition comprises a 263,000-square–foot (wall-to-wall) convention center that connects seamlessly to the existing meeting space in the Palace Tower. The facility, which is constructed on two levels, includes two 52,000-square-foot ballrooms as well as several meeting and board rooms, grand promenades and new banquet kitchens and support facilities. A large terrace with private swimming pools is set to open in early September.