ConventionSouth Annual Focus on North Carolina's Piedmont Triad

February | North Carolina's Piedmont Triad

With a population of more than 1.5 million, hundreds of thousands of square feet of meeting space, and many top-quality hotels and conference centers, North Carolina’s Piedmont Triad region is well suited for groups. Situated within the foothills of the state’s Appalachian Mountains, the region consists of the cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point.

Getting There

By Car: The Piedmont Triad region is located in west-central North Carolina and includes the cities of Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem. The area is conveniently accessible by car via U.S. Interstates 85,
I-40 and I-75/73.

By Air: Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO), located in the middle of the Triad and convenient to all three cities, is served by American Eagle, Continental Express, Delta and Delta Commuters, Northwest, United and United Express, and US Airways, with daily service to all major hubs.

By train: Amtrak’s Carolinian and Piedmont routes provide regular daily service to Greensboro and High Point, with connecting express bus service to Winston-Salem.

Greensboro
Already home to the largest hotel in North Carolina, the 1,017-room Sheraton Greensboro at Four Seasons, Greensboro is looking forward to nine new lodging properties over the next 18 months, including a Crowne Plaza hotel for the airport area and a new hotel downtown, said Gail C. Murphy, director of marketing for the Greensboro Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).

“We’re very excited about the new Proximity Hotel, a 150-room full-service hotel being built by Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels, owners of Greensboro’s beautiful O. Henry Hotel. The Proximity, named after an old textile mill, will be a new building made to look like a refurbished old mill, with loft-like, spacious rooms and tall windows. And, it will be located just minutes from downtown,” Murphy said. The eight-story hotel will include a restaurant, 4,000 square feet of meeting space and wireless Internet access.

“We really try hard to work with planners to make their event special,” Murphy said. “For example, one group wanted an unusual teambuilding experience, so we set them up to pan for gold at Castle McCulloch.” Castle McCulloch, complete with a drawbridge, a moat and a 70-foot stone tower, has a great hall that can seat up to 150, theater style. The property’s crystal garden room can accommodate up to 300 for banquets.

In October 2005, Amtrak began serving downtown Greensboro from the city’s historic J. Douglas Gaylon Depot, Murphy said. “Visitors can arrive by train and walk to our many downtown restaurants, bars and shops along Elm Street. The depot is also a taxi and bus hub with express bus service to the airport and Winston-Salem.”

The 219-suite Embassy Suites Greensboro Airport recently garnered its ninth “outstanding” award for quality assurance from Embassy Suites Hotels and took a spot in the Top 20 Embassy Suites Hotels Worldwide for guest services and satisfaction scores, said Lori White, director of sales. “We have also installed new guest check-in kiosks in our lobby and created a Hilton Honors floor with extra amenities for our Diamond members.” The hotel has 13,000 square feet of meeting space and can accommodate up to 1,300 attendees.

The 299-room Greensboro-High Point Airport Marriott recently completed a lobby renovation and updated guest rooms with the new luxury Marriott bedding package. “We’ve also added a beautiful new Garden Pavilion that’s great for outdoor receptions,” said Elisabeth Green, director of sales and marketing. The hotel has 10,075 square feet of total function space, with a banquet capacity of 500.

• Climate: The average high temperature is 69 degrees in the summer and 48 degrees in the winter.
• Transportation: Train and express bus service link Piedmont Triad International Airport and the three main cities in the area.
• Sales Tax: 7 percent
• Bed Tax: 6 percent
• With more than 500 restaurants in Greensboro alone, the Triad offers an array of dining choices, including southern cooking and a mixture of ethnic fare.
• CVB Contacts: Greensboro CVB, Ava Pope, (800) 344-2282, www.visitgreensboro.com; Winston-Salem, Candy Cline, (336) 728-4210, ww.visitwinstonsalem.com; High Point CVB, Marva Wells or John Sneed, (800) 720-5255, www.highpoint.org.

Winston-Salem
The biggest news in Winston-Salem is the fall 2005 opening of the new Twin City Quarter. Featuring a 315-room Marriott Hotel and a 146-room Embassy Suites, the development offers 170,000 total square feet of function space in both hotels and the adjacent Benton Convention Center, which is in the midst of a $2 million renovation scheduled to be completed this summer. The hotels are part of a $32 million conversion by Noble Investments, which also manages the convention center. “This is a wonderful new development, central to the city’s vibrant arts district, with its shops, restaurants and entertainment, the Piedmont Craftsman Center, and all of downtown Winston-Salem,” said Tim Loughman, managing director of the Twin City Quarter.

Both hotels, connected to the convention center by an interior corridor, feature 24-hour room service, wireless high-speed Internet access throughout and an on-site professional audio/visual services company.

“In addition to the Marriott and Embassy Suites, we’ve got Starbucks, our signature WS Prime Steakhouse, the full-service Curtis Van Davis Salon and Spa, and the spectacular convention center facilities, all of which are part of Twin City Quarter, making us a true destination,” Loughman said.

Downtown Winston-Salem is also home to the Piedmont Research Park, developed in 1998 as a joint project of the Chamber of Commerce and Wake Forest University. “This is one of the only inner-city bio tech parks in the country, and it has brought an exciting new element to our meetings business,” said Stephan Dragisic, director of communications for the Winston-Salem CVB.

Located near downtown, the Hawthorne Inn and Conference Center recently updated its Internet capabilities. “We’ve added wireless access throughout, including in the conference center and separate guest tower,” said Pam Wilson, director of sales. The 145-room hotel features a 61-seat amphitheater with touchpanel lighting and audio/visual controls and 9,300 square feet of total event space that can accommodate up to 400 for banquets.

Located about 10 minutes from town on a 55-acre estate, Graylyn International Conference Center offers overnight accommodations and meeting facilities. “Our certified teambuilding instructors have activities that are great fun, such as the Tour d’Graylyn,” said Heath Carter, director of sales and marketing. “Attendees break into teams to construct children’s bicycles and then race the bikes around the property. Afterwards, we donate the bikes to a local charity in the company’s name.” Graylyn has 98 guest rooms in a variety of settings, including individually decorated ‘antique-level’ rooms, and 15,000 square feet of meeting space.

High Point
Twice a year, the city of High Point nearly doubles in size when it welcomes more than 80,000 attendees to the International Home Furnishings Market. The event takes place at various venues in the city, including Showplace, which has two floors with a permanent Home Furnishings Market and 126,000 square feet of space in the atrium and on the first and second floors for other special events, according to Karen Wall, special event director.

Nancy Bowman, marketing and communications manager at the High Point Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), said her city has been hosting the Home Furnishings Market since 1909. “This unique experience has honed our skills in welcoming and servicing groups of all sizes.”

High Point’s newest meeting facility opened in 2003. Providence Place, owned and operated by the Westchester Christian Center, seats up to 1,600 people in tiered seating and features 34 breakout rooms that can accommodate up to 250.

The Radisson High Point City Center is in downtown High Point’s “Home Furnishings Magic Mile.” It has 252 guest rooms and 12,500 square feet of meeting and event space. Downtown High Point has more than 70 retail furniture outlets and showrooms as well as a variety of shops and numerous restaurants.

Additional Hotels & Meeting Facilities
Greensboro:
• The Greensboro Coliseum Complex offers 150,000 square feet of meeting space, a 2,400- seat theater, a 298-seat theater and a 23,500-seat arena.

• The 1,017-room Sheraton Greensboro at Four Seasons/Joseph S. Koury Convention Center offers 250,000 square feet of meeting space.

• The 247-room Grandover Resort features 45,000 square feet of meeting space.

• The 161-room Park Lane Hotel at Four Seasons is suitable for meetings of up to 50 people.

• The Greensboro Marriott Downtown has 274 rooms and 24,000 square feet of function space.

• The O. Henry Hotel offers 4,955 square feet of meeting space and 131 guest rooms.

• Downtown’s Elm Street Center, a renovated department store, has two event rooms, the 9,500-square-foot Empire Room and the 12,000-square-foot Regency Room.

Winston-Salem:
• The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum Complex includes a 15,000-seat arena, a 5,800-seat theater and 62,000 square feet of adjacent trade show and banquet space that can seat up to 1,500.

• Anderson Training and Conference Center at Winston-Salem State University features two auditoriums seating 400 and 1,800 attendees, plus dining and banquet rooms for up to 350. The center recently completed renovations
to the lobby and 30-seat Chancellor’s
Dining Room.

High Point:
• The Suites at Market Square offers 115,000 square feet of space.

• The 80-suite Ashford Suites has 1,645 square feet of meeting space.

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