Southwest Louisiana
Cajun-Flavored Region Delivers Festive Meetings
By Adrianne Bowen Music, food and unparalleled fun make Southwest Louisiana an exciting place to be for meetings, according to local hospitality officials. Including Lafayette, the Lake Charles area and Iberia Parish, the Cajun-flavored region delivers a good time for all with many interactive opportunities available for a unique meeting experience, enticing repeat meetings, they said.
Lafayette
Lafayette offers visitors a taste of its unique culture as well as new options to heighten the appeal of planning events in the area, said Karen Primeaux, convention marketing manager for the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission. “Lafayette has always been known for its unique Cajun and Creole cultures, and now Lafayette has become an arts and entertainment center for Louisiana, as well as an advanced technological center within the United States.”
One such center is located in the Research Park of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The $27 million, 70,000-square-foot LITE Center, Louisiana Immersive Technology Enterprise, “holds one of the three super computers in the world, which can crunch enormous amounts of data into a three-dimensional format so viewers can examine the data from every vantage point,” Primeaux said, adding that it is an ideal setting for “advanced technological team collaboration meetings.” The center features one of the world’s largest 3D immersive visualization theaters accommodating 175 seats with an 11-foot-high by 40-foot-wide curved screen, along with other state-of-the-art meeting spaces.
The city’s largest meeting venue is the Cajundome and Convention Center. Scheduled for renovations this year, the complex offers 77,000 square feet of event space. Sales Director Sharlene Chiasson said the Mardi Gras Ballroom in the Cajundome will undergo a facelift this summer.
Vermilionville, a folk life and heritage center, exudes a Cajun flair with its village, small conference room that seats 14, large performance center that can hold 225, and restaurant with a glassed-in dining area that seats 30, said Cynthia Trahan, executive director for the Lafayette Parish Bayou Vermilion District. “Attendees can wander into the village and get a taste of local culture, music and history rather than just wandering into a lobby at a hotel.” The facility also offers groups various classes on local dance and crafts. This year, Vermilionville is expanding to include an enhanced cooking school, Trahan said.
The Heymann Performing Arts and Frem F. Boustany Convention Center offers 20,000 square feet of exhibit space and five meeting rooms that can accommodate up to 1,750 people.
Lafayette also boasts new accommodations. “With the increase in the number of hotels that will be available in 2008, it will be even easier for larger groups interested in the area for meetings and conventions to accommodate their audiences,” Primeaux said.
New hotels include The Juliet Hotel, which offers 20 guest rooms in downtown Lafayette, and the Inn at River Ranch, which offers 100 guest rooms, a full-service restaurant and lounge, and a pool deck with cabanas.
The 104-room Inn on the Bayou will share meeting space with the under-construction, adjacent La Quinta Inn. The hotel will include 75 guest rooms and 650 square feet of meeting space.
Existing properties that have undergone recent renovations in Lafayette include the 142-room Holiday Inn Lafayette, which completed a $5.5 million renovation in December 2007. General Manager Ed Buchert said the project included every area that impacts guests, from water pressure in the guest bath rooms to the remodeling of all areas of the hotel’s 14,000 square feet of meeting space. The guest rooms feature new amenities and, to celebrate local Acadian history, the meeting spaces have been renamed as a tribute to the Acadian exodus from Nova Scotia. La Acadie, the grand ballroom, accommodates up to 700 people and can be divided into three rooms. Buchert said, “We are a convention hotel serving the needs of the meeting planner as well as the individual traveler through a family and resort flair.”
The 327-room Hilton Lafayette completed a $9 million renovation in 2006, according to Patty Marshall, director of sales and marketing. The 22,000 square feet of meeting facilities now contain new wireless and audio/visual technology. Each guest room features the latest Hilton amenities, and Maximilian’s, the hotel’s lounge, underwent improvements. Yet, with all the enhanced interior design, Marshall said, “It’s all about service. The experience of our sales and catering staff is unsurpassed as most of us have been at this hotel for more than 10 years.”
Adjacent to the Cajundome and Convention Center, the Hilton Garden Inn Lafayette/ Cajundome was built in 2006 and features 153 guest rooms and 2,324 square feet of divisible meeting space. Donna Begneaud, director of sales and marketing, said the hotel “offers a full banquet staff to meet your meeting and catering needs.”
Lake Charles
Including the cities of Lake Charles, Sulphur, Westlake, DeQuincy, Vinton and Iowa, “the region allows visitors to have a cornucopia of experiences while visiting,” said Tico Soto, sales director for the Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB). “Our spicy Cajun food and music is something to hang our hats on. Enjoy the glitzy glamour of the casinos with championship golf courses nearby or take a walk on Louisiana’s wild side.”
Located in the area is the Creole Nature Trail All-American Road, a 180-mile driving trail spanning Calcasieu and Cameron parishes and designated as a National Scenic Byway. “It is truly Louisiana’s Outback and one of the last great wildernesses,” Soto said.
The region is a meetings destination that emphasizes fun, Soto said. “We can even arrange for groups to be greeted by one of our hospitality crews like Gumbeaux Gator, the Mardi Gras Revelers or the Buccaneers.” And, with several new projects planned for the city in the upcoming years, Lake Charles will have even more amenities to entice meeting attendees, he said.
A downtown development initiative is under way, and several new restaurants and shops have opened and more are planned for the future, Soto said. “In 2006, voters passed a $90 million bond issue where the money is ear-marked for several downtown development projects such as a Wetlands Discovery Center that will open in 2010.”
Lake Charles Regional Airport is constructing a new terminal, according to Soto, who said that the airport is currently operating at 100 percent under a temporary terminal after the original one was destroyed by Hurricane Rita in 2005.
A 250-room tower, completed in December 2007, was added to Pinnacle Entertainment’s L’Auberge du Lac Hotel, Resort and Casino. Kerry Andersen, director of community and public affairs, said the tower includes villas, suites, a VIP check-in, a lounge and a swimming pool. “We are very excited about the new tower and have already begun booking rooms,” Andersen said. The resort offers 16,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 1,500-seat events center.
The Attorney General’s Annual Justices of the Peace and Constables Training Course was held at the resort on March 8-10, 2006, and the resort will host the event Feb. 27-29 of this year, according to Libby Noto, training and education coordinator and justices of the peace and constables liaison for the state’s Office of the Attorney General. “The L’Auberge du Lac personnel worked very hard to make certain the training along with the special events were successful,” she said.
For the meeting, Noto also used Isle of Capri and Holiday Inn Lafayette. “The Isle of Capri’s staff was very cooperative with the overflow of rooms. The Southwest Louisiana CVB assisted with several issues before and during the conference to ensure the success of the conference. At the 2006 Justices of the Peace and Constables Conference, we had a total of 865 attendees. Everyone enjoyed their stay in Lake Charles, so we are going back in 2008.”
Located adjacent to L’Auberge du Lac, Pinnacle Entertainment’s Sugarcane Bay—a $350 million resort and casino—is slated to open in 2009, according to Andersen. The resort and casino will feature 400 guest rooms, 1,500 slot machines and 50 table games, including a poker room. Groundbreaking is expected for early 2008.
Another casino situated on Lake Charles, the Isle of Capri Casino and Hotel is planning to renovate its 493 guest rooms, according to Virginia McDowell, the company’s president and chief operating officer. “We are beginning room renovation projects in the cities of Black Hawk, Lula and Lake Charles that will feature the design elements and warmer color palette introduced at our hotels in Bettendorf and Waterloo, which have been extremely well received by our customers.” The hotel features 4,500 square feet of meeting space.
Additional meeting spaces in the area include the Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino in Westlake with 35,000 square feet of function space and the Lake Charles Civic Center with 50,000 square feet of meeting space.
Iberia Parish
Encompassing New Iberia, Avery Island, Jefferson Island, Jeanerette, Loreauville and Delcambre, Iberia Parish is creating a buzz in the meetings industry, according to Lanae Lopez, assistant director of sales for the Iberia Parish CVB.
“Sizzling with world-renowned attractions, attendees will experience Cajun and Creole cuisine, contagious music and locals who have never met a stranger,” Lopez said, adding that new event venues have been completed and are under way to enhance the area.
The recently completed Louisiana PepperPlex is a 65-acre sports complex for baseball, softball and soccer, she said. The sports complex contains 17 baseball and softball fields and 15 soccer fields with several concession stands.
Lopez said Spanish Towne Center, expected to open later this year, is a 22-acre development that will include restaurants, retail centers and a Hampton Inn Hotel with banquet facilities. And, she said, additional new hotels entering the market include a Holiday Inn Express and a La Quinta Inn.
Key Info · Sales Tax:
—Lafayette: 8.5 percent
—Lake Charles: 9 percent
—New Iberia: 8.5 percent
· Hotel Tax:
—Lafayette: 4 percent
—Lake Charles: 4 percent
—New Iberia: 4 percent |
Existing hotels include the 176-room Holiday Inn New Iberia with more than 3,700 square feet of meeting space; the 145-room Best Western Inn and Suites of New Iberia, with more than 3,300 square feet of meeting space; and the Gougenheim Bed and Breakfast, which features 5,000 square feet of meeting space and can seat up to 400 guests.
“Many of the event venues in Iberia Parish are unique, offering a variety of options close to nature in lush tropical settings and charming historic locals,” Lopez said. One such facility is the Antique Rose Ville, which offers a banquet facility surrounded by gardens and features meeting rooms with a capacity for 200 guests. The Rip Van Winkle Gardens includes 25 semi-tropical acres on Jefferson Island and offers cottage accommodations. Overlooking Lake Peigneur and the gardens, the Bayless Conference Center has a capacity for 300 guests with access to a fully equipped kitchen.
