18 New Resorts | By Marlane Bundock

18 New Resorts—They're HOT

The South's warm climate and diverse landscape have made it a haven for resorts for decades. And while the region is home to hundreds of resorts of all shapes and sizes, that's not stopping developers from developing new products or completely transforming existing ones into virtually new resorts. From the beaches of South Florida to the Tennessee Mountains to the Texas countryside, here are 18 new—or virtually new—resorts and the reasons they're hot sites for events.

Barefoot Resort

Quick Stats: Located at North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina's Barefoot Landing entertainment district, Barefoot Resort, a golf resort along the Intracoastal Waterway, offers more than 300 condominium units, a marina, a waterfront restaurant, a pool and, in June, the 17,000-square-foot Lakeside Conference Center and the 4,000-square-foot, waterfront Event Pavilion, which will provide climate-controlled function space, restrooms, an outdoor grilling and catering kitchen, and a Marina Plaza that will provide outdoor gathering areas along waterway.

Why It's Hot: According to Phil Costantini, director of sales, along with the well-appointed condo suites and new meeting space, the resort is home to four on-site championship golf courses designed by Greg Norman, Davis Love III, Tom Fazio and Pete Dye. The golf courses take you from natural marshes, majestic pines and white sand holes to the incredible views of the Intracoastal Waterway. Golf Digest magazine recently ranked the resort's Love Course as the No. 1 course in the Myrtle Beach area.

Beachside Resort & Conference Center

Quick Stats: The 222-room Beachside Resort and Conference Center recently opened in Key West, Fla., with a 6,000-square-foot conference and special events space that has a ballroom for 400, banquet style.

Why It's Hot: According to Tiffany Boeckman, director of group sales, the property is intended to endure the test of time through architect Thomas E. Pope's design that encompasses hurricane-resistant building materials, from the walls and windows to the covered parking facilities. Miami-based interior designer Jeffrey Howard of Howard Design Group was hired to create interior décor that includes solid mahogany furniture upholstered in a palate of earth tones with sea blue accents and floors swathed in gleaming marble and stone. Revered Chef Norman Van Aken, the founding father of "New World Cuisine," is in charge of the hotel's food and beverage program.

Eden Roc, A Renaissance Beach Resort & Spa

Quick Stats: A Miami Beach icon, the Eden Roc Renaissance Beach Resort and Spa is wrapping up a $180 million transformation that includes a new 21-story, 283-room hotel tower. When this expansion and renovation project is completed later this year, the resort will offer more than 630 guest rooms, 43,000 square feet of indoor event space and 20,000 square feet of outdoor event space.

Why It's Hot: According to Saun Lightbourne, director of sales and marketing, once guests enter through the "familiar doors of the Eden Roc, they will experience a bold transformation." The one-of-a-kind rosewood columns encircling the new lobby bar will serve as the focal point of the arrival experience, and glass windows will provide views of the Atlantic. A lush rooftop garden area with a chic "sky" bar will provide event space that can be tented if desired, and ballrooms that feature a combined total of more than 14,000 square feet will also capture the area within a glass wall overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Intracoastal Waterway.

Fontainebleau Miami Beach

Quick Stats: This fall will introduce a brand new Fontainebleau Miami Beach resort with the recent construction of a new 18-story, 286 all-suite tower and a $1 billion renovation and expansion. After upgrades are complete, the resort will offer 1,504 guest rooms in three towers, a 40,000-square-foot spa, 11 restaurants and lounges, 58 meeting rooms totaling 107,000 square feet, 42,000 square feet of pre-function areas and 51,000 square feet of space for hosting a variety of outdoor functions.

Why It's Hot: Along with being one of the largest, full-service resorts in the South, David Feder, president and general manager for Fontainebleau Miami Beach said the resort boasts spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean and Miami Beach, offers a new, sophisticated style, and has spacious guest rooms for attendees to relax with one of the largest being a 4,300-square-foot penthouse suite.

Hilton Bella Harbor

Quick Stats: The Hilton Bella Harbor on Lake Ray Hubbard in Rockwall, Texas (20 miles east of downtown Dallas), opened in March with 231 guest rooms and 25,000 square feet of indoor event space within a conference center that has 16 meeting rooms and a 1,200-person capacity ballroom.

Why It's Hot: According to Director of Sales and Marketing Jennifer Wasserman, the resort offers a 31-acre waterfront retail project called "The Harbor," created by Whittle Development, including quality shops, boutiques and the award-winning Blue Canyon Kitchen & Tavern. Other notable offerings include golf privileges at the near Buffalo Creek Course; a specialty eatery, Mistra, featuring fine Mediterranean cuisine; exotic wine selections in the rotunda "Bar C&B Scene" and second-story, outdoor terrace "Flame;" and sailboat cruises on Lake Ray Hubbard on the SeaWolf, a 40-foot sailing catamaran.

Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center

Quick Stats: Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center opened in April south of Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River in an area of Maryland's Prince Georges County known as National Harbor. The 300-acre waterfront entertainment development offers 2,000 guest rooms and more than 470,000 square feet of convention, meeting, exhibit and pre-function space.

Why It's Hot: According to John Caparella, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Gaylord Hotels, the resort is the largest convention resort on the Eastern Seaboard. It's main tower is 20 stories tall, offering "stunning views of the river, nearby
Old Town Alexandria and Washington D.C." The centerpiece of the property is the 18-story, 1.5-acre glass-covered atrium.

Lakeside Resort & Residences

Quick Stats: Being constructed on Lake Grapevine in Flower Mound, Texas, Lakeside Resort and Residences is set to open later this year with 289 guest rooms and a 25,000-square-foot conference center.

Why It's Hot: According to Burt Cabañas, chairman and CEO of Benchmark Hospitality, which is managing the facility, the property will be the tallest structure in Flower Mound at 18 stories high, providing "magnificent lake views from all guest rooms." The resort will also offer a 12,000-square-foot spa and an outdoor pool with a lazy river pool feature.

Lakeway Resort & Spa

Quick Stats: Situated on the shores of Lake Travis, near Austin, Texas, the 166-room Lakeway Resort and Spa reopened in 2007 after Dolce International officials took over the property's operations and undertook a complete overhaul of the former Lakeway Inn. Along with renovating the existing property, a full-service spa, swimming pools, fitness center, new restaurants and additional meeting space were added. The resort now features 24,000 square feet of lakeside meeting space.

Why It's Hot: The new adults-only pool is a three-tiered infinity pool featuring a swim-up cocktail bar. A full-service marina is adjacent to the property and arrangements can be made for a wide range of water recreation, including fishing guides and seaplane rides. The resort can charter cruises for up to 80, reception style.

Marina Inn at Grande Dunes

Quick Stats: As one of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina's newest full-service resorts, the Marina Inn at Grande Dunes provides 197 guest suites and 25,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space and is located within the heart of the resort destination's entertainment district yet is off-set on more than 2,000 acres of private property.

Why It's Hot: According to property officials, the resort has endless options such as fine and casual dining, two championship golf courses, a golf clubhouse and pro shop, an indoor and two outdoor pools, a tennis club, a marina, and a beach club with private-beach access. The privately owned and operated resort offers one-of-a-kind architecture through a Mediterranean-styled design.

Newport Beach & Golf

Quick Stats: Located outside of Corpus Christi, Texas, on Mustang Island, Newport Beach and Golf is an emerging 1,800-acre resort set to open in stages in the coming years. The first phase of the resort community is opening this summer and will offer an Arnold Palmer Signature Course named Newport Dunes.

Why It's Hot: According to developers Craig Millard and Charles Castor of Texas Gulf and Harbor Ltd., the completed resort will offer multiple hotels, a marina, tennis and beach clubs and two golf courses.

Ocean Lodge

Quick Stats: Opened in April on Georgia's St. Simons Island, Ocean Lodge is a boutique property with 15 guest rooms, a business center and a boardroom with videoconferencing capabilities.

Why It's Hot: According to Owner Joe McDonough, the architecture of the property is an Old Mission style that blends Mediterranean style with touches of Spanish, French and Italian. The property is marketed primarily toward those who would like to rent the entire facility such as weddings or small business meetings. A butler's desk is set up in the lobby to accommodate guest requests.

One Ocean Resort

Quick Stats: Opening this month along Northeast Florida's Atlantic Beach and after a complete transformation from the Sea Turtle Inn, One Ocean Resort offers 193 oceanfront guest rooms and 10,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space all with an ocean view and able to accommodate up to 500.

Why It's Hot: According to property officials, the resort is located on a secluded, pristine and wide beach along the Atlantic Ocean. Its trademark service is that it offers personal concierges for each guest to ensure a truly luxurious and pampered stay. Specially trained docents provide a range of services for guests from stocking the in-room refrigerators with the guest's favorite beverages to delivering morning coffee and a newspaper to drawing a bath.

Palms of Destin Resort & Conference Center

Quick Stats: Opened in 2007 in Destin, a resort destination along the Florida Panhandle, the Palms of Destin Resort and Conference Center offers 416 guest suites and 12,000 square feet of meeting space.

Why It's Hot: Resort officials boast the resort's world-famous Trader Vic's Restaurant and the Mai Tar Bar and Club. Trader Vic's is known for its Polynesian-inspired food like curries and spareribs, exotic drinks and island-inspired ambiance. The Mai Tai Bar and Club shares a similar "island rhythm" with its palm-canopied courtyard next to the lagoon pool.

Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa

Quick Stats: Alabama's newest resort property, The Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa is located just outside of Birmingham and offers 259 guest rooms 20,000 square feet of meeting space, a spa and a golf course that's part of the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail.

Why It's Hot: Along with having the third longest golf course in the world, the resort blends its modern amenities with the past through its classic design that represents the timeless mystique of the area. Here, among the rolling hills of Northern Alabama, the Ross Bridge community—dubbed "A Classic American Resort Town"—has a 200-year history dating back to 1858, when a Carolinian named James Taylor Ross was so struck by the beauty of the Oxmoor Valley that he settled there to farm. Community officials recount that during the Civil War, Ross allowed Confederate forces to build a railway through his land. Part of the construction was a stone bridge built to span Ross Creek, and it still stands today.

Riverstone Resort & Spa

Quick Stats: In 2007, Tennessee's Smoky Mountains became the home to a new resort when Riverstone Resort and Spa opened in Pigeon Forge. Located near the Gatlinburg Golf and Country Club, the resort will complete its second phase this fall to offer a total of 320 condo units and 3,600 square feet of meeting space.

Why It's Hot: According to Mike Akers, general manager, the new resort holds true to the rustic, mountain lodge ambiance that the area is known for yet boasts many modern amenities. Nestled between the Little Pigeon Forge River and the seventh fairway of the Gatlinburg Golf and Country Club, guests will find a world-class spa and a million-dollar lazy river water feature with an indoor/outdoor pool.

Sandpearl Resort

Quick Stats: August of last year brought Sandpearl Resort to Florida's West Coast, making it the first new beachfront resort in Clearwater Beach in more than 25 years. The resort has 253 guest rooms and 25,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space.

Why It's Hot: According to Director of Sales and Marketing Nancy Cimney, the location alone is enough to draw groups, as it's set along a 700-foot expanse on the sugary white sands of pristine Gulf of Mexico beachfront. And to further get to experience the natural beauty of the area, Sandpearl exclusively offers enrichment programs through excursions to Three-Rooker Island where attendees can explore and observe dolphins, sea turtles and birds. The Gulf of Mexico and Mandalay channel also provide an opportunity to kayak, canoe or participate in other water activities.

Tidewater Beach Resort

Quick Stats: The newest resort in Panama City Beach, Fla., opened in March. Managed by ResortQuest, the beachfront high-rise condominium offers 570 gulf view units and a 5,000-square-foot convention center plus a movie/ media center.

Why It's Hot: According to ResortQuest officials, groups will be "dazzled by the views" of the Gulf of Mexico and the access to 636 feet of beautiful white sand gulf beaches. Amenities include two grand-sized lagoon pools, an indoor heated pool, a 4,300-square-foot fitness center with health bar and a Roman spa.

The Westin Virginia Beach Town Center

Quick Stats: Opened in December 2007, The Westin Virginia Beach (Va.) Town Center, features 236 rooms, 120 Westin-branded residences, and 10,000 square feet of state-of-the-art meeting space supplied with wireless high-speed Internet access.

Why It's Hot: According to Sue Brush, senior vice president of Westin Hotels and Resorts, the resort offers "a new level of rejuvenation and renewal to the popular resort town of Virginia Beach." Soaring more than 500 feet into the air (the tallest building in the state), the resort offers Westin brand's full range of renewing signature amenities. For example, in the evening, the hotel lobby transforms into a gathering spot, complete with local delicacies and activities.