Renaissance Tulsa Hotel is the Leader in Conventions, Meetings
By D. J. MORROW INGRAM
Associate Editor
GREAT FACILITIES: The Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center houses immense square footage of top quality meeting space, which provides tremendous flexibility to its clients. Up to 3,000 attendees can be seated for dinners, and small meetings can also be accommodated. Free parking and state of the art technology are also offered.
A new era in convention and meeting location opportunities for the Tulsa area began in early 2003 with the opening of the $40 million Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center at 71st Street and Highway 169. It has been celebrated as the first full service hotel to be built in the area in 18 years and, with The Grand Ballroom space of 28,800 square feet and total additional ballroom and meeting space of 50,000 square feet, it is the largest hotel-based meeting space in Oklahoma.
“While size certainly isn’t everything, our immense square footage of top quality meeting space allows us to provide tremendous flexibility to our clients. We can host seated dinners with up to 3,000 attendees or intimate meetings for 10,” says Kim Carpenter, director of sales and marketing.
“Our facility is attractive to conventions and conferences because we can support their large sessions and provide space for breakout sessions as well. The versatility is definitely an asset.”
Carpenter said the social business has been very strong for the Hotel and the Renaissance has hosted many high profile benefit galas since opening including the Annual Rotary Club of Tulsa Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Awards Banquet, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Gala and last year’s farewell salute to Sen. Don Nickles by the Tulsa Press Club.
A growing business for the facility is wedding receptions to the point that the Hotel added a certified wedding coordinator to its staff.
“Typically, we are the site for the reception but we can be, and have been the location for the ceremony and rehearsal dinner as well,” she said. “We can be the one-stop place to help the bride and groom plan their perfect weekend – even to planning pre-ceremony activities for the couple and their wedding party such as spa services or golf outings and out of town guest rooms.
“Start to finish, we can help with it all.”
As members of the Tulsa Bridal Association, the Hotel is hosting the 2005 Bridal Showcase and Cancun Honeymoon Giveaway. The showcase, scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 7, will feature over 35 vendors, cake tastings and a fashion show.
A key objective of the sales and marketing staff is to attract new convention, conference and meeting business to the Tulsa area as well as reach out to groups who used to meet here but have left due to the limited capacities imposed by smaller properties.
“We can be a conduit to bring this business back to our community. That’s important to us,” Carpenter said.
That was one of the reasons behind the Hotel’s support of the LPGA tournament, now called the John Q. Hammons Hotel Classic.
“This event is big business for the Tulsa area,” she said. “I know Mr. [John Q.] Hammons has earned well-deserved respect from the community for keeping this tournament in Tulsa. It brings a lot of exposure to our entire community through a positive event.”
Carpenter said another asset that sets the Renaissance apart from other meeting and convention options is their creative food and beverage team.
“There are only about 70 Renaissance Hotels in the United States and most are in major destination cities. Our hotel consistently ranks in the ‘Top 10’ of all Renaissance Hotels for our food and beverage service,” Carpenter said.
“As a brand we are committed to the highest quality of food and beverage service.”
Their event coordinator position, exclusive in the market to the Renaissance, ensures that all meeting planners receive top-notch service. Once a group checks in, they are assigned a person who caters to their every need. As noted in “Meetings South” magazine, a professional meeting planner was quoted, “This facility was the first that offered a meeting concierge. I loved it! I just contacted one person – with a cell phone they provided – to take care of everything, such as hotel room issues, copies needed and the ever-popular ‘the room is too hot or too cold’ issues.”
Another advantage of being a new facility is that it is “state-of-the-art” in design, technology, video conferencing, high-speed Internet and its audio/visual facilities.
And, of course, the location.
“Mr. Hammons is well known for his diligence in scouting out locations for new properties,” Carpenter said. “He meticulously reviewed the growth patterns of the city and put the hotel in a tremendous growth location with easy access to the highways.”
Carpenter said the staff is proud of the strong support from the local business community.
“Our relationships in the community are critical to our success and we constantly work with our local businesses and organizations to keep the Renaissance at the top of the list.”
Updated 07-25-2005
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