REGIONAL NEWS

HOTEL NEWS »

ONE OF THE BEST

Hyatt Regency Dallas has been named to Cvent’s "Top 100 Meeting Hotels in the U.S.," coming in at number 28. The hotel offers 160,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including the 30,000-square-foot Landmark Ballroom with 30-foot ceilings. The event space at the hotel is stacked for optimal event flow and features one centrally located, ample networking space in the massive 18-story atrium looking up at Reunion Tower. hyattregencydallas.com

Coming in 2020

White Lodging, which owns 12 hotels in the Austin area, broke ground on its third Moxy Hotel, which is scheduled for completion in late 2020. The 162-room Moxy Austin is located alongside the University of Texas at Austin campus at the intersection of Guadalupe and West 26th streets. The communal space on the ground floor of Moxy Austin hotel will serve as the hub for the hotel. The shared spaces will include White Lodging’s food truck–inspired 24-hour taco concept, Zombie Taco, as well as pick-up bites in the lobby, game tables in the public space, and an interactive digital guest book, which streams Instagram images and videos from Moxy guests around the globe. The Moxy Austin experience will begin at Bar Moxy, which will double as the hotel's physical check-in and will be complete with a complimentary "Got Moxy" cocktail upon arrival. Moxy Austin will also feature an open-air patio complete with lounge seating and fire pits. moxyhotels.com

HOTEL NEWS » A New Look

Great Wolf Lodge Grapevine has debuted its nearly $11 million renovation, which included a transformation of all 605 guest rooms and an upcoming update to the lobby. It was the most extensive refurbishment since the resort’s opening in 2008. Each of the guest rooms was updated with new beds, flooring, wall coverings and furnishings. The property, which includes an 80,000-square-foot indoor water park, has more than 23,000 square feet of meeting space. greatwolf.com/grapevine

Clean Sweep

Sheraton Austin Georgetown Hotel & Conference Center has been named a 2019 AAA Inspector’s Best of Housekeeping hotel, an award that recognizes that the property’s cleanliness and condition rank in the top 25 percent of the 27,000 AAA-inspected and -approved hotels. sheratonaustingeorgetown.com

Top Rating

The Doug Pitcock ’49 Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center, a Benchmark Resorts & Hotels brand property, has earned AAA’s Four-Diamond Rating. Of the 27,000 full-service hotels rated in North America, just 1,676 hotels hold the AAA Four Diamond Rating. The Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center is the only property to hold the Four-Diamond rating in College Station. texasamhotelcc.com

First AC Hotel Opens in Houston

The AC Hotel by Marriott Houston Downtown is now open for business. It is the first AC hotel in Houston and only the third in Texas. The 10-story hotel is an adaptive reuse of a historic 1914 building and features 195 rooms and the 3,600-square-foot Zoe Ballroom, which opened in 1914 as a silent movie theater. The hotel also has a media salon, a Starbucks and the AC Kitchen, a multifunctional space with the look of a high-end residential kitchen. Following breakfast service, the space accommodates coffee service, wine-and-cheese tastings and other special culinary events. achotels.marriott.com

NOW OPEN

Austin welcomes Hotel ZaZa Austin, a Z Resorts property. The 159-room hotel has 8,500 square feet of prefunction, meeting and event space, which can accommodate groups of 40 to 395 people and features high ceilings, exposed brick, grand chandeliers and natural lighting. Hotel ZaZa also includes three food and beverage concepts: Group Therapy, a seventh-floor lounge serving up cocktails and live music; Perfect Strangers, a restaurant with hand-crafted cocktails, sumptuous leather booths and locally sourced art; and Cabana Bar, a poolside bar on the seventh floor. The property also offers ZaSpa, a full-service spa and pool. hotelzaza.com

VENUE NEWS »

Happy Anniversary

San Antonio’s The Majestic Theatre celebrated its 90th anniversary this year. The 2,264-seat theater is a National Historic Landmark and is home to the Broadway in San Antonio series, along with a wide variety of concerts and performing arts attractions. It is available for private rentals. majesticempire.com

PEOPLE NEWS »

The Adolphus has appointed Ruben Toraño as its executive pastry chef. Toraño will oversee the pastry program for the entire hotel, including menu development for The French Room, City Hall Bistro and Otto’s Coffee & Fine Foods. Toraño has more than 23 years of industry experience. He was most recently with Commissary.

The St. Anthony Hotel welcomes award-winning food and beverage director

Michael McClellan. McClellan will oversee the property’s culinary offerings at Gallery On the Park and The St. Anthony Club, as well as catering for meetings, banquets and special events. Most recently, McClellan served as general manager for food and beverage operations at the La Cantera Resort & Spa. The Sinclair, a Marriott Autograph Collection Hotel, has appointed Tammy Vallejos general manager. Vallejos has more than 24 years of experience in the hospitality industry, most recently as general manager at SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Dallas/Fort Worth.

Jacob Gonzalez has been promoted to hotel manager of Hotel Sorella CITYCENTRE in Houston. Before joining Hotel Sorella CITYCENTRE, Gonzalez was the hotel manager of Cavalry Court in College Station.

Hospitality company Benchmark has named Linda Maurer global account manager–Southwest, a newly created position designed to develop and grow Benchmark’s group sales success in the regional Southwest. Maurer is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, earning her Bachelor’s degree in business management and psychology. She resides in Austin.

Hospitality company Benchmark has named Priya Chandnani vice president, revenue management. Chandnani has more than a decade of experience in the hospitality revenue management function. She was previously vice president, revenue management and distribution for Trump Hotels.

Benchmark has named

Olivier C. Gaupin director of culinary operations, a newly created position to enhance Benchmark’s food and beverage positioning and expanding recognition. Gaupin comes to Benchmark with more than 30 years of experience. He was previously a corporate chef for Loews Hotels & Co.

LAND SHARK

Shark Club Sports Bar & Grill, owned by Dallas Stars owner Tom Gaglardi, has opened its doors in Plano just in time for Texas's favorite season—football season. Founded in Canada, the Plano location will be the first Shark Club Sports Bar & Grill in the United States. The venue has more than 40 TVs, including two 20-foot seamless HD media walls. The space also consists of an outdoor patio, a separate 62-person event space, a game room featuring arcade classics and a live scoreboard for Dallas Stars games. sharkclub.com