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Nov. 9-15, 2012 austiN busiNess jourNal
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austinbusinessjournal.com
hyatt: How one resort delivers luxury to wealthy F1 fans from around globe From page 3 banks of the Lower Colorado River. While natural beauty and ambience capture initial attention, it may be logistics that holds the ultimate appeal as Dewire said the Federal Aviation Administration granted Lost Pines permission to use its golf driving ranges to land helicopters. “It’s seven minutes by air to the track,” Dewire said. The resort’s six elevated driving range pads provide a perfect platform for helicopter takeoffs and landings, pilot John Lawson said. “It’s one of the best locations in the city for several reasons. It’s on the east side of the airport, and so is the race track,” Lawson said. He’ll be handling some of the shuttle duties during the event. His involvement with Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort goes back for at least a year.
Lawson initially was hired to pilot a chopper for some aerial shots of the resort and to fly executives and clients over the Circuit of The Americas track, which is 13 miles away on surface roads. Later, he helped the resort obtain permits. The investment is paying off. “We’ve taken many groups up in helicopters for tours to show them how well positioned Hyatt Lost Pines is from the track, and we know that those helicopter tours have brought us business for the F1 race,” resort spokeswoman Amanda Fier said. Lost Pines officials don’t know exactly how many trips will be flown or how many passengers will book those rides, but the resort is used to doing whatever is necessary, well, on the fly. “Meeting planners do their work on the transportation portion of the event in the 11th hour,” Fier said. The resort is ready whether guests choose land or air transportation, with plenty of sur-
face shuttles available for those who’d rather forgo the helicopter experience. Two unidentified racing teams also are staying at the resort with sizeable entourages, Fier said. It’s unknown what methods of transportation they’ll rely on to get to the track. In all, about 1,000 people are expected to stay at the resort, which has 491 rooms, including the Litton House, a private VIP residence. A tour operator booked that accommodation, so the guests staying there are unknown. Fier would not disclose the cost of any accommodations during the event. The Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort isn’t the only area hotel that will provide guests with helicopter access to the track. Guests at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Austin will be shuttled to helipad sites within the city, spokeswoman Kerri Holden said. The exact location for liftoffs and landings has yet to be determined after some neighborhood groups
around Barton Oaks Plaza complained to the city about noise and vibrations at a proposed site there. “The pickup location we originally discussed was approximately four miles from the hotel,” Holden said. She’s been assured that there will be alternate sites if that location falls through. Pricing will be $400 to $650 per day per person, with package rates available, she said. Land shuttle service also will be provided. Instead of selling guests — which are coming from Canada, Mexico, Europe and the Middle East — on the Texas experience, the Four Seasons Hotel is revving up with a racing theme. “Each guest will receive an F1 themed amenity upon arrival that features edible logos of Formula One and a few of the teams, along with racing fuel such as homemade granola bars, checkerboard shortbread cookies, Red Bull gelees and macarons,” Holden said.
design: Architecture firm that conceived many of COTA’s structures employs 14 From page 3 ture from Columbia University, and he was an associate at Mitchell/Giurgola Architects in New York City where he worked on many large institutional assignments. Juan Miro, Rosa’s husband and the firm’s other principal, was an architect in Barcelona, Spain, before he earned a Fulbright scholarship for post-professional studies at Yale University. He has worked at firms in New York and Spain and is an architecture
professor at the University of Texas. While working with a New York firm, Miro came to Austin in the 1990s to help design computer titan Michael Dell’s house. He was smitten with the Austin lifestyle and stayed. In 2000, Miro and Miguel Rivera formed Miro Rivera Architects here, and more than a decade later with just 14 employees, they are seeing the fruits of their most notable labor. “You don’t need a huge architectural
firm to do this project,” Rosa Rivera said. “It’s never about being a big company; it’s whether you can solve a puzzle.” Bury said they’ve proven that they are sharp and smart. “They are truly talented designers,” Bury said. “What’s really exciting is that they decided to move to Austin and practice architecture here.” Rosa and Miquel Rivera hope their COTA experience achieves different goals. “The idea was to create something icon-
ic. This track will be the only one that will have a tower that is memorable for both drivers and guests,” Miguel Rivera said. For Rosa Rivera, the goal is broader. She hopes Miro Rivera Architects prove that a small firm doesn’t have to be stereotyped as capable of only doing a small scope of work. “Good architecture is not about budget or scale,” she said. She couldn’t be more thrilled about the current opportunity. “This is the most important commission in Texas right now,” she said.