(from Nancy Sarnoff of the Chron)
The city is considering plans to bring a second convention center hotel to downtown, in an effort to take Houston one step closer to becoming a top convention destination.
Officials involved said Houston gets scratched off the lists of a lot of convention planners because it has a limited number of downtown hotel rooms.
"The current convention center hotel is filling up, and Houston can attract more conventions if it had more hotel rooms in the Central Business District, and specifically, close to the George R. Brown Convention Center," Mayor Bill White said Monday.
(snip)
The project, White said, would be "one of the larger hotels in Houston," with a "first-class national flag."
Houston Endowment, which owns about 60 percent of the parcel adjacent to Discovery Green, said it would consider selling its land for a convention hotel. "We don't have an interest in holding this forever," president Larry Faulkner said. "We would like to see it used in a way that furthers the well-being of this city."
Such a hotel could have an economic impact of $250 million annually, said Campo, explaining that another big hotel would attract larger conventions attended by more people who would dine in restaurants and rent cars. Other hotels would benefit from spillover.
(snip)
Downtown hotel occupancy was 66.1 percent through November of last year. It was down slightly because 2007 was not a strong convention year, said Keeling of PKF Consulting.
The Hilton Americas has been performing well, Campo said. But for a new hotel, the ideal scenario would be for a private developer to build it.
The mayor said there are "significant pools" of private capital available that did not exist when the Hilton Americas was financed.
Greg Ortale, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the Chronicle on Monday that some type of public support would be needed.
I highlighted the important text in that article for you. 66.1% occupancy.
What that means is that, at any time, you are likely to find fully one third of all downtown hotel beds vacant. It wasn't supposed to be this way.
In August 2007 David Kaplan of the Chron penned this article giving a glowing review of the Houston Hotel market:
Occupancy rates in the Houston area are expected to rise from 67.5 percent in 2006 to 69 percent in 2007 and 70 percent in 2008, according to the PKF report.
Whoops.
And yes, that prediction was offered by the same John Keeling who provided these facts:
Hotel consultant John Keeling said five new 200-room hotels wouldn't have the same impact as one 1,000-room property because conventioneers like to put their delegates in as few properties as possible. Full convention hotels help other hostelries raise their rates.
Downtown hotel occupancy was 66.1 percent through November of last year. It was down slightly because 2007 was not a strong convention year, said Keeling of PKF Consulting.
That's quite a change in numbers from a report penned just over five month's ago is it not?
It also ignores the obvious. (as pointed out in the second article)
Houston's hotel capacity is currently around 4500 rooms. By way of comparison San Antonio has 11,900 rooms, and they are growing. San Antonio also has the Riverwalk, the Alamo, and all of that historical content tailor made for families and larger conventions. They have the State of the art River Center, Fiesta Texas, SeaWorld, and the AlamoDome and you name it.
Adding 1,000 beds to Houston's paltry Downtown entertainment scene isn't going to put Houston on the Convention hot list. Neither is
Here's the real problem...
Let's say you're running a convention of Salesmen who've been working their butt's off all year and you are getting things together and looking around for entertainment options for either single people or families. For argument's sake let's assume you are expecting 3,000 people to come to your convention.
You basically have three options, and we'll add Houston in to see how it compares.
1. Las Vegas: Not only do you have the strip, all of those casinos, Freemont Street, the Cirque du Solei shows, reviews, four-star dining and all you can eat buffet's, but you also have a relatively dry, stable climate and a City that's fairly easy to Navigate for convention goers, a top notch Convention Center and thousands of affordable hotel rooms, golf, helicopter tours and some stunning nature within a day trip of the city. Worried about your "single" conventioneers? Spearmint Rhino.
2. Orlando: Provided you don't book during hurricane season you have a City that's within spitting distance of Walt Disney World, Paramount, Sea World, world-class golf courses AND the Florida coast. Oh yeah, there's also a Busch Gardens there and dozens of golf courses and hotels all of which offer diversions for the entire family. The water is blue, and the dining is reliable (if pricey) for families. Tons of night-clubs and a hip scene for the singles.
3. San Antonio: We've already mentioned this city but let's do it again. The Riverwalk, the Alamo, Sea World, the Schlitterbahn, El Marcado and a host of Missions and Mexican-American culture stops offer up diversions for the family while the conventioneers are in workshops etc. If you're a single person attending a convention, then the Riverwalk's nightlife is for you.
4. Houston: First the good. There's a nice museum district for the family and the Aquarium downtown (which is more of a tourist destination than a good restaurant). There's no theme parks or much for the family to do besides that, and getting to the museums mean's having to ride the light rail (if its running), getting anywhere else involves deciphering Metro's impossible to navigate bus system. Dining downtown is sparse, with most of the good restaurants involving a cab ride, your entertainment options involve shopping at the Galleria, Splashtown in SPRING, Space Center Houston in CLEAR LAKE, both of which are nearly impossible to reach without a car. Your single convention goers are welcome to pay $5 to visit one of Houston's rapidly declining adult lounges, of which most are in danger of being forced out of business due to lawsuits. Oh yeah, We're building a park, with more shopping.
Sorry folks, but 1,000 extra rooms ain't gonna help this ride break even. If it could don't you think that private businesses would be lining up to take advantage of a under-developed market without throwing good Government money after bad?
Oh yeah, this during a time that police coverage is down, violent crime is peaking, and infrastructure is declining rapidly.
Houston, like that poor hamster, keeps spinning its wheels.
OTHER EYES:
BlogHouston: City to build ANOTHER convention hotel?!
