CHICAGO -- Hyatt Hotels opened an 800-room Regency property with
13,400 square feet of meeting space in "convention central," right
next to McCormick Place.
The 800-room Hyatt Regency McCormick Place includes a direct,
enclosed pedestrian walkway link to McCormick Place, according to
Jim Reilly, chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Pier and
Exposition Authority.
The Hyatt Regency McCormick Place is owned by the Metropolitan
Pier and Exposition Authority, which also owns the 2.2
million-square-foot McCormick Place meetings and exhibitions
complex.
"This is the kind of hotel we have always envisioned for
McCormick Place," Reilly said. "Not only does the hotel meet the
demand for hotel space from existing shows, it will also help us
attract more meetings and convention business to Chicago."
And the demand is evident.
For years, meeting planners have been complaining about lack of
rooms in the city, particularly in the vicinity of McCormick
Place.
The Hyatt is the first convention hotel to be built in the city
since 1992, and demand for rooms is overwhelming, according to
Douglas Geoga, president of Hyatt Hotels Corp.
Geoga said the property already has sold out more than 100
nights between June 1998 and June 1999.
The Hyatt's 12,000-square-foot ballroom can be divided into five
sections, and two 700-square-foot boardrooms are available for
small meetings and conferences, Geoga said.
In addition, the chain plans to open a 200-room Park Hyatt
downtown. That property, which will include a 3,000-square-foot
ballroom, is slated to debut in the spring of 2000.
Hyatt Hotels
Phone: (312) 750-1234
Web: www.hyatt.com