Regions West | Seattle/Portland
Sheraton Seattle Completes $130M Renovation to Boost Convention Business
Oct 8, 2007
By: Eugene Gilligan, Senior Editor

The Sheraton Seattle, located in the city's downtown, has completed a $130 million multi-phase expansion.

The hotel now has 1,258 guest rooms, 420 of those in the new, 25-story Union Street Tower, as well as 75,000 square feet of flexible meeting and banquet space and a new lobby featuring a lounge and restaurant.

The hotel first opened in 1982.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide reports that the Sheraton Seattle's ballroom and meeting space expansion has enabled the hotel's sales team and the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau to book over $275 million in convention center business for 2007. The hotel now has the ability to commit group blocks of 1,000 rooms.

The renovation created two new entrances to the hotel on Pike Street and Union Street, providing greater access to and from the Washington Convention & Trade Center. Original artwork by glass sculptor Dale Chihuly is featured throughout the hotel. The hotel also features original paintings, lithographs, sculptures and photographs in public areas and in guestrooms.

Seattle's hotel sector has enjoyed a positive year so far. According to figures from Smith Travel Research, Seattle hotel occupancy was 73.3 percent through August , up from 71.6 at the same period last year, a rise of 2.4 percent. The city's average daily hotel room rate, which is now $121.30, is up from $112.95 from the same period last year, an increase of 7.9 percent. RevPar for Seattle hotels increased to 89.3, increasing from 80.8 at the same time last year, a 10.6 percent rise.

 
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