Focus On: Atlanta

The newly renamed 521-room Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel & Convention Center now provides groups with 60,000 square feet of flexible meeting space and a direct connection to an additional 320,000 square feet of convention space at the Cobb Galleria Convention Centre.

But that’s not all that’s new on the convention scene of one of the US’s largest cities.

The Renaissance itself is celebrating its new name with a "Maximize Your Meeting" offer: Booking officials who ask for a qualifying meeting of 300+ room nights over select 2012 value dates by June 30 receive guest rates from $139 a night, triple Marriott Rewards points, complimentary coffee breaks, discounts on audiovisual prices and other perks.

Long a major hub for corporate business travel, Atlanta has also been a relative bargain for conventioneers.

It was the 33^rd most expensive US city last year, down from 22^nd the year before.

The average daily corporate rate at Atlanta hotels was down 7.2%, raking the market 46^th among the top 100 cities, according to the Corporate Travel Index.

That places it above such smaller cities as Charleston, W.Va., and Mobile, Ala.

Even the car rental rate dropped by last year by 9.4%.

"It’s got a sensational airport that’s really close to the city, decent weather and is really reasonable to go to," Jack Horne, sales for Hyatt Hotel Corp., told BusinessTravelNews.

Atlanta’s three major hotel markets include downtown, the area near the airport and the upscale Buckhead district, which is among the most affluent neighborhoods in the state.

Atlanta’s major competitors include New Orleans and Nashville.

Located in the heart of downtown Atlanta, the Georgia World Congress Center is just seconds away from hotels, restaurants and attractions. It has 1.5 million square feet of exhibit space. It also has the 71,500-seat Georgia Dome and 21-acre Centennial Olympic Park with the three facilities combined making up one of the largest convention, sports and entertainment complexes in the world.

The area has 12,000 rooms in downtown Atlanta hotels within walking distance of the Georgia World Congress Center.

Attractions near downtown hotels include the Georgia Aquarium, Inside CNN Atlanta, Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta, World of Coca-Cola and the National Museum of Patriotism.

The Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers, Atlanta Dream and Atlanta Braves all conveniently play near Atlanta GA downtown hotels.

By David Wilkening