The newly-opened Hilton Vancouver Washington is changing the tourist landscape for Southwest Washington, say tourism officials.
“It gives us a bona fide convention center, and the Hilton name is recognized,” said Kimberly Bennett, executive director of the Southwest Washington Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The 226-room Hilton adds another 30,000 square feet of conference space.
It also gives Vancouver three distinctly different full-service properties. The other two are the 143-room Heathman Lodge and the 160-room Red Lion Hotel at the Quay. The later is on the Columbia River waterfront. The Heathman offers a Pacific Northwest log cabin look. And the Hilton has modern rooms with larger meeting spaces.
The $73.1 million hotel conference center booked more than 70 meetings virtually before it opened.
Report by David Wilkening
