Great article about the Sheraton Dallas Hotel written by Dahlton Bennington.  Visit PreVueOnline.net for full article.

The 1,840-room Sheraton Dallas is the largest hotel in the Texan metropolis, yet there’s a sense of community, purpose and design sensibility that belies its enormity.

Following a stunning $90 million renovation that wrapped this year, the hotel stands as a testament to the brand’s global revitalization. Furthermore, it was rated “2009 Best Place to Work” by Dallas Business, and it’s quite evident the employees’ happiness gives Sheraton D a competitive advantage that enhances the atmosphere, hospitality and quality of service.

“There’s no better satisfaction than walking around the hotel and being able to look everybody in the eye knowing you are doing the best you can to make this a great work environment,” says general manager Ray Hammer. “Beyond bricks and mortar, we want to be the warmest hotel in Texas.”

A home away from home and a dream for professional planners, Sheraton Dallas features 222 executive suites and 24 presidential suites, 10 of which are specially designed as hospitality suites. Off the lobby, The Link@Sheraton biz lounge is a throng of productivity, collaboration and fun with 32-seat docking stations, PC workstations, TV on PC workstations, free WiFi and remote printing. Mini-Links throughout the hotel extend the social energy and opportunities to be productive everywhere.

With a 4.55 out of 5.0 satisfaction score from planners, Sheraton Dallas knows how to serve its group business. The 230,000 sf of meeting space includes two ballrooms over 24,000 sf, each with equal size pre-convene function space. All meetings rooms are capable of 1 Gbps secured data rates with additional flex bandwidth on demand that can support up to 5,000 simultaneous wired internet users and 1,500 wireless users.

For upscale dining in a social setting, the Kitchen Table serves enchanting American fare comfort foods such as coffee rubbed short ribs and cedar plank roasted salmon. Another highlight, the Draft Sports Bar is a 4,500-sf, hi-tech multimedia entertainment activity bar where guests mix, mingle, play Wii, play pool and sing like a soul sister, ahem, in one of two private karaoke suites with liquid bravado provided by boutiquey beers.

A most delightful special touch is the Magic Cup for meeting planners. The stainless steel travel mug can be filled with all forms of non-alcohol beverages day or night from any of Sheraton’s outlets, as well as frozen yogurt. Big kisses all around. Outside the Sheraton’s gracious doors, the 19-block Dallas

Arts District boasts some of the slickest architecture and cultural facilities between the two coasts. Our group spent a lot of time wandering among the Dallas Museum of Art’s more than 23,000 pieces of art spanning 5,000 years. Look into this, the 370,000-sf museum is very receptive to group events. A jewel within the District, The Margot & Bill Winspear Opera House is a 2,200-seat theater with excellent sightlines and phenomenal acoustics, as well as award-winning architecture with an impressive grand lobby, 60-ft glass walls and exceptional ease of movement. Later this year, the Annette Strauss Artist Square will open with a permanent open-air stage for events of all types. Then in 2011, the City Performance Hall opens with a 750-seat space for smaller productions. And all of these can be catered with the culinary genius of Wolfgang Puck Catering, located by the Renzo Piano-designed Nasher Sculpture Garden.

Lastly, it was Edna Woolman Chase, a past editor of Vogue who said, “I dreamed all my life of the perfect store for women. Then I saw Neiman Marcus.” You really want to visit the flagship NM store’s bright and beautiful shops, and the 6th floor Zodiac restaurant that caters to the who’s-who of downtown. It’s truly a gorgeous spot for celebrating special occasions, whether it’s lunch after a “Trends & Friends” fashion show in the store, or a chic private business event for up to 150 pax.

In this hyper-connected world, where everyone seems to be surgically attached to their laptops, smartphones or other wireless devices, it only makes sense that more people expect Wi-Fi connectivity wherever they go, including at meetings and conventions. To meet this growing need, more hotels and meeting and convention venues are wired and ready to offer various levels of bandwidth to customers. But in this day and age when anyone can walk into a coffee shop and access the Internet for free, many facilities realize it’s no longer enough to offer state-of-the-art wireless technology — attendees want it to be free as well.

For some meeting planners, wireless connectivity, including complimentary access, is an important consideration when choosing a hotel and meeting venue. As attendees become more technologically sophisticated, Wi-Fi availability has become increasingly important. And for a budget-conscious group, complimentary access is a big bonus.

The Sheraton Dallas Hotel has had to play such a balancing act. As one of Dallas’s largest convention hotels, it boasts cutting-edge wireless amenities that have the capability to serve up to 50,000 wireless users simultaneously. Understanding that more guests are expecting free Wi-Fi accessibility, Sheraton recently came up with a companywide solution. Enter Link@Sheraton, a special lobby lounge and business area featuring complimentary wireless, PC workstations, webcams and printers. Guests can log on, surf the Internet, Skype and check e-mail, free of charge, according to Ray Hammer, general manager of the Dallas Sheraton, whose hotel boasts a 6,000-sq.-ft.  Internet lounge.

“We chose to have Link@Sheraton available throughout our hotels because we do acknowledge there is a need for [free Wi-Fi],” Hammer says. “We try to provide that service while at the same time be able to provide for our more sophisticated client as well.”

Those technologically sophisticated clients will find a host of technological upgrades at the hotel, which were part of the property’s $90 million renovation project, completed last year. Besides 100,000 square feet of wireless coverage that includes the property’s 1,840 guest rooms and 230,000 square feet of meeting space, 75 pay phone booths were converted into high-speed Internet stations that guests can plug into, Hammer says. Although the hotel is willing to negotiate prices and services with groups, Hammer says when it comes to basic versus high-quality wireless, you get what you pay for.

“There’s a whole difference between the infrastructure we have and what some of these hotels are offering as free Internet access,” Hammer said. “They may not have the bandwidth, the infrastructure or the technology. By saying I have free high-speed Internet, it’s a pretty broad statement.”

Written by: Lisa Plummer

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