Renaissance World Golf Village and Convention Center Receives “Inner Circle Award”

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. September 26, 2011

September 23, 2011 - The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center in Jacksonville/St. Augustine, Florida has received another prestigious award from the meetings industry, Association Meetings magazine's “Inner Circle Award” for 2011. The award will be presented to Jeffrey Oliasami, general manager of the 301-room, AAA Four Diamond resort. Together with the adjacent World Golf Hall of Fame, The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center is the largest combination hotel and convention center between Atlanta and Orlando, with 101,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

Considered one of the most prestigious awards in the meetings industry, the “ Inner Circle Award ” is determined by Association Meetings magazine's readers, who voted for the top hotels, resorts, convention centers, convention & visitor bureaus, and tourist boards in the United States and Canada that were the best at servicing their meetings and conventions from July 2010 to June 2011. The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center was one of only 40 resorts or hotels in the United States chosen to receive the award. The magazine's readership consists of association executives and meeting professionals. The winning hotels, resorts, CVBs, and convention centers are recognized in the August 2011 issue of the magazine.

“The Inner Circle Award is a very prestigious award, and we are very proud that our resort is recognized by association executives and meeting professionals for being one of the very best hotels in the country for hosting association meetings,” said Oliasami.

Located within the lush 6,300-acre World Golf Village, the resort is the only Northeast Florida resort and convention center to receive the prestigious AAA Four Diamond rating. The honor is achieved by less than 4% of the AAA approved properties. The resort also recently received Successful Meetings magazine's acclaimed “Pinnacle Award.”

Not resting on its many laurels, the resort continues to enhance its offerings. This includes a dramatic renovation and expansion of its outdoor meeting, event and recreational space, which was completed in September 2011. The large project included new and expanded outdoor function space with beautiful brick pavers, elegant new furniture in conversational groupings, and a beautiful new fountain; as well as a new and expanded pool deck with new seating areas. The new outdoor function space, now named La Terrazza, is able to accommodate groups of up to 500 guests. With this expansion the resort added 15,000 square feet of new function space, bringing the resort's offerings to 101,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

Other recent enhancements at the resort include the addition of a new 450-square-foot Masters Board Room (which opened in August 2011); the opening of a new The UPS Store and Business Center on-site (in July 2011); the addition of a new destination services and event planning department (in August 2011); and the opening (in August 2011) of The Resort Shop, which serves a full menu of Starbuck's coffees, pastries, breakfast fare, sandwiches, soups, salads, wraps, and desserts, as well as an array of local gifts and souvenirs.

To coincide with the enhanced meeting and event space offerings, the resort also unveiled its new Intriguing Meetings program. Designed to provide distinctive and inspired programs for groups, the resort's Intriguing Meetings program includes unique and intriguing tablescaping in the meeting rooms that are designed to be visually appealing and to inspire creativity. Additionally, the program features R Meeting Experts who are ambassadors dedicated to catering to planners' needs and to ensuring an exceptional program.

Also, the resort launched its innovative White Glove Meetings Services which includes complimentary White Glove transportation to and from Jacksonville International Airport in its own passenger vans for new group business booked in 2011 and beyond. To qualify for the complimentary airport transportation a group is required to contract for a minimum of 50 rooms per night for 2 nights and 2 banquet meals daily.

Situated adjacent to the impressive World Golf Hall of Fame, the resort completed a $10 million resort-wide renovation in 2008, which included the complete remodeling of guest rooms and suites, a dramatically-renovated lobby, newly-remodeled guest room corridors, an expanded fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment, enhanced meeting space, and the opening of 500 South Restaurant & Bar.

As part of the renovation guest rooms and suites received new furniture, soft goods, window treatments, lighting, 37” flat-panel screen LCD HDTV televisions, and the Marriott JackPack, which provides complete connectivity to the guests for laptops, MP3 players, digital cameras, and video game players. The rooms and suites feature a contemporary design with an Asian feel, which includes rich red bed coverings, crisp white linens, along with a color scheme of warm neutral gold. In-room offerings also include high-speed Internet access, two telephones with data ports, a wet bar and refrigerator, an in-room safe, and in-room coffee.

The resort also boasts a dramatically remodeled 10-story atrium lobby, featuring a Colonial/Asian theme with lush foliage and a colorful 7-story modern hanging sculpture that is reminiscent of open Florida skies.

Recreational offerings at the resort include two championship golf courses, the popular Slammer & Squire (just steps from The Renaissance Resort), and the renowned King & Bear (co-designed by Arnold “The King” Palmer and Jack “The Bear” Nicklaus). Guests also have access to four additional golf courses within 15 minutes of the resort, for a total of 108 holes of golf. Additional offerings at the resort include a sauna, pool, hot tub, and full-service concierge.

Guests also are an easy walk to The World Golf Hall of Fame's 18-hole real grass putting course, a 132-yard Island Challenge Hole, an IMAX® 3D Theater, and the Walk of Champions. In addition, guests can take golf lessons at the renowned PGA TOUR Golf Academy.

When visiting the resort, guests and groups have the opportunity to visit nearby pristine Atlantic beaches, take fun eco-tours and chartered fishing trips, enjoy exceptional shopping at two large outlet malls, and explore historic St. Augustine.

To make it easy for its guests to enjoy area offerings, The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort is now offering a complimentary shuttle for individual guests (based on availability) to and from historic downtown St. Augustine. This new service enables guests to easily visit such sites in St. Augustine, which was founded in 1565, as the historic Castillo de San Marcos fort, The Fountain of Youth, and shopping on the charming, brick-paved St. George Street. Additional options in downtown St. Augustine include the Old Town Trolley Tour, The Old Jail, The St. Augustine History Museum, The Spanish Quarter, The Oldest Wooden Schoolhouse, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Whetstone's Chocolate Factory, Lightner Museum, Flagler College, and a variety of water activities.

For information on The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center, call 888-740-7020 or 904-940-8000, or visit www.WorldGolfRenaissance.com .