Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center
Wins 2009 Gold Key Award from Meetings & Conventions Magazine
National Harbor, Md.—( June 15, 2009 ) Meetings & Conventions magazine, one of the leading and most well-respected publications in the meetings and conventions industry, has announced the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center as a winner of its prestigious Gold Key Award for 2009.
This is the first-ever Gold Key Award for the new property, which opened in April 2008. Gaylord National now joins the ranks of its Gaylord sister properties in claiming this prestigious award, and this is the first time that all four Gaylord Hotels properties were recognized.
For more than 30 years, this annual award has been bestowed upon the world’s finest meeting properties. All winners of this award of excellence were nominated and selected by the readers of Meetings & Conventions (professional meeting and event planners), who based their votes on the overall professionalism and quality of the property.
“What an honor for us,” said Phil Coffey, Senior Vice President & General Manager. “To be named to this list after only one year of operation is outstanding. It demonstrates the tremendous hard work and dedication our team has achieved to make this an award-winning property.”
Meeting planners selected their winning hotel properties based on strict industry criteria including: staff attitude; quality of meeting rooms; quality of guest services; food and beverage service; proficiency of handling reservations; availability of technical/support equipment and range of recreational facilities. Winning destinations, hotels and resorts will also be featured in Meetings & Conventions’ Gold Awards issue published this November.
“The dedication to quality has always been a trademark of M&C’s readers who represent the highest level of meeting and incentive professionals. The 2009 Gold Key winners have met these tough standards by providing outstanding service,” said Bernard W. Schraer, Meetings & Conventions Group Publisher. “The entire M&C staff commends the properties that have demonstrated the qualities to earn the Gold Key distinction.”
This is the second, major industry award garnered by Gaylord National since its opening. Hotelinteractive.com recently named the property “Best Convention Center Hotel” on its Best of 2008 awards list. According to Hotelinteractive.com: "The Gaylord National outside Washington, D.C. represents everything that a convention hotel should be. It's smartly built and features a well-constructed environment that makes you forget you're staying inside for days at a time. "
# # #
About Meetings & Conventions
Meetings & Conventions (www.mcmag.com) is a division of NORTHSTAR Travel Media LLC, publishers of worldwide directories, periodicals, electronic products, and destination information services for the travel, meetings and hospitality industry.
About Gaylord National Resort
Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center opened April 25, 2008 along the banks of the Potomac River, less than eight miles south of the nation’s capital, in National Harbor, Md., a new 300-acre waterfront destination. The Gaylord National Resort is the largest-combined hotel and convention center on the Eastern Seaboard, offering 2,000 guest rooms, including 110 lavish suites; more than 470,000 square feet of convention, meeting, exhibit and pre-function space; acclaimed restaurants; Relâche™ Spa; Pose Ultra Lounge; and a soaring 18-story, glass-covered atrium. For more information, visit www.gaylordnational.com.
Guest Contact:
Gaylord National Reservations: 877-432-8674
Media-Relations Contacts:
Amie Gorrell, Director of Public Relations, 301-965-2111, agorrell@gaylordhotels.com
Carlyle Fairfax Smith, Carlyle International, 703-898-1333, carlyle@carlyleinternational.us
