Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center Names Karen Howell NSM

in Jacksonville/St. Augustine, Florida

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. November 18, 2011

November 17, 2011 - Karen Howell has been named national sales manager at The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center in Jacksonville/St. Augustine, Florida. In her new position she is responsible for working with meeting professionals, association executives, incentive/recognition specialists, business executives, and travel agents to coordinate meetings and group programs at the 301-room *Northeast Florida resort. Together with the adjacent World Golf Hall of Fame, the AAA Four-Diamond resort is the largest combination hotel and convention center between Atlanta and Orlando, with 101,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

Prior to joining The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center, Howell served for four years as Group Sales Manager at Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront. Prior to that, she served at that hotel as the Social Catering Manager for two years. Other hospitality experience includes serving as Conference Sales Coordinator at Litchfield Beach & Golf Resort in Pawley's Island, South Carolina, and as Catering Coordinator at The Cloister Hotel on Sea Island, Georgia. She may be reached at [email protected] .

“We are very pleased to have Karen Howell on our sales team at The Renaissance Resort,” said Jeffrey Oliasami, the resort's general manager. “She is an experienced, skilled, and very personable sales executive who will be a great resource for meeting and convention groups, incentive/recognition programs, and leisure groups.”

Located within the lush 6,300-acre World Golf Village, The Renaissance World Golf Village Resort and Convention Center is the only Northeast Florida resort and convention center to receive the prestigious AAA Four Diamond rating, which is an honor achieved by less than 4% of the AAA approved properties. Additional awards recently bestowed on the resort include Meetings & Conventions magazine's prestigious “2011 Gold Key Award,” Successful Meetings magazine's acclaimed “Pinnacle Award,” and Association Meetings magazine's prestigious “Inner Circle Award.”

Not resting on its many laurels, the resort recently completed a dramatic renovation and expansion of its outdoor meeting, event and recreational space. The large project included new and expanded outdoor function space with beautiful brick pavers and elegant new furniture in conversational groupings; a beautiful new fountain called La Piazza; a picturesque new gazebo; and 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 2,000 guests. La Terrazza features advanced technology and power capability, comparable to that provided in indoor ballrooms. This includes underground cables and wiring for communication and internet to the stage location, and to the gazebo, as well as underground connection points for two different size tent configurations (40' x 50' and 40' x 60').

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.

These enhancements follow other new offerings at the resort, which 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.

Located within the lush 6,300-acre World Golf Village, 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 nine-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, Flagler College, Whetstone's Chocolate Factory, Lightner Museum, 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 .