by Carrie Resch
Staff Writer
There’s no game in town but it appears downtown’s hotels will be packed this weekend.
They were filled for Super Bowl week but it’s rare that you can’t find a room on any other weekend. Not this weekend, and next week will be a big one, too.
The Adam’s Mark, which was the host hotel for the Super Bowl, is up to capacity with groups including the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the Mary Kay cosmetics convention and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
“We’ve been very, very busy,” said General Manager Mark Kaiser. “We had big conventions before Super Bowl and we’ve been busy since.”
It’s the same story at the other big downtown hotels.
The Radisson is booked for the weekend and a spokesman in the sales department said there were 5-6 groups coming in.
“Plus, the airline business has picked up so we have quite a few flight crews staying here,” she said.
The Omni is booked Friday night and has a few rooms left for Saturday.
“There are a lot little groups coming in,” said Nikki Hudson, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing. “It’s typical for this time of the year in Jacksonville.
“Every time a large group comes in, all hotels, including the large ones, fill up. It’s good for everybody.”
The Hilton is almost completely booked and only a few rooms remain at the Hampton Inn. The overflow is reaching the suburbs — for instance, the Jacksonville Marriott at Southpoint expects to be full from Thursday through Saturday.
The Adam’s Mark landed the U.S. Forest Service for two weeks of training. The convention had been held in Cincinnati for the last seven years and Kaiser said the Adam’s Mark is trying to negotiate with the group to get its business for the next four years.
“We’ve gotten the city involved as well as the Landing and lots of different areas in welcoming them and dealing with them,” Kaiser said.
The group is seriously looking at making the move because they wanted a different location, according to Kaiser.
“Their attendance here is 50 percent greater than it was in Cincinnati, and they’re very happy,” Kaiser said.
Almost as soon as the USDA group checks out, the Mary Kay convention and a cheerleading group will be checking in. Mary Kay alone will bring 2,000 people here for its March 17-19 convention.
The following Monday, March 21, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement group will begin arriving for their convention which booked the entire hotel.