Speaking of opening dates, I hope that many of you will be able to take advantage of a very special promotion we’re offering during our first weeks of opening.  We have an introductory rate of $149 per room, per night.   For $288 per night, our “stay and play” package offers a guest room, breakfast daily, and a round of golf at the spectacular TPC San Antonio.  I hope that many of you will be able to take advantage of these once in-a-lifetime specials.

It’s off to the Resort, I’m getting ready to meet you at the Front Door in 53 days!

Remember …   Warm Heart and Authentic Culture is what San Antonio Hill Country is all about.

Our newest team members are Petro Lemmen, Director of Catering Sales and Greg Higdon, our Senior Catering Sales Manager.  I have had the pleasure of working side by side and watching Petro’s passion for excellence over 30 years.  Petro has been in San Antonio for over 21 years and is a familiar face to many of our local party and event planners.   While Greg is new to San Antonio, he is has an extensive background in creating some of the largest and grandest fundraisers and social events at our sister JW Marriott resort in Tucson, Arizona.  Both of these gentlemen are passionate about the food and beverage and bring a level of creativity and knowledge to exceed the highest expectations.  As I’ve mentioned, this Resort is not only for travelers from across the State and the Country, but for our friends here in San Antonio.  We hope that you will think of us first when planning those special moments in life, from a wedding, to an anniversary party; from a quincera to a bar mitzvah, from annual gala fundraiser to a management meeting.

As Greg and Petro continue their careers here at our beautiful resort, I am working with Cristina Besosa, our Director of Human Resources on developing our hiring and training schedule for the other leaders and over 500 associates that we expect to join our team over the next two months.  I’m delighted to see the numerous emails of interest that we receive each day from people looking to begin a career with Marriott.  Cristina will be listing every open position on a special website; greatjobs.marriott.com.  If you’re looking for a new challenge at one of Texas’ finest resorts, I encourage you to consider a meaningful opportunity here at the JW Marriott.

Our entire management team is looking forward to sharing this fabulous experience with you. 

San Antonio:  It’s all about Warm Heart …. Authentic Culture

We recently brought our Hotel Manager on board, just in time for him and his wife to enroll their six year old son in a local school.  Derek Ellis was most recently the General Manager of the Renaissance Club Sport hotel in Aliso Viejo, California.  Derek brings a wealth of experience to our Resort. Prior to being the opening General Manager for the Renaissance Club Sport, he was the opening Resident Manager of the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort in Tucson, Arizona.  Immediately before that role, he was the opening Director of Operations at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort in Phoenix, Arizona.  Derek will be responsible for all service related departments at the JW Marriott San Antonio.  It’s a significant responsibility and one that I know Derek will embrace with enthusiasm and passion.

In my last blog, I noted that our Food and Beverage Director, Scott Siebert was on board. I’m glad to share that he has hired our Executive Chef, Ryan Littman.  This is Ryan’s second time as the opening Executive Chef as at a JW Marriott Resort.  The 2007 recipient of Marriott’s Executive Chef of the Year, Ryan has already been busy at work meeting with local vendors, growers, and purveyors.  Together, Scott and Ryan and creating a world class food and beverage experience for our future guests.  I’ve already seen there first take at menus for our Cibolo Moon Restaurant.  Our goal is to have fresh food that is so flavorful that our guests won’t want to dine anywhere else!

I’m excited about the next few months as we approach our January, 2010 opening.  The Resort finishes; from the carpeting in Ballroom, to the lighting in the Golf Clubhouse, to the landscaping throughout the property; are being installed on a daily basis.  I’ll be updating my blog more frequently as the pace has picked up as we approach our opening day.

San Antonio: It’s all about Warm Heart…Authentic Culture

Living in the San Antonio Hill Country, I’m fortunate that I don’t have to go far to find places for relaxation, fun, and dining. The Hill Country is the perfect backdrop for Independence Day with numerous festivals, chili cook-offs, water sports and—most importantly—enormous fireworks displays.  In planning for this weekend, I thought I would use my developing computer skills and “mine the web” for ideas.  With that in mind I wanted to share a list of the best ways to spend the Fourth of July holiday with family and friends in the Hill Country, with the help of five great San Antonio-area bloggers.

In five posts, these bloggers talk about Fourth of July activities on our List of the Best Things to Do in the Texas Hill Country – from floating the Comal River to stopping by the Aqua Boom Festival on Lake LBJ.

5. San Antonio Missions Baseball Game Fourth of July Extravaganza, by Derrich Rodriguez

4. Fourth of July Celebration in Luckenbach, TX, by Luis Sandoval Jr.

3. Tubing on the Comal River (New Braunfels, TX), by Jennifer Navarrete

2. Celebration on the River (Kerrville, Texas), by Shelley Cook

1. Aqua Boom Festival on Lake LBJ, by Jessica Young

We want to hear from you too! If you have a favorite Fourth of July activity in the Hill Country, blog about it and post a link to your entry in our comments section or let us know via Twitter at @JWSanAntonio

San Antonio: It’s all about Warm Heart…Authentic Culture

Scott’s passion for food and beverage was apparent within minutes of our first meeting.  He is currently studying to become a Master Sommelier, a designation awarded to true beverage leaders within the hospitality industry.  He was responsible for bringing in organic gardens at his past Resorts and sought out local vendors and sources of fresh produce, meats, and cheeses. 

Scott has already started his research into truly understanding the Texas Hill Country culinary world.  I know he will be impressed with rich variety of farms, ranches, and vineyards that are right here in our backyard.  Even more exciting are his ideas about a signature beverage that he will introduce upon our opening this January. 

I’d like to get your thoughts.  Please leave me a comment with any ideas you have about food or beverage you’d like to see at the Resort.  After all, we want the Resort to be a true reflection of Texas, and the Hill Country in particular, so you ideas would be enormously helpful as we meet that aspiration.  Our goal is that you will come to think of it as your first choice when traveling to San Antonio or looking for the best spot to restore.

San Antonio: It’s all about Warm Heart…Authentic Culture

Although we received a bit of much needed rain on the first day of the festival, it was a great weekend to be outdoors and enjoying the Hill Country. Becker Vineyards was serving a limited release red wine called “Raven” that was truly delicious.   After taking in the Becker Lavender Festival we drove over to Fredericksburg, stopping by in Stonewall, the peach capital of Texas.  Although the peach harvest is expected to be much smaller this year, due to a late season frost, we were still able to enjoy some incredible fresh peaches and of course, homemade peach ice cream.  Driving over to Fredericksburg, we spent a few hours walking along Main Street of this quaint, historic German town.  We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Hondo’s .  My family and friends really enjoy this restaurant and its outdoor beer garden.  Those of you who know me can probably guess what I ordered; yes, a bacon jalapeno cheeseburger…medium rare.

Once you discover the Texas Hill Country, it stays with you. As we prepare to open the resort in early 2010, it’s exciting to think of all the people who will be traveling here for the first time. I know you and your family will enjoy it as much as I do with my family.

San Antonio: It’s all about Warm Hearts…Authentic Culture

Congratulations to 2009 Valero Texas Open Champion Zach Johnson. He defended his 2008 title in dramatic fashion, sinking a 10-foot birdie putt in a one-hole playoff.

The back-to-back champion gets a chance to make it a three-peat next year as the 2010 Valero Texas Open comes to the TPC San Antonio. The two courses designed by golf legends Pete Dye and Greg Norman will be located right here at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa.

Seeing the energy and enthusiasm that San Antonio has for this 87-year-old event makes us proud to be able to open our doors to the golfing world as it descends on San Antonio for this premier contest.

We look forward to welcoming you to the new JW Marriott when we open next January.  I know we’ll all want to be here in May when the tournament kicks off a new page in its storied history and Zach Johnson shoots for three in a row.

San Antonio is all about Warm Hearts…Authentic Culture

It’s especially relevant now because we are in the middle of National Travel and Tourism Week. This week was designated back in 1983 to celebrate all that travel and tourism does for local and national economies.

Think about it: You go out to eat and you spend money locally. That’s nice, but it’s local money being circulated through the local economy. Now, someone from elsewhere comes here for business or pleasure, and they end up spending money in restaurants, at tourist attractions and at hotels. That’s NEW money coming into the local economy.

According to the Travel Industry Association of America, travel and tourism is a $1.7 trillion dollar industry in the United States. Travel and tourism generates $115 billion in tax revenue for federal, state and local governments. Without that tax revenue, each household would pay $988 in additional taxes.

It’s easy to take for granted a lot of the things that make San Antonio so special for travelers. So when family or friends come to visit, enjoy the city as a visitor would; a barge cruise on the River Walk, tour one of the wineries just north of San Antonio, join in one of the upcoming lavender festivals, or find a new favorite restaurant, and enjoy our city as a visitor would.  Travel enriches our lives.  I look forward to visiting with you when travel brings you to every Texan’s 2^nd home, San Antonio!

San Antonio is all about Warm Heart…Authentic Culture!

Meetings and business travel are a huge part of the hospitality industry. According to the U.S. Travel Association, business travel supports 2.4 million jobs while meetings and events are directly responsible for 1 million American jobs. These aren’t just jobs at the meeting site. These are the jobs of the taxi drivers that get you here from the airport. It’s the jobs of the wait staff at the local restaurants where the attendees will dine. It’s the jobs of the people working at the attractions that the attendee families may visit. It’s the jobs and livelihoods of local artisans, shop owners, college students, and others that all benefit when each of us travels. Each meeting and event traveler spends an average of $1,000 per trip. Those are new dollars coming into a community.

Business travel is huge in Texas. The state is second in terms of the percentage of travel that is business related (45.9 percent). Texas also ranks second in share of meetings and event travel by state. In 2007, travelers spent $9.2 billion on meeting and event travel in Texas.

We want to earn as much of that business as possible for San Antonio. With a recent study showing that 87% of Americans who have attended an out of town meeting saying their attendance was important to running a strong business, I know conventions and events are a critical component of our economic recovery. We want you to meet, we want you to travel, we want your business…how can we help? I invite you to write back with your thoughts on the link below.

Remember: San Antonio is all about Warm Heart…Authentic Culture!

The casual observer might wonder how we plan to accomplish everything that must be done in the next 11 months. From outside the building it looks daunting. But what can’t be seen is the tremendous amount of work taking place inside the building.

Much of the public space is still dominated by the gray of unfinished concrete, but upstairs the rooms are taking shape. Guestrooms are being finished out with wall treatments, beautiful stained wood doors, ceramic tile entryways, custom designed carpeting, and walls painted in beautiful colors of yellow and red. Wall coverings are being put up throughout the guestroom hallways.

One of the most exciting areas to see is the sports bar. If you’ve seen our computer animated design video, you’ve seen the significant amount of audio visual equipment that will be there – including that spectacular wall-to-wall screen. The framing for this equipment has already been put in place and the wallboard and electrical are now being installed. I think this will be one of our guests’ favorite areas of the resort.

Make no mistake, there is still so much to do, but we’re making incredible progress. I look forward to sharing more information in the months to come. I invite you to leave a comment – we love to share our story and hear your thoughts!

San Antonio is all about Warm Heart…Authentic Culture!