Lakeway Resort and Spa

Lakeway Resort and Spa holds corporate events and business meetings against a backdrop of 18,000-acre Lake Travis and the rolling hills of Texas Hill Country. Set on the outskirts of Austin, halfway between Dallas and Houston, the newly renovated resort combines 24,000 square feet of IACC-certified conference space with 168 deluxe guest rooms and suites, a choice of dining venues, and lakeside recreation as popular with individual vacationers as with business guests.

The 17 meeting rooms afford meeting planners every opportunity to incorporate natural light along with inspirational views of the lake. Planners mix and match between a dozen breakout rooms and four ballrooms, including the new Vistas Ballroom, a 5,200-square-foot beauty wrapped in 180-degree views of the water. Managed by Dolce Hotels and Resorts—a vanguard in the meetings industry—the hotel excels at gatherings of every description, whether a full-blown conference, series of training seminars, team-building sessions, or meeting of the board.

Groups have access to fully catered meal plan packages, but they can also opt for à la carte dining at Travis Restaurant and Josey’s Bar & Grill. Family-friendly incentives start with the three-tiered swimming pool with swim-up bar and the new San Saba Spa—not to mention lake fishing, sailing, and cruises. Golf at four nearby courses includes 72 holes of Texas Hill Country play designed by Jack Nicklaus and Jack “Jackie” Nicklaus II. There are no packages available at this time. There are no hot dates at this time. Posted Jul 20, 2010 by Elite News Team
Subscribe - RSS Feed July 19, 2010

Montvale, N.J.--Dolce Hotels and Resorts, operator of 27 upscale hotels, resorts and conference hotels in North America and Europe, has implemented SpeedRFP, an online request-for-proposal tool that enables meeting planners to solicit bids from multiple hotels across multiple brands.

SpeedRFP enables meeting planners to enter their organization's information and details about their prospective meeting just once using a standardized format at www.dolce-speedrfp.com and then submit that information to the Dolce property of their choice, according to Barry Goldstein, Dolce chief revenue officer.

"Meeting planners traditionally have considered the RFP process to be time-consuming and repetitive," he said. "With SpeedRFP, they establish an online account and keystroke the specifications for each meeting just once. SpeedRFP enables planners to send RFPs to multiple vendors without re-entering data. Planners also use SpeedRFP to manage their RFPs."

Kelly Foy, chief executive officer of Elite Meetings International Inc., the company that developed and markets SpeedRFP, said "meeting planners have been asking for a RFP management system like SpeedRFP for years." The product is being offered to hotel chains, individual properties and convention and visitors bureaus, among others.

In addition to streamlining the work of meeting planners, SpeedRFP benefits hotel brands like Dolce because it is integrated seamlessly into the brand's central reservations system, does not require costly software upgrades, and exposes the hotel brands to more prospective meetings clients, he said.

SpeedRFP will save Dolce time and money by incorporating RFPs in hotel property management systems and avoiding commissions and transaction fees, according to Goldstein. Dolce expects to expand its use of SpeedRFP to weddings and other social events. Posted May 21, 2009 by Elite News Team
Subscribe - RSS Feed Hotels and Resorts, a privately held operator of 24 upscale hotels, resorts and conference hotels in North America and Europe, today announced the appointment of Stephen Bello, a 22-year hospitality veteran, as general manager of the 168-room Lakeway Resort and Spa, which it manages on Lake Travis in Austin, Texas.

He will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the facility's management including operations, finance, human capital, sales, marketing, public relations, customer relations and information technology. Lakeway Resort's 24,000 square feet of meeting space qualifies it as one of the largest hotel conference centers in the greater Austin area.

For the last two years, Bello was managing director of Hawks Cay Resort, a 40-acre complex on Duck Key, Fla., which includes a 177-room luxury hotel, 250 villas and an 85-slip marina. During his tenure, he managed a $40 million renovation and developed a service culture to improve guest and employee experience.

Earlier, he was corporate director of operations for RockResorts in Broomfield, Colo., where he acted as the asset manager for the company's owned properties, provided leadership to the company's owned and managed hotels and assessed new projects. In that role, he helped the company develop a policy on sustainable business practices.

From 2004 to 2006, Bello was president of Classic Hospitality, a multiunit operator of five hotels and six restaurants located in metropolitan Washington, D.C. From 2003 to 2004 he was general manager of The Madison Hotel in Washington. In 2002 he was general manager of The Hotel Hershey in Hershey, Pa., where he provided direction for a $30 million renovation project.

He was general manager of Ritz-Carlton hotels in Philadelphia; Rancho Mirage, Calif.; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Amelia Island, Fla.; and Hawaii from 1993 to 2002. He started his career as conference services manager at The Doubletree at Lincoln Center in Dallas in 1986 and was assistant food and beverage manager at Amelia Island Plantation from 1988 to 1989.

Bello was awarded a bachelor of science degree in hospitality management and culinary arts in 1980 from Johnson and Wales University, Providence, R.I. He also studied real estate investment and financial accounting at Georgetown University, Washington.

The Lakeway Resort and Spa features three restaurants, business center, fitness center, outdoor pools, heated whirlpool, water sports at an adjacent marina on Lake Travis, golf on four nearby courses and the San Saba Spa. Each guest room is equipped with high-speed wireless Internet service, a dual-line telephone, lighted work desk, 32-inch flat-screen TV with in-room movies and satellite stations, coffeemaker, hair dryer and iron and ironing board.

Dolce Hotels and Resorts, headquartered in Montvale, N.J., and Paris, is majority-owned by Broadreach Capital Partners and employs approximately 4,000 worldwide.
Its portfolio of iconic hotels, resorts and conference centers includes Lakeway Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas; Dolce Sitges in Barcelona, Spain; Seaview, near Atlantic City, N.J.; Dolce Hayes Mansion in San Jose, Calif.; Dolce Chantilly in France; and Aspen Meadows Resort in Aspen, Colo.

Dolce Hotels and Resorts has earned a reputation for creating inspiring working and learning environments through its superior cuisine and amenities, productive facilities and design and dedicated, personalized customer service. Additional information is available at www.dolce.com.