Westin Charlotte Opens

April 30, 2003

What's the plural of moose? Charlotte will get the chance to find out next year when some 8,000 men and women of Moose International, a civic and social fraternity, herd into the Queen City for their national convention. Neither the mass of Moose or the 4,000 doctors of the American College of Veterinary Medicine here this June, or the 2,500 bureaucrats of the International City County Management Association coming in the fall would be bringing their collective economic impact to Charlotte if it weren't for the Westin Hotel.

When the Charlotte Convention Center opened in January 1995, it was expected that a "headquarters hotel," the industry term for a place big enough to house all the members of an organization under one roof, was soon to follow, says Brian Monroe, the director of sales for the convention center.

With its 700 rooms, almost twice that of the Hilton, and 32,279 square feet of meeting space, the Westin is just that.