Spa Places in the News

The Shoals Hotel, Conference Center & Spa on The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail to Open in Florence, Alabama in Late Spring 2005

August 20, 2004 - PCH Hotels & Resorts, Inc., which is funded by the Retirement Systems of Alabama, will open The Shoals Hotel, Conference Center & Spa on The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in late spring 2005.

“This luxury hotel is being built to AAA Four Diamond standards and will dramatically raise the bar on the hospitality industry in this region,” says Larry Bowser, general manager of The Shoals Hotel, Conference Center & Spa. “In addition, we are implementing a special training program for our employees that will ensure the kind of personal attention meeting planners as well as business and leisure travelers demand.”

The hotel is being built near the historic Wilson Dam, which was constructed from 1918-1927, and was the first federal hydroelectric project in the United States. The hotel will employ more than 250 people and have 200 large guest rooms. Each room will contain luxurious furnishings and marble bathrooms. Each room will have its own balcony with a spectacular view.

There will be more than 30,000 square feet of flexible indoor meeting space (including the existing conference center and the new hotel), an abundance of prefunction space, nearly 100 acres of outdoor space for various functions and recreational purposes, an amphitheater, three restaurants, including a 360-foot-tall rotating restaurant with views of the Tennessee River and Wilson Dam, a 6,000-square-foot European spa and an outdoor theme pool with water slide. The Shoals Conference Center, which has been open since 1996, will undergo a $1 million renovation later this year. Moreover, a covered walkway will be built connecting the conference center to the new hotel.

Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail Courses Nearby

Two 18-hole Robert Trent Jones championship golf courses will be located about 20 minutes away from the hotel by shuttle or car. One of the courses, the Fighting Joe course, is scheduled to open in September 2004. Golfers of all skill levels can enjoy world-class golf, but if you are up for the challenge, you can play all 8,072 yards of the Fighting Joe course from the tournament tees. A second RTJ Trail golf course, The Schoolmaster, will open in the spring of 2005. Both were designed by Bobby Vaughan, who was the field designer for all The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail courses in Alabama.

The Spa & Fitness Room

The 6,000-square-foot full-service European spa will include four treatment rooms, two quiet rooms (one for men and one for women) and a hair salon. There will also be a large fitness room.

“The Shoals Hotel is one of six PCH Hotels & Resorts properties in Alabama and represents the positive force of change that is happening to the hospitality industry in this state,” says Bowser.

Flexible Indoor and Outdoor Meeting Space

The Shoals Conference Center, with 28,000 square feet of meeting space, represents the majority of the indoor meeting space at the new development. It can accommodate up to 1,200 people for meetings and up to 800 people for banquets.

The 11,840-square-foot ballroom can be divided into a number of different rooms. The ballroom also has an easy-access loading area, making it suitable for sophisticated corporate annual meetings or even car and boat shows.

In addition to the ballroom, many of the 11 meeting rooms in the Shoals Conference Center will have large plasma-screen TV monitors for corporate presentations. All meeting rooms will have wireless Internet access.

WiFi Internet access will be available in all public spaces in the hotel and conference center. Tables, chairs, wall coverings and carpeting are redone in the conference center as well.

“The conference center is getting a complete makeover and will look more upscale and exceed the expectations of our guests,” says Ray Ezelle, director of sales and marketing for The Shoals Hotel, Conference Center & Spa.

Moreover, the entire Shoals resort property will offer nearly 100 acres of open outdoor space that’s suitable for concerts, weddings, reunions or other large public functions.

A Culinary Showcase

In addition to improved banquet service at the conference center, The Shoals Hotel, Conference Center & Spa will offer three new restaurants that will open in May 2005.

•360: This is the new 360-foot-tall rotating restaurant with views of the Tennessee River and Wilson Dam and will offer fine dining in an upscale setting.

•Bronzeback Café: Bronzeback is the nickname for a smallmouth bass, which is prevalent in the Tennessee River next to the hotel. The Bronzeback Café and Swampers Bar & Grill will offer fine dining in a casual setting.

•Swampers Bar & Grill: This restaurant honors The Swampers musical group, which was immortalized in the 1974 Southern-rock anthem "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Personalized Service

“We want The Shoals Hotel to be the center of eventsÅ\a true destination that will provide individualized attention to guests,” says Bowser.

One way to ensure personalized service for guests will be by “cross-training” employees to perform multiple job functions. The strategy, which is gaining momentum in the hotel industry, will allow The Shoals Hotel to serve more guests in a more timely fashion using a smaller group of employees.

“We’re going to put our people where the guests are and provide a hotel experience that will be better than they’ve ever experienced before,” says Bowser.

Meeting planners, who are always under pressure to deliver first-class corporate events, will find more personalized service than what they might be accustomed to at other hotels and conference centers.

“We’ll make it easy for meeting planners so they’ll impress their boss and all the people who will attend their event,” says Ezelle. “We’re going to take personalized service to the extreme.”

Rich Musical Heritage in the Shoals Area

The Shoals area has a rich musical heritage. In addition to The Swampers, The Shoals was home to Florence native W.C. Handy (1873-1958), the "Father of the Blues," and to Sam Philips (1923-2003), the founder of famed Sun Records, which launched the careers of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis.

By 1960, a recording studio called FAME (Florence Alabama Music Enterprises) was established in Muscle Shoals. FAME was responsible for releasing the hit songs of Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, The Osmonds, Mac Davis and Paul Anka. That led to the development of another recording studio in Sheffield called Muscle Shoals Sounds (MSS). MSS recorded many hit songs from such artists as the Rolling Stones, Cher, Bozz Scaggs, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Cocker, Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Simon and Garfunkel, Willie Nelson, Rod Stewart and Bob Dylan.

“The Shoals Hotel is going to be unlike any hotel this region has seen before and will honor the culture and heritage of the region,” says Bowser. “We’re excited about what we’re building here and can’t wait for opening day.”

According to independent studies by the University of North Alabama’s College of Business and Dr. Mark Fagan of Jacksonville State University, the economic impact of the hotel and convention complex and the golf courses is projected to be $181-$186 million during construction and $21-$41 million annually after construction.

For information and reservations for The Shoals Hotel, Conference Center & Spa on The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail visit www.shoalshotel.com or call (866) 746-2545.

The Shoals Hotel, Conference Center & Spa on The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Florence, Alabama; Ross Bridge Resort and Spa on The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Hoover, Alabama (opening May 2005); The Grand Hotel Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa in Point Clear, Alabama; The Legends at Capitol Hill in Prattville, Alabama; The Lodge and Conference Center at Grand National in Opelika, Alabama; and The Battle House Hotel in Mobile, Alabama (re-opening fall 2005) are subsidiaries of PCH Hotels & Resorts, Inc. PCH is funded by the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) which also has investments in Alabama’s Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, US Airways, Raycom Media, 55 Water Street in New York City, Community Newspapers and other interests.