Rooms for DNC delegates share political view

Florida, a key swing state, will have plum accommodations in the heart of uptown.

Hawaii and Illinois, President Barack Obama's home states, will be an easy walk from all the action.

The Republican-leaning states of Texas and Arizona, meanwhile, will be miles away, one in Ayrsley, in southwest Charlotte, and the other in Concord.

Those were among the hotel assignments announced Tuesday by the Democratic National Convention Committee. An estimated 6,500 delegates and their guests will stay in 56 hotels from Concord to SouthPark and shuttle to uptown venues.

The assignments are a key part of a convention expected to occupy a total of 150 hotels and 15,000 rooms in the region.

More distant rooms - in places such as Ballantyne, Salisbury and Rock Hill - were considered too far for delegates. They'll be reserved for convention speakers and other visitors.

Delegate hotels are clustered in five areas: uptown, SouthPark, the university area, the airport and at the intersection of I-77 and Tyvola Road.

Convention CEO Steve Kerrigan said all delegations should be pleased with their assignments.

Some states, though, clearly scored prime spots.

North Carolina's 186 delegates will be at the Crowne Plaza Uptown on McDowell Street, a few blocks from Time Warner Arena. North Carolina is not only the convention's host but a key battleground state.

Delegates from Vermont, which drew the top spot in a delegate housing lottery, will join those from Hawaii at the Hilton Charlotte Center City. The Hilton, along with the Westin Charlotte, is a DNC headquarters hotel.

California, a reliably Democratic state, will be uptown at the Blake Hotel and the Hampton Inn & Suites.

Massachusetts, Kerrigan's home state, is at the Omni, a block from the arena.

Compared to those at earlier conventions, most hotel locations are relatively convenient.

Four years ago in Denver, Illinois delegates stayed downtown but had to take a bus to the Pepsi Center convention site. Here they'll stay at the Holiday Inn Center City.

"If it's close by, that's great. It makes it easier on our delegation," said Illinois party spokesman Steve Brown. "That's good news. We're looking forward to coming to Charlotte."

Even delegations farther out are not that far.

Delegates from Texas and Montana will stay at Concord's Great Wolf Lodge, about 16 miles and 20 minutes away by interstate.

Louisianans will stay at Sleep Inn University. Georgia delegates will set up at the Marriott Executive Park off Tyvola Road. Virginians, from another state Obama hopes to keep, will be at the Sheraton Airport Charlotte.

Delegates from Pennsylvania and New York will fill hotels around SouthPark.

"We have some of the region's best shopping and dining," said Kris Horacek, general manager of both the Renaissance and The Marriott in SouthPark.

Phil Cunningham, general manager of the Great Wolf Lodge, said delegates staying in Concord could visit Concord Mills mall, the state's top tourist attraction.

Noticeably off the list in the uptown mix - the high-end Ritz-Carlton and the Dunhill Hotel, both short walks away from the arena.

Kerrigan said the Ritz-Carlton is under contract. "We just haven't determined how we're going to use it," he said.