Tourists traveling to some parts of California—take San Francisco— often pack for fun in the sun and soon find themselves chilly and in search of an extra layer. My guess is Golden Gate Bridge-emblazoned hooded sweatshirts rank among the best-selling souvenirs worldwide. While the “City by the Bay” certainly has its own unique allure, it poses a little confusion, for not all of the Golden State is golden—not in the consistently warm and sunny sense.
But San Diego sure is. It’s a place that embraces rather than shrugs off California stereotypes. Beaches? Check. An active, outdoorsy community? You bet. A good bit of glamour? Got it. Warmth and sunshine? Most definitely. In fact, the weather is one plus planners count on in order to successfully execute outdoor receptions and other group pursuits under the sun.
Of course, the weather isn’t the only attribute that’s made San Diego a Southern California stronghold among meeting planners. It also boasts an incredible array of meetings-equipped facilities, including award-winning hotels and resorts and the San Diego Convention Center; attractions galore, from the San Diego Zoo to a cornucopia of dining options and museums; and easily accessible group activities, from surf lessons and other water sports to golf.
“We’re a many-faceted destination,” says Margie Sitton, senior vice president of sales at the San Diego CVB.
At once, she explains, San Diego is an airport location, a convention center location, a resort location, and an ocean location.
It’s no wonder the area hosts all manner of events, including large-scale national conventions—ASAE visited in August—midsize regional meetings, including military and religious groups, and small corporate incentive programs.
Downtown San Diego
“I sometimes shake my head when I think about how far the city’s come in the past 20 years,” Sitton says, adding that San Diego’s downtown is a great community made up of a variety of “villages,” including the Horton Plaza and Civic Theatre area, East Village, Hillcrest, Little Italy, and the Gaslamp Quarter. “And now we have residents aplenty, plus an increasing number of restaurants, bars and unique stores—It’s such a vibrant place and you feel comfortable walking around.”
Visiting groups won’t want for a good time downtown, which is indeed walkable and fairly compact. At the foot of the Gaslamp Quarter, for starters, is the San Diego Convention Center, Sitton explains.
“Meeting delegates are right there next to the excitement of San Diego,” she says, adding that planners have many outdoor group activities to choose from, including a Padres game at Petco Park, a Hornblower dinner cruise or an outdoor reception at the host hotel. “Most hotels have wonderful outdoor space because we can take advantage of doing events outside. Customers always say what perfect weather we have. Be it on the bay or at a beer pub downtown (see sidebar, page 16), we live outdoors here.”
While planners correctly assume they can include golf and beach activities in an agenda, Sitton emphasizes that San Diego is also a cultural hot spot due to Balboa Park’s offerings (see sidebar, this page).
Meanwhile, one of downtown San Diego’s major attractions is the historic aircraft carrier USS Midway in San Diego Bay. The carrier is available for a range of group events, with a 17,000-square-foot hangar deck where up to 3,500 guests can gather.
Among downtown’s standby group hotels are the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina, the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego, the Westin San Diego, the Omni San Diego, the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina, the historic US Grant, and the Hard Rock Hotel San Diego, which opened last year.
Coronado
According to Becky Emerson and Mary Pack, managers at the Coronado Visitor Center, the three major group-friendly facilities in Coronado—the posh island beach community connected to San Diego by the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge—are the Coronado Island Marriott Resort, Loews Coronado Bay Resort and the storied Hotel del Coronado, where Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis got better acquainted in Some Like It Hot.
“We run tours of the historic Hotel del Coronado four days a week, but the group sizes are a maximum of 12 people,” Emerson says.
Throughout the year, Pack adds, Coronado hosts events that planners might include in an itinerary. The Coronado Art Walk on Sept. 21, for instance, is an admission-free festival featuring the wares of more than 90 artists, as well as two stages for music and other entertainment; and the Chrysler Classic Speed Festival car race will be held at the Naval Air Station North Island Sept. 27-28.
Mission Valley/Old Town
Situated two miles north of downtown San Diego is Mission Valley, and toward the west of it is Old Town. According to Sitton, this was the area’s main hotel community before San Diego became the hub.
“It’s a core part of who we are,” she says, emphasizing San Diego originated here. “It gives the feeling of what our community looked like in the 1800s when missionaries were coming through. It’s a great tourist destination with a strong Mexican influence, parks and great shopping, including the best regional shopping centers [namely Westfield Mission Valley and Fashion Valley Mall].”
For groups, Mission Valley sports the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, as well as the Handlery Hotel & Resort. In Old Town, where the properties are more “boutique-y,” according to Sitton, is the oft-visited State Historic Park.
La Jolla/Mission Bay
Located 15 minutes north of downtown San Diego is La Jolla, home of the University of California, San Diego. Quite simply, it’s a “fabulous community,” according to Sitton.
“There are great restaurants at the ocean with incredible views,” she says, calling additional attention to Prospect Street, where delegates enjoy off-session time window-shopping and grabbing a bite.
“It’s worth mentioning San Diego hosted the U.S. Open in June,” Sitton says.
The Tiger Woods-dominated, sudden-death thriller—the first U.S. Open in Southern California since 1948—took place at La Jolla’s Torrey Pines Golf Course, and La Jolla hotels were completely booked for it. “We got feedback that it was the most successful U.S. Open in recent history, and the whole area couldn’t have been prouder showing off our bay and that beautiful golf course.”
The U.S. Open, according to Sitton, is expected to come back to San Diego in 2018.
The Lodge at Torrey Pines; the Estancia La Jolla Hotel & Spa, which boasts the IACC-certified Executive Learning Retreat; the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines; the Hyatt Regency La Jolla at Aventine; and the recently reflagged La Jolla Shores Hotel, formerly the Sea Lodge Hotel, are among the destination’s properties catering to groups.
La Jolla is also home to the Scripps Institute of Oceanography and its Birch Aquarium, which nearby properties often book for receptions and dinners, according to Cami Mattson, president and CEO of the San Diego North CVB, which markets La Jolla as part of its region. She adds that La Jolla-based San Diego Bike & Kayak Tours often combines excursions with a function at the Birch Aquarium.
Just south of La Jolla is Mission Bay, whose main attractions include Sea World San Diego and group-ready properties such as Bahia Resort Hotel, Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina, The Dana on Mission Bay, Catamaran Resort Hotel, and Paradise Point Resort & Spa.
San Diego North
San Diego North encompasses La Jolla north to Oceanside, a 4,000-square-mile area that the CVB sells as San Diego’s resort region, complete with open spaces, the ocean and golf courses, according to Mattson.
“Here you get a fabulous feeling of being away but you still have access to San Diego activities and attractions,” she says. “We’re not about having one city center; we have about 19 communities—coastal, valley, mountain, and desert—so it’s geographically and architecturally diverse.”
Joining the already mentioned La Jolla-based Lodge at Torrey Pines is another AAA Five Diamond recipient, Carlsbad’s Four Seasons Resort Aviara North San Diego.
“We anticipate The Grand Del Mar, which opened last October, will also get that ranking,” Mattson says. “There are so many wonderful properties here with different feels—Hollywood, ranch, Old World, contemporary beach—so our product is diverse, too.”
San Diego North’s portfolio also features Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa, which opened in February next to Crossings at Carlsbad Golf Course and Legoland, where the event-ready Sea Life Aquarium debuted in August; L’Auberge Del Mar, which reopened in June after a $25 million renovation; Rancho Bernardo Inn Golf Resort & Spa, which underwent a $25 million renovation, including the addition of a new 27,000-square-foot conference center; Morgan Run Resort & Club; and Marriott Del Mar, whose Arterra restaurant just expanded to include a new outdoor lounge complete with poolside cabanas, plasma screens and three fire pits.
“This hip outdoor bar-type area is great for groups,” Mattson says. “We don’t have a club scene here but the hotels and resorts are creating wonderful after-hours gathering places.”
The region is also home to Pala Casino Resort and Spa and Harrah’s Rincon Casino and Resort.
Aside from its variety of meetings-oriented properties, San Diego North is poised to entertain groups after meetings. Mattson recommends surf lessons via Surf Diva Surfing School, geared toward female participants; Where You Want to Be Tours, which facilitates scavenger hunts and other team-building activities; Escondido’s Orfila Vineyards for wine tasting and outdoor banquets; Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas, which Mattson has seen completely lit up with food stations throughout for a memorable private event “surrounded by plants from around the world”; the Del Mar Fairgrounds for racing events (it also offers exhibit space for trade shows); and the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where groups can mingle with exotic animals during an event in a covered outdoor space.
South San Diego County
The city of Chula Vista, according to Lisa Cohen, CEO of the Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce, is a blooming meetings community with several properties that cater to groups, including the Holiday Inn Express.
“The west side of town is historical—incorporated in 1911—and on the east side there are bay and mountain views,” Cohen says.
Several of the area’s main attractions are the Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre, formerly known as Coors Amphitheatre, a nearly 20,000-seat venue for big-name concerts; Knotts Soak City waterpark; the Chula Vista Nature Center; Otay Ranch Town Center, an entertainment and shopping complex; ARCO Olympic Training Center; and several golf courses, including Eastlake Country Club and Bonita Golf Club.
Its quaint downtown, peppered with handsome historical buildings, features Vogue Theatre. Currently undergoing a renovation, the Vogue is scheduled to be available for shows and special events by next year.
“We’re also working on bringing more space for groups,” Cohen says, citing the pending 2012 opening of a major Gaylord Entertainment hotel and conference center project, featuring some 1,500 to 2,000 guest rooms, 400,000 square feet of meeting space and 60,000 square feet of space for retail and dining outlets. “We’re looking forward to Gaylord for the full complement of meeting space.”
East San Diego County
East San Diego County’s casinos and resorts attract a meetings audience that appreciates wide-open spaces and easy access to San Diego’s attractions, says Eric Lund, executive director at the San Diego East Visitors Bureau.
“This is more of a rural destination—foothills to mountains to desert—with some key urban cores,” he says. “We’re not a giant convention destination, but we are excellent for 400 to 600 people.”
The main group-friendly properties are Lakeside’s Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino; El Cajon’s Sycuan Resort; and La Casa del Zorro Desert Resort, Borrego Springs Resort and Palm Canyon Resort, all located in Borrego Springs.
The Alpine-based Viejas Casino, Lund says, is in talks to add a 600-room property within the next four years, and the Golden Acorn Casino is on track to build a small lodging property.
Groups enjoy day trips to Julian, a historic gold-mining town with a variety of shops, bed-and-breakfasts and the Julian Wolf Preserve, as well as many outdoor activities ranging from rock climbing and bird watching to hiking.
For More Info
Chula Vista COC 619.420.6603 www.chulavistachamber.org
Coronado Visitor Center 619.437.8788 www.coronadovisitorcenter.com
San Diego CVB 619.232.3101 www.sandiego.org
San Diego East Visitors Bureau 619.445.0180 www.visitsandiegoeast.com
San Diego North CVB 760.745.4741 www.sandiegonorth.com
