Massachusetts has been a popular meetings location since America’s earliest days, when founders struggled to define the nation’s destiny. Heritage permeates most any destination in the state, serving groups with fascinating options for both business and leisure activities. Coastal and mountain beauty is in the mix, too, from Boston to the quaint villages and towns of Cape Cod, the Berkshires and the Pioneer Valley. Adding to the appeal is the state’s contemporary sophistication, reflected in everything from its state-of-the-art facilities to its cultural offerings.
Greater Boston
Depending on one’s passions and pleasures, Boston may mean the Red Sox, baked beans, culture or history. It has all that and more, and many American and international visitors call it their favorite city.
Many visitors concentrate on the historic and eclectic neighborhoods. North End, the longest-inhabited since the 1630s, tells stories of Irish, Jewish and Italian heritage. Stately Beacon Hill has Federal-style rowhouses and gas-lit streets that speak of Boston’s role in political and social history. South End has a long history of cultural diversity and has renewed as one of today’s prime restaurant districts. Sophisticated Back Bay has some of the city’s toniest residential and shopping districts, along with hotels like Mandarin Oriental Boston.
Cambridge is called “Boston’s Left Bank” because of its spirited culture, driven by university denizens of Harvard and MIT, as well as many high- tech and biotech companies. With inspiring views of Boston across the Charles River, Cambridge has an energy that injects meetings with creativity and productivity. The Cambridge Conference Collection group of seven hotels provides a combination of 3,500 guest rooms and 102,000 square feet of meeting space. They include The Charles Hotel, Doubletree Guest Suites, Hotel@MIT, Hyatt Regency Cambridge Overlooking Boston, Hotel Marlowe and the Royal Sonesta Hotel.
Boston continues to augment its meetings package, which already contains some of the country’s leading group sites, including the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC), the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center and the Seaport World Trade Center.
Major hotels like the 471-room Boston Renaissance Waterfront Hotel, the 793-room Westin Boston Waterfront—attached to the BCEC—and the 424-room InterContinental Boston are well suited to meetings, as are properties such as The Langham and Taj Boston, formerly a Ritz-Carlton. And there are the luxury boutique jewels, such as The Liberty Hotel, which was created inside the historic Charles Street Jail.
In the tony Back Bay district, home to the Hynes Convention Center and filled with trendy restaurants and shops, planners can count on meetings-ready standouts such as The Boston Park Plaza, Boston Marriott Copley Place, Fairmont Copley Plaza, Hilton Boston Back Bay, Sheraton Boston and Westin Copley Place.
Among the latest newcomers to the city is the 150-room Fairmont Battery Wharf Hotel on the downtown waterfront, offering 6,000 square feet of meeting space. Coming later this year are W Boston in the Theatre District and the 115-room Ames Hotel, a hip incarnation in the 14-story, 1889 building that was Boston’s first skyscraper.
Beth Stehley, vice president of sales and convention services for the Greater Boston CVB, says meeting planners have more reasons than the city’s first-tier facilities, attractions and culture to book Boston this year. Lots of value-adds are infusing hotel and transportation packages, she says.
“We encourage planners to look beyond hotel rates for all the things we can do through 2009 and beyond to create positive guest experiences,” Stehley says. “We have a number of partners like Amtrak and several airlines who are with us to add booking incentives.”
Several carriers, including American, JetBlue and Virgin America, are adding both domestic and international flights to their regular schedules, Stehley adds, so it’s easier than ever to fly delegates into Boston.
Boston now has its own House of Blues since the new location opened in February with capacity for 2,500 people. The 53,000-square-foot facility, situated opposite the Green Monster Wall of Fenway Park, is expected to be popular with meeting groups staying at nearby hotels.
North of Boston
Only 18 miles separate this area near Logan International Airport from the city, and it offers easy accessibility by various transportation modes and often more affordable rates.
“Our region offers more than 3,500 reasonably priced rooms and meeting spaces for up to 1,200 people,” says Julie McConchie, executive director of the North of Boston CVB. “And that comes with 200 miles of shoreline and ‘a story in every mile’ that assures rave reviews for meeting planners.”
Authors, artists and movie producers have long been inspired by the area, she says.
The group can accomplish its business goals and enjoy off-site events at the area’s many mansions, museums and boats.
Hotels in the region that have recently completed renovations to guest rooms and meeting spaces include the Holiday Inn in Peabody and The Sheraton Colonial Boston North Hotel & Conference Center, which carries IACC certification. The Essex Street Inn in Newburyport has a new conference center and guest rooms near the waterfront.
Other popular group choices include the IACC-certified Richard Richard E. Wylie Conference and Education Center in Beverly, the Boston Marriott Peabody and the Sheraton Ferncroft Conference Resort in Danvers, as well as Blue, the Inn on the Beach in Newbury, which is well suited to executive retreats.
Cape Code and the Islands
A quintessential New England experience is available to groups who book Cape Cod and the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. With miles of beachfront and quaint historic villages, the region delivers coastal alternatives that promote concentration, productivity and recreation.
“Few places can match our destination for creative conferences, meetings, relaxing retreats and more,” says Patti Lloyd, vice president of sales for the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. “We offer planners a free resource for organizing meetings that will exceed expectations and escape the mundane.”
Lloyd says her ideal meeting size is about 250 to 300 attendees, but groups as large as 1,000 can be accommodated.
“Spring and fall are typically best for meetings availability,” she continues, “but Cape Code is a year-round destination with over 19,000 hotel rooms and varied meeting venues.”
The cape’s foremost group site is the 52-acre Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis, with 30,000 square feet of function space. It has just completed a renovation that included new roofs, marble baths and common space along with Wi-Fi in business spaces, guest rooms and public areas.
Another group favorite in Hyannis is Cape Codder Resort & Spa.
In Brewster, Ocean Edge Resort & Club on Cape Cod is debuting its new Bayside Ballroom in April, a 5,000-square-foot event space that will host up to 300 for dinner. The new space is an extension of the historic Nickerson Mansion and part of the resort’s $19 million renovation and expansion project that is bringing total meeting space to 20,000 square feet.
In Chatham, one of Cape Cod’s quintessential resorts is the landmark Chatham Bars Inn, which dates to 1914. The seaside retreat features state-of-the-art meeting venues and several new spa suites designed to facilitate in-room treatments, in addition to activities such as boat excursions, deep-sea fishing, whale watching, tennis and croquet.
Another inviting waterfront group getaway is Red Jacket Beach Resort & Spa in South Yarmouth, which features plenty of active diversions for attendees, in addition to 6,000 square feet of meeting space.
Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are the stuff of vacation dreams, and they can also be settings for relaxing business agendas. The 130-room Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown has 4,700 square feet of meeting space, and the 100-room Nantucket Inn provides 4,000 square feet of function space.
Worcester
If the agenda calls for a central New England location with excellent access, Worcester and its satellite cities and towns in central Massachusetts can fill the bill. All major New England highways connect through central Massachusetts. Air access is easy via four major airports, each within about an hour’s drive. Amtrak and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) train service also deliver passengers into the center of Worcester, New England’s second-largest city. Boston and Providence are only 40 miles away.
“Central Massachusetts is a region filled with history, natural beauty and culture that encompasses major urban centers, rolling hills, mountain peaks and sparkling lakes,” says Donna McCabe, president of the Central Massachusetts CVB. “There is truly something for everyone’s taste. You can count on white glove service from our trained sales staff, who are prepared to assist in all phases of planning your next event.”
The DCU Center in downtown Worcester is one of the area’s largest group facilities, with more than 100,000 square feet of arena and exhibit space across the street from the Crowne Plaza and Hilton hotels.
The new Courtyard by Marriot Fitchburg (formerly Best Western Royal Plaza and Trade Center) has been fully renovated to offer 60,000 square feet of exhibition space on its main floor adjacent to great family recreation features provided by the all-new CoCo Key Indoor Water Resort. A dedicated event staff expedites group logistics.
Springfield/Pioneer Valley
Competitive defines meeting rates in the Springfield area, says Mary Kay Wydra, president of the Greater Springfield CVB.
“When we bid on a piece of business, you can be sure it’s on par with second-tier New England cities like Hartford and Providence,” Wydra says.
Accessibility is also a major feature of her area, Wydra says, by either air or road. Springfield sits at the “Crossroads of New England” (interstates 90 and 91), and it is a 20-minute drive to Connecticut’s Bradley International Airport. The urban centers of Springfield and Holyoke come with the charming college and arts towns of Northampton and Amherst, as well as the rural charm of the northern Pioneer Valley regions.
MassMutual Center is Springfield’s premier group facility, with a 40,000-square-foot exhibition hall, a 15,000-square-foot ballroom and a 6,668-seat arena. Steps away from the center are the Sheraton Springfield and the Springfield Marriott, with a combined total of 590 guest rooms and an additional 50,000 square feet of meeting space. Nearby, restaurants and clubs provide attendees with post-meeting leisure lures.
The city and valley are home to some of New England’s foremost sports venues, and several regional museums and attractions provide private event spaces as well as cultural enjoyment. Included are the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (Naismith invented the sport); Volleyball Hall of Fame; Six Flags New England; Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden; and Yankee Candle Village. Coming this fall in downtown Springfield is The Museum of Springfield History. It will join the city’s downtown cadre of art, history and science museums.
The Berkshires
Berkshire County is wondrously rural, yet within easy driving distance of both Boston and New York. Its bucolic beauty has appealed to generations of visitors and artists, including luminaries Herman Melville, Edith Wharton, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau.
Groups in search of a retreat find satisfaction in these hills and valleys that are filled with arts offerings and historical sites. The culture comes with contemporary sophistication and technology, too, says Ray Smith, vice president of the Berkshire Visitors Bureau.
“Groups who come here can have creative breakout sessions with literary and national history, as well as the scenic beauty that has inspired creative minds through the decades,” he says. “We may not have the larger venues of a city but we do offer dynamic and eclectic settings with modern amenities like Wi-Fi. And these come with competitive prices.”
Among the Berkshires’ 70 or so distinctive arts and cultural venues are some new sites, including the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre in Lenox. As home to Shakespeare & Company performances, it offers spaces loaded with amenities for staging a theatrical event, theme dinner or other staged environment. Arrangements can be made for behind-the-scenes tours at the Bernstein and other Berkshire County theater companies, as well as events on their stages and other spaces. The Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and groups may join in with a gallery reception and tented alfresco dinner.
One of the top meetings-ready properties in the region is Cranwell Resort, Spa and Golf Club in Lenox, featuring a championship golf course and a spa, while other popular options include the historic Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, an inviting meetings retreat that has been welcoming travelers for more than two centuries.
For More Information
Berkshire Visitors Bureau 413.743.4500 www.berkshires.org
Cambridge Office for Tourism 617.441.2884 www.cambridge-usa.org
Cape Cod COC 508.362.3225 www.capecodchamber.org
Central Massachusetts CVB 508.755.7400 www.worcester.org
Greater Boston CVB 617.536.4100 www.bostonusa.com
Greater Merrimack Valley CVB 978.459.6150 www.merrimackvalley.org
Greater Springfield CVB 413.787.1548 www.valleyvisitor.com
Martha’s Vineyard COC 508.693.0085 www.mvy.com
Nantucket Island COC 508.228.1700 www.nantucketchamber.org
North of Boston CVB 978.977.7760 www.northofboston.org
