The communities that constitute the coastal area of Orange County are at once completely unique and one in the same. While each offers a special niche for groups that would like to convene in the area, they uniformly offer an attractive bottom line.
Planners on the lookout for an affordable Southern California destination with an abundance of cultural and outdoor pursuits the group will remember should consider the Orange County coast for their next event.
Huntington Beach
Huntington Beach is not your typical convention town, according to Donna Mulgrew, vice president of sales and marketing for the Huntington Beach Marketing and Visitors Bureau (HBMVB). For starters, the area fondly considers its wide-open beach its convention center.
"Surf City USA’s authentic beach culture permeates throughout our events, our town and, hopefully, the meetings produced by our clients," she says.
Huntington Beach now features the Surf City Conference Collection (www.meetinsurfcity.com), which joins the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort and the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa in a new marketing campaign to promote their adjacent properties as one complete meetings campus featuring 807 guest rooms and 73,000 square feet of meeting space, including five ocean-view ballrooms.
"In an age of diminishing bureau budgets, our hotels have agreed to help increase the HBMVB budget by 50 percent to $1.7 million beginning Oct. 1," Mulgrew says, explaining this additional business improvement district money will allow the bureau to expand its efforts in meetings marketing and sales. "Also, the entry of the new Shorebreak Hotel into the meetings market gives Huntington Beach an important boutique ‘surf couture’ alternative for smaller groups and board meetings."
Among the area’s other meetings-friendly properties are the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort and the Hotel Huntington Beach.
The obvious off-session activity for groups convening in the home of the International Surfing Museum and more than 50 surf contests per year, including the US Open of Surfing, is surfing lessons, which Mulgrew says are a snap to arrange for groups.
Group Segway tours, with specially designed off-road tires so attendees can actually ride them on the beach, and gondola rides in Huntington Harbour, are two more popular area pursuits.
Newport Beach
Newport Beach is another seaside oasis situated in what is often described as the "Hamptons of Hollywood," says Tom Bennett, senior vice president of sales for Visit Newport Beach.
"Regarded as fashionable and affluent, it is also remarkably casual and affordable," he says, explaining the destination’s temperate Mediterranean climate, history, iconic harbor, waterfront activities and retail and culinary options assure attendees a well-rounded and delightful experience. "Plus, a diverse range of hotel options satisfy every budget range, guaranteeing a value component rarely seen in other coastal destinations."
The area boasts 2,300 area guest rooms and 150,000-plus square feet of meeting space.
Among the group facilities in Newport Beach are the Resort at Pelican Hill, the Balboa Bay Club & Resort, the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach, Island Hotel Newport Beach and Newport Beach Marriott Bayview.
"Newport Beach has re-emerged from the recession as a unique value along the Orange County coastline," Bennett says. "No longer just a site for opulent meetings, the destination has gained attention and bookings from a wider group of associations and others who once considered meetings on the OC coastline far from realistic or budget conscious."
Must-sees when meeting in Newport Beach include the Orange County Museum of Art and the Newport Beach Sports Museum. Planners are also encouraged to hold a springtime event around the annual Newport Beach Film Festival, which over the past 11 years has premiered such films as Waitress and the 2005 Best Picture Academy Award winner Crash.
If the group prefers some fun in the sun, they might cruise the Newport Harbor via Duffy Electric Boat Company.
Laguna Beach
A historical, quaint artist’s village, Laguna Beach is a casual, walkable city that boasts a higher percentage of meetings attendance because delegates look forward to area options for team-building activities, including beach volleyball and kayaking, and cooking lessons at Laguna Culinary Arts, according to Judith Bijlani, executive director of the Laguna Beach Visitors and Conference Bureau.
One of the most popular group activities in Laguna Beach, Bijlani adds, is the Art & Sea Escape, a docent-led tour of the area’s world-famous tidepools complete with a watercolor lesson on the beach. Groups also give high marks for visits to Laguna Canyon Winery, where grapes are smashed, aged and barreled on-site.
"As meeting planners continue to discover the benefits of a smaller destination and the wide range of possibilities it brings for their meetings in Laguna Beach, our city has grown as a preferred location," Bijlani says, explaining the destination hosts small to midsize meetings for up to 500 people.
Area properties that welcome groups include Inn at Laguna Beach, Montage Laguna Beach, Surf & Sand Resort, Aliso Creek Inn and Golf Course and Hotel Laguna.
Dana Point
Another great destination for meetings in the coastal Orange County area is Dana Point, which according to Nichole Chambers, president and CEO of the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce, boasts gorgeous scenery and "top of the line" facilities for meetings and events.
"Our hotels and resorts are often named as top properties by AAA and Forbes," she says. "Here you can combine business and a luxury getaway in one trip."
Meetings-equipped properties include St. Regis Monarch Beach; The Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel; Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa; and Doubletree Guest Suites Doheny Beach.
"Dana Point is often home to financial and information technology meetings and conferences," Chambers says. "We hope this trend continues for us."
After the meeting, attendees in Dana Point will enjoy outdoor adventures such as surf lessons, stand-up paddle boarding, golfing, jet skiing, fishing, kayaking and whale watching.
"Dana Point is often referenced as the West Coast capital of whale watching," Chambers says.
San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Seal Beach
Just south of Dana Point is a cluster of communities well suited for small groups and board retreats.
San Juan Capistrano is home to the circa-1796 Mission San Juan Capistrano, which has space for intimate groups of 50, galas for 800 or receptions accommodating up to 1,000 people. The city’s Best Western Capistrano Inn features an adjacent conference center that accommodates up to 150 attendees. In San Clemente, known as the "Spanish Village by the Sea," is the Casa Romantica Cultural Center and Gardens, which is popular for corporate events, and guest accommodations include the Sea Horse Resort and San Clemente Inn.
In Seal Beach are three hotels—Ayres Hotel, Hampton Inn and Suites and Pacific Inn—with facilities to host up to about 20 people, according to Gina Phillips, director of operations at the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce.
"Our city has wonderful restaurants and shopping, plus we have that old-town feel, so it would be a nice visiting spot for meeting-goers from nearby Long Beach," Phillips says.
Close to the Coast
Costa Mesa, according to Shaun Robinson, chairman of the Costa Mesa Conference and Visitor Bureau, provides a viable alternative to booking meetings at resort locations. He says the destination offers excellent facilities, superior services and plenty of shopping, entertainment venues and great restaurants often at a fraction of resort prices and without the potentially negative perception of meeting at a resort during troubling financial times.
"In fact, Costa Mesa has one of the lowest transient occupancy taxes in the Western U.S.," he explains. "As meeting planners seek to get the most value for meeting dollars, Costa Mesa continues to be a budget-conscious destination that quite literally delivers more bang for the buck."
In total, planners can choose from more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space and more than 2,000 guest rooms located in 10 service-oriented properties, including the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa and the Westin South Coast Plaza, along with the distinctive new boutique Hotel Hanford, formerly a Holiday Inn.
"As our Theater & Arts District grows in prominence, we are being recognized as a world-class cultural center," Robinson adds, citing Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall and the Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory regional theater company.
"Planners like that there is so much to do here after the meeting has ended," he says, emphasizing Costa Mesa is Orange County’s "premier shopping, dining and cultural destination."
Retail experiences include South Coast Plaza, where shoppers will find more than 280 retailers, as well as restaurants.
What sets Irvine apart from its coastal neighbors is that it’s been rated "America’s Safest Big City" by the FBI for six consecutive years, according to Wendy Haase, director of tourism marketing at the Irvine CVB. Additionally, she says, it ranks among the greenest cities for its sustainability practices.
"Irvine is full of wide-open spaces and is great for outdoor activities with acres and acres of preserves and parks," she adds. "This is unusual as we are still a large city but have the feel of being away from the city at the same time."
Standby hotel product includes Hyatt Regency Irvine, Irvine Marriott and Hilton Irvine/Orange County Airport.
"Groups are realizing they can take advantage of the central location that Irvine provides within Southern California without paying too high of costs and having to sacrifice convenience," Haase says.
Off-session activities include golfing, horseback riding at Irvine Regional Park and visits to the Irvine Museum and Tanaka Farms, which has special seasonal tours, including pumpkin patch and watermelon tours.
Carolyn Blackburn is a frequent contributor to Meetings West.
