When delegates are singing the hotel ballroom blues, it may be time to fine-tune your choice of venue, and a good place to start is in the South Florida cities of Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
With the beach on one hand and the Everglades on the other—and countless restaurants and nightclubs in between—these neighboring metropolitan areas have the after hours covered, while major convention centers and hotel-based facilities keep the meeting agendas moving. But there’s more here than meets the eye when it comes to creative planning for receptions, breakout sessions and other events, and specialized venues can make the difference between memorable and forgettable.
"[Our] off-site venues offer the convention and corporate delegates an opportunity to experience some of the uniqueness of each city or area," says Ita Moriarty, senior vice president of convention sales for the Greater Miami CVB. "A flavor of the city can be found in so many venues, it’s just a matter of matching the audience with the location."
Miami
Specialized locations in the "Magic City" run the gamut from historical to modern, athletic to artistic, hot to cold—literally. One of the newest sites, So Cool Events in West Little Havana, appears to be a nondescript warehouse from the outside and resembles a minimalist loft on the inside, illuminated by wireless, lighted acrylic furniture—including buffet tables, interactive food stations and lighted bars—with a capacity of 500 for a sit-down dinner and 1,000 reception style.
But the coolest feature awaits, as attendees find themselves donning gloves, fur-lined crocs and heavy ponchos to enter the Ice Lounge, a 1,000-square-foot space crafted completely from ice—including the walls—and complete with ice bar, chairs, pedestals and unique works of art that include flower petals encased in ice blocks.
Already a hit with corporate groups, according to co-owner Meg Holderman, So Cool recently bought the building next door, hoping to add to its current 10,000 square feet of function space.
"Because of the Internet, people are finding us directly, instead of through the DMCs," Holderman reports.
At the opposite end of the temperature spectrum, a variety of verdant parks in Greater Miami also welcome meetings and events, including the Barnacle Historic State Park in Coconut Grove, featuring a 1,400-square-foot pavilion, and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, whose 83 acres are home to rare palms, cycads, flowering trees and tropical fruit trees. In addition to expansive lawns (which can be tented), groups can gather for receptions and breakout sessions at Fairchild’s visitor center ballroom or in the garden house.
Greater Miami’s great outdoors combine with animal encounters at places like the Miami Seaquarium on Key Biscayne, offering team-building dolphin encounters and facilities for group events including the Dolphin Lobby and tented outdoor space.
Meanwhile, the downtown Miami skyline and huge cruise ships docked at the Port of Miami provide the urban backdrop to a wild time at Jungle Island, whose lush tropical vegetation surrounds a menagerie of animals, such as rare twin orangutans, a liger—the massive cross between a lion and tiger—and over 300 colorful birds, including what is touted as the world’s only trained cassowary (a large, flightless bird native to New Guinea and Australia).
Groups can stroll the park’s 1.35-mile trail past animal exhibits and get interactive with the "locals" through feeding programs or by participating in shows at the Parrot Bowl and other performance venues. Meeting facilities
include the 15,000-square-foot Treetop Ballroom, as well as a number of smaller bayfront meeting rooms and a host of outdoor options, including manicured lawns and a private beach area.
However, if your group prefers symphonic sounds over lilting birdsong, one of the city’s newest artistic venues is the Frank Gehry-designed campus of the New World Symphony on Miami Beach, which just debuted in February. Headed by founder and artistic director Michael Tilson Thomas, the New World Symphony has earned worldwide acclaim as a working academy for up-and-coming musicians, while its newest home is another feather in Miami’s convention cap.
The new facility is nothing short of amazing, from its avant-garde architecture to its flexible concert halls (available to groups) that feature state-of-the-art sound and acoustics, retractable seating and satellite staging for added creativity in presentations. In addition to the performance halls, groups may use smaller rehearsal spaces along with a rooftop garden available for private parties and receptions.
Then there are a few venues that simply defy categorization, and the Villa by Barton G. is one of them. Across from the ocean on South Beach, the former Versace Mansion changed hands a few times, operating as an event venue and nearly closing before being taken over in late 2009 by restaurateur and events impresario Barton G. Weiss. Now a boutique hotel of over-the-top baroque extravagance—including British-trained butlers assigned to each room—the villa also operates a restaurant (complete with pebble mosaic wall), hosts afternoon tea and welcomes groups in event spaces that include a third-floor meeting room accommodating up to 43.
"We also hold receptions in the courtyard," notes Shelley Acoca, Barton G.’s director of marketing and e-commerce. "Or you can buy out the hotel or the entire villa."
Another villa no less extravagant but also functioning as a public attraction is Vizcaya Museum & Gardens, built in 1916 by industrialist James Deering and set on Biscayne Bay south of downtown Miami. You can’t overnight in this National Historic Landmark but you can gather in 10 acres of formal gardens or within the courtyards and terraces of the 34-room mansion, decorated in authentic furnishings and works of art from Renaissance Europe.
Fort Lauderdale
Meetings and other group events go swimmingly at Fort Lauderdale’s unique off-site venues, which happen to include the International Swimming Hall of Fame, located on A1A directly across from the beach and honoring past and current aquatic athletes—including Johnny Weissmuller and Mark Spitz—with a museum collection spanning everything from actual Olympic medals to vintage swimsuits.
A banquet hall, boardroom and an art gallery overlooking the pools are available to groups, but if you choose the latter, you might catch a glimpse of some Olympic hopefuls in training.
"There are divers training daily," says Marcia Meiners, facilities manager. "For many groups, it’s a huge surprise that the Swimming Hall of Fame is here at all. A group will come in and immediately want to come back to enjoy everything we have here."
History of another kind is on display at Bonnet House Museum & Gardens, former winter retreat of the Bartlett and Birch families, pioneer settlers of early Fort Lauderdale. Corporate events and parties are hosted within the home itself or outside in the gardens, but either way, "it’s a fun and educational experience for all attendees," says Monica Estevez, marketing manager.
If you’d like to kick up the energy a notch, the Hard Rock Live performance venue southwest of Fort Lauderdale has space for 5,000 seats or a 900-person banquet on the floor. Adjacent to the 500-room Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and part of a huge entertainment complex that includes dining and shopping, Hard Rock gives attendees plenty to do after the "official" event concludes.
Fort Lauderdale also has its share of museum facilities, including the fascinating Museum of Discovery and Science, set 10 minutes from the Broward County Convention Center and capable of hosting up to 3,000, and the Museum of Art in downtown Fort Lauderdale, offering a 225-seat auditorium and numerous galleries and private spaces for group gatherings of up to 500. Visit before mid-April and you’ll catch Vatican Splendors, showcasing 2,000 years of Vatican art and history.
Meanwhile, nature’s art is on display at Flamingo Gardens, home to a free-flight aviary and wildlife sanctuary and where groups can network within a 60-acre botanical garden, while special events take center stage at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, featuring a 6,000-square-foot stage area and foyer for group dinners and functions, along with a 2,688-seat theater.
Wherever your group lands in Fort Lauderdale, the Water Taxi makes a scenic alternative to the traditional motorcoach, with stops at hotels, the convention center and a number of attractions, including the shops and restaurants of Las Olas Blvd.
