If it’s true that opposites attract, groups will be drawn to two neighboring regions set between Fort Lauderdale and the Space Coast, one legendary for its upscale panache, the other loved for its homey, Old Florida flavor.
One bubbles with constant activity and growth while the other prefers a slow simmer of outdoor adventure and laid-back lodgings. The meeting point between Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast? Exceptional settings for group events of every size and style.
Palm Beach
Once the darling of the Gilded Age, Palm Beach County has come of age as a meetings destination. True, parts of the county are still splendiferous, with lavish oceanfront mansions, couture shopping promenades, Bentleys tooling down palm-lined streets and a four-month polo season.
But poshness is only part of the story in a region that, at 2,000 square miles, is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. In fact, there are 38 distinct cities and towns here, including the city of West Palm Beach, with a growing convention and entertainment district that includes the 350,000-square-foot Palm Beach County Convention Center and directly across the street, the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts–home to a 10,500-square-foot banquet center–and CityPlace, a shopping, dining and entertainment enclave that makes a great landing spot for apres-meeting relaxation.
The district will become even more convention friendly once the Hilton West Palm Beach opens in fall 2015 with 400 rooms and 20,000 square feet of its own meeting space directly adjacent to the convention center.
“We’re looking to create the connectivity between the different components of that downtown area,” says Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of Discover Palm Beach County, the CVB’s new brand name. “With some creativity, larger events will be able to share space between the Kravis Center, the convention center and the new headquarters hotel.”
Not to mention the 3,000 other flagged hotel rooms within a three-mile radius of the convention center and an international airport five minutes away.
The new Hilton is part of a veritable hotel renaissance in Palm Beach County, where about a thousand hotel rooms are either in development or in the pipeline, including the Wyndham Grand Jupiter Beach, part of the new Harbourside Place multiuse development slated to open this fall; the Courtyard by Marriott Palm Beach Jupiter, set to open in May adjacent to Roger Dean Stadium; and the Waterstone Resort & Marina–A DoubleTree by Hilton (formerly the Boca Bridge Hotel), also due in May. Meanwhile, newly opened properties include Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa (formerly a Ritz-Carlton), boasting a private beach and 30,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
“This is the first major boost in room inventory in a generation,” Pesquera says. “Almost every other week, we’re hearing announcements of projects either in downtown West Palm Beach, Boca Raton or Delray. It’s really all over the place. We’re also seeing significant renewal in many of our cities. It’s putting new shopping, entertainment, and arts and cultural amenities in front of a lot of people.”
Among the new projects are a visually striking pedestrian promenade in downtown Boca Raton, complete with decorative arches, and a new Harbor Master Building–including public art and waterfront open space–in downtown Boynton Beach.
Transportation is also on the move in Palm Beach County, with the first nonstop service between LAX and Palm Beach International Airport making its debut on American Airlines last fall. In addition, All Aboard Florida–the state’s first privately owned intercity passenger rail service–will link Miami to Orlando with stops in Fort Lauderdale and downtown West Palm Beach by 2016.
“Anything that provides additional access to the Palm Beaches is a good thing,” Pesquera notes.
PageBreakTreasure Coast
Heading north from Palm Beach, the pace slows down to Old Florida style in the Treasure Coast counties of Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River, where it’s easy to forget the modern world amid a landscape of nature preserves and laid-back villages.
“It’s a great destination, with an Old Florida feel yet with all the amenities,” says Sharon Laing, director of sales for the newly renovated Hutchinson Island Marriott Beach Resort & Marina, which sprawls across 200 acres between the ocean and Intracoastal Waterway in Stuart. “People can get a lot of work done here; they’re not as distracted. But when they are, it’s by nature–going to the beach, surfing, deep-sea fishing, that kind of thing.”
Indeed, whether groups are paddling the Indian River Lagoon–called North America’s most biologically diverse estuary (a mix of freshwater and saltwater)–taking a guided boat tour or airboat ride, or exploring picturesque hamlets like Port Salerno, Vero Beach or Fort Pierce, natural wonders and small-town charm are the order of the day here. That Old Florida feel also lives on at places like the Jensen Beach Inn, which occupies the second floor of the historic R.R. Ricou building in downtown Jensen Beach.
But if you’re looking for high tech, you’ll find it at a diverse collection of meetings properties and conference venues, including nationally flagged offerings from Marriott, Best Western, Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn and in Port St. Lucie, the huge Club Med Sandpiper Bay, offering a variety of meeting spaces, and MainStay Suites at PGA Village.
“PGA Village has courses designed by Tom Fazio and Pete Dye and the best in golf training and teaching,” says Edward Matthews, director of St. Lucie County Parks, Recreation and Facilities.
If golf isn’t your game, but baseball is, check out Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach, a sports training facility that also boasts a 20-room conference center offering 14,000 square feet of meeting space. Groups can come for the day, and get in some batting practice, shoot hoops, play tennis or sink some baskets between sessions, or stay overnight in Dodgertown’s 89 sleeping rooms.
“Packages can be tailored to meet the needs of the client,” says Brady Ballard, vice president of Historic Dodgertown. “From single-day meetings and tours to multinight teambuilding retreats, we can customize meeting rooms, meals and facility fields to create an experience that enhances corporate camaraderie.”
Camaraderie is sure to be boosted during private group bartending lessons and chef-judged food challenges at Costa d’Este Beach Resort in Vero Beach, owned by music power couple Gloria and Emilio Estefan and featuring 1,170 square feet of meeting space as well as an adjacent pool patio.
To the north, meetings are touched by whimsy at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort, home to the Galleon Board Room, which seats 14, and the 1,624-square-foot SeaGrape Room, hosting up to 150. Here’s a unique teambuilding challenge–see who can find all the “Mickeys.” There are Mickey Mouse shapes hidden all over the resort.
