Convenient to and yet a world apart from the pulsating urban hubs of Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, California’s Central Coast is where the essence of the Golden State remains intact. Here is where to find the laid-back beach towns, fragrant citrus groves, terraced vineyards and plenty of vantage points for watching the sun drop below the horizon in a blaze of glory.
For meetings, this translates into an environment conducive for rejuvenation, bonding and realizing objectives, according to Michael Wambolt, director of travel trade for Visit San Luis Obispo County.
“Preserving our open space is a priority because we know that’s what visitors are looking for when they come here,” he said. “People can do their meeting, get work done and yet feel like they are unplugged at the same time.”
Ventura County
The Central Coast begins in Ventura County, encompassing the beachside communities of Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo and Port Hueneme, all located less than two hours from Los Angeles. For meetings, the region offers a consistently sunny climate and relative affordability along with a wide choice of waterfront venues and outdoor activities, according to Rebekah Evans, executive director of Ventura County Coast, the central marketing organization for the four cities.
“We’re a hidden gem with all the beauty of more-famous beach locations such as Malibu, but with top-end hotels that are half the price,” she said.
Formerly Ventura County West, Ventura County Coast, which works with the visitor bureaus from the four member cities, recently rebranded itself and is launching a new marketing campaign called “This Is the Whole Point.”
“Our new campaign is communicating to visitors and meeting planners about ‘the whole point’ of why you want to be here,” Evans said, adding that agri-tourism and outdoor activities are among the key attributes being emphasized.
Farm visits and enjoying such experiences as chef-prepared dinners served right in the fields are among the possibilities. Groups can arrange to tour or hold events at such places as the century-old Limoneira Ranch, where catered events for up to 3,000 people can be held amid the property’s extensive lemon groves.
Another historic venue is Camarillo Ranch, which originated as a 10,000-acre Mexican Land Grant given to the Ruiz family in 1847. Event spaces include the elegant Queen Anne-style Victorian ranch house or the 1905 Mule Barn, a classic red barn that was recently restored and outfitted with audiovisual capabilities.
Along with a wide range of beach activities, Ventura County also offers the unique opportunity to experience the Channel Islands, located just 14 miles offshore. The Channel Islands, sometimes referred to as the American Galapogos, are home to 2,000 plant and animal species, many of which are found nowhere else in the world.
“If a group wants a bonding experience, the Channel Islands are incredible,” Evans said. “You can take a boat out there for hiking and kayaking—and can even arrange to camp there overnight.”
With many of the county’s meetings hotels featuring waterfront locations, holding an event on-property is also an attractive option. Among them are the Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach, which has a ballroom with panoramic harbor views, and the Embassy Suites by Hilton Mandalay Beach Resort in Oxnard, which has recently added new outdoor function space.
“We re-activated our beach for teambuilding and also for dinners where you can sip wine, dig your toes in the sand and watch the sun set over the Channel Islands,” said Christie Evans, director of sales and marketing for the Embassy Suites. “We also have a lawn for more formal events that overlooks the water.”
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Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County is a blend of urban sophistication within easy reach of a celebrated wine region dotted with quaint towns such as Santa Inez and Solvang. The city of Santa Barbara continues to heighten its appeal for meetings with new hotels, wine-tasting rooms and restaurants, many of them popping up in a former industrial area called the Funk Zone and nearby lower State Street.
“The revitalization of lower State Street, which has been in the works for many years, is really taking off, most recently with the opening of La Culeta, a hot new Spanish restaurant,” said Michelle Carlen, director of sales for Visit Santa Barbara. “In May of next year we’ll have the new Hotel Californian, a luxury hotel with 123 guest rooms and a 5,000-square-foot ballroom.”
Also coming to lower State Street is MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation, expected to open early next year. Featuring interactive science exhibits, the museum will be available for special events. Function areas will include the rooftop Sky Garden overlooking the distinctive red-tile roofs of the Santa Barbara skyline.
New venues and hotels, which also include the luxury Rosewood Miramar Beach Montecito scheduled to open in 2018, will be welcome additions for Santa Barbara, which is experiencing record-high occupancies, according to Carlen.
“Our peak season now extends itself from April through October, with midweek the best time for meeting planners to find availability and value since we do a lot of weekend leisure business,” she said. “Winter is also a good time for meetings, since our temperatures usually stay in the ’60s and ’70s at any time of year.”
While Santa Barbara is surrounded by natural beauty and offers a getaway feel, it also offers the sophistication and walkability that you would expect from an urban destination, she added.
“State Street alone has so much to offer that you can get attendees to a whole variety of activities very easily,” she said. “If you want to move the meeting to a sailing boat or do a sunset cruise, that could just be minutes from the hotel. There’s also everything from kayaking to Segways to hang gliding.”
Santa Barbara is also the scene of the Urban Wine Trail, with 36 tasting rooms extending from the Funk Zone on up State Street to the El Paseo shopping complex.
“You can easily create a progressive dining and wine-tasting experience, perhaps starting out with sparkling wine at River Bench, then moving on to other tasting rooms and then having dinner at the Wine Cask. People are not just sitting through a dinner, but experiencing the local flare.”
Just outside of Santa Barbara are other options such as Solvang, a town settled by Danish immigrants that is known for its Old-World architecture, bakeries and a growing number of smart boutique properties. Among them is Hotel Corque, which offers 7,500 square feet of meeting space, including a ballroom accommodating up to 250 guests.
Solvang is in the heart of Santa Barbara’s wine country, which is home to over 220 wineries in six viniculture areas. The region provides meeting groups with no end of options for day trips, according to Carlen.
“Day trips into the wine country are a popular part of our meetings, particularly incentives,” she said. “We can work with our DMC partners to offer wine tasting, jeep tours, golf—whatever the group interest happens to be.”
San Luis Obispo County
From the oak and vineyard-covered hills of Paso Robles to the salt-tinged coastal enclaves of Pismo Beach and Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo County’s appeal for groups is as wide-ranging as its stunning geography.
“We’re a strong draw not just for incentives and teambuilding, but for association and government meetings as well,” Visit San Luis Obispo County’s Wambolt said. “We still offer planners good value while also providing a real destination feel that has wine country with the ocean right next door.” Now firmly established as a top wine region, Paso Robles is continually adding to its impressive array of wine-related venues. New choices include those at Adelaida Vineyards & Winery, which recently unveiled an 8,200-square-foot facility with a tasting room, wine bar, lounge and patio seating. The winery’s subterranean Barrel Room holds up to 200 guests and is equipped with audiovisual.
Also new is Oyster Ridge, an event venue at Ancient Peaks Winery, which accommodates up to 250 guests in a vineyard setting against a backdrop of mountain peaks. The new function space complements the winery’s full range of activities available to groups, including ziplining, wine-pairing dinners, hiking, yoga, plein air painting and helicopter rides.
Further boosting Paso Robles’ appeal as a meetings destination is Allegretto Vineyard Resort Paso Robles, which debuted late last year with 171 guest rooms, a full-service spa, a ballroom accommodating up to 300 guests and extensive outdoor spaces nestled within Mediterranean-style gardens.
A lot is happening in San Luis Obispo as well, with recent approvals granted for several new hotels that will boost the city’s hotel room inventory by about 8 percent over the next few years, according to Wambolt.
