As drive-to meetings gain in popularity nationwide in response to rising airfares and excessive fees, certain destinations are taking vigorous advantage of being, well, local, and not fretting to be acknowledged as second- or third-tier alternatives.
The following four regional destinations offer affordable meetings options near major metropolitan areas and plenty of fun and excitement for attendees who bring the family.
Santa Cruz/Monterey/Carmel
www.santacruz.org/meetings, www.seemonterey.com/meetings, www.carmelcalifornia.com/meetings
These Northern California coastal destination lure meeting groups with their distinctive flair and historic charm.
In Santa Cruz, 75 percent of its meeting groups are drive-ins from the Bay Area, which is located 74 miles from San Francisco, said Laura Manriquez, director of sales and marketing for Visit Santa Cruz County.
“There is regular attendance of groups from Google, Facebook, Uber, Adobe and Apple at our full-service hotels, with the ideal group size being 150 to 250,” Manriquez said.
New hotel projects in Santa Cruz include Hyatt Place, with 106 rooms and 1,650 square feet of meeting space, and the Fairfield Inn & Suites, with 82 rooms and 1,000 square feet of meeting space. Off-site venues and experiences for groups include the Downtown Farmers Market, zipline canopy tours, themed sailing charters, kayaking, stand-up paddleboarding and golf, as well as the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
A new conference center, 1440 Multiversity, recently opened in Scotts Valley, six miles north of Santa Cruz. Set amid the forest, the facility offers quiet reflection, classes, lectures, guest speakers, retreats and healthy food, along with a healing arts center and teaching kitchen.
Heading 43 miles south along Highway 1 to Monterey, the city’s main conference center, which can draw upward of 3,000 attendees, is in the final throes of a $60 million renovation. The center is located near the major hotels with a total of 1,200 rooms, a 10-minute walk from Cannery Row and 300 steps from the waterfront.
Mark McMinn, vice president of sales for the Monterey County CVB, said two of the city’s best meetings properties have finished some upgrade projects. At the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa, located near the conference center, the outdoor patio was redone along with a new fire pit, furnishings and a glass railing, and a new rooftop sundeck was constructed at the Vista Blue Spa. The Portola Hotel & Spa adjacent to the center has upgraded all its 379 rooms.
McMinn recommends several off-site experiences for groups: whale watching, corporate sailing regattas, wine blending and a beachfront barbecue or clam bake at the Monterey Beach House.
Four miles south of Monterey is quaint Carmel-by-the-Sea, which is one square mile in size and offers 80-plus art galleries, 12 wine-tasting rooms and a variety of meeting venues for small groups.
Options include the Sunset Center, which features four newly renovated meeting rooms totaling around 4,000 square feet, an outdoor plaza and terrace, and a 718-seat state-of-the-art theater; and the Carmel Valley Ranch, a 500-acre, 180-suite luxury resort a few miles from downtown. The property offers teambuilding activities such as The Ranch Race (a la The Amazing Race TV show), Back-Country Obstacle Course, the Team Geocaching treasure hunt and the Organic Garden Scavenger Hunt.
Texas Hill Country
With its quaint town of Fredericksburg, scenic landscape, wineries and close proximity to San Antonio and Austin, Texas Hill Country is an automatic drive-to choice in Texas.
PageBreakAmong the region’s properties, four are ideal for groups.
Built upon 300 acres of the historic Rogers-Wiseman family ranch, Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa is a casually elegant retreat with 100,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space. Experiential options include a waterpark, a golf course, a spa and several dining options.
Located atop one of the highest points in San Antonio, La Cantera Resort and Spa sits on 550 acres and offers 496 rooms, suites and villas; 115,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space; and two 18-hole golf courses.
Travaasa Austin Resort, which is transitioning into a Miraval Resort and will reopen in August, sits on 210 acres of the Balones Canyonlands Preserve. It features 7,300 square feet of indoor meeting space, a conference center, farm-to-table dining, an equestrian center, a fitness center, two miles of hiking trails and the Live Oak Center, which includes an outdoor courtyard and meeting rooms. The renovation will add an infinity pool, 50 more guest rooms (for a total of 120), an enhanced spa with 11 more treatment rooms and an activity center.
Horseshoe Bay Resort sits on 7,000-acres overlooking Lake LBJ. The resort hotel offers 385 rooms and suites, and the Waters at Horseshoe Bay features lakeside condominiums. Meeting options include 27,500 square feet of indoor space and a 25,000-square-foot outdoor venue, Live Oak Lawn. Adjacent to the resort is the Palm D’Or Pavilion, a 6,000-square-foot space with a stage, tiered steps and gardens.
Lake Geneva, Wis.
The beautifully tranquil Lake Geneva region boasts accessibility from major metropolitan areas such as Milwaukee, Madison and Chicago, making it a perfect drive-to destination.
The area, according to Julie Baron, spokesperson for Visit Lake Geneva, features nearly 2,000 sleeping rooms and 175,000 square feet of total function space in various venues. Area activities include cocktail and dinner boat cruises, golf, high ropes courses, horseback riding, live music and entertainment, museums, paint ball, rock climbing, skiing, snowmobiling, spa services, wine tasting and ziplining.
“Lake Geneva has been hosting regional and national events, as well as meetings and conferences for corporations, small businesses and non-profits for decades,” Baron said, pointing to recent events such as the American Lung Association Fight for Air Ride and the Wisconsin Governor’s Conference on Tourism.
Several properties are ideal for groups.
Grand Geneva Resort and Spa has 62,000 square feet of meeting space; 384 guest rooms and suites at its main lodge, including 29 new villas; and 225 suites at Timber Ridge Lodge. Attendees can take advantage of two golf courses, a spa, a waterpark, horseback riding, a rock climbing wall, skiing, snowboarding and group yoga classes.
The 334-room Abbey Resort and Spa features over 40,000 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center, a marina, a spa and the new Immersion Virtual Entertainment center, with cutting-edge virtual reality gaming technology.
The 271-room Lake Lawn Resort, set amid 250 wooded acres, has 30,000 square feet of meeting space and recreational options such as golf, boat rentals, watersports and the newly updated Calladora spa.
Upstate New York/Adirondacks
Located roughly 288 miles from New York City and 306 miles from Boston, the 6-million-acre Adirondack Park offers plenty of inspiring natural settings and activities such as hiking, canoeing and biking.
For meetings, the region is home to everything from small inns to lakeside resorts.
The region’s major conference center is located in Lake Placid, home of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics. The center has hosted meetings for up to 1,800 attendees, said the center’s director of sales, Sarah Wheeler, and provides up to 90,000 square feet of meeting space along with two 20,000-square-foot, column-free exhibition areas. Working with the Olympic Regional Development Authority, the center is able to offer some unique recreational experiences at the former Olympic venues, including a reception atop ski jumps, bobsled runs, curling, hockey and even synchronized skating.
“In Lake Placid, a day of successful meetings ends with shopping on the quaint main street, a round of golf at one of our area courses, dining alfresco or indulging in a spa service at one of our world-class resorts,” said Wheeler. “Groups can plan a meeting in a remote lodge on the slopes of Whiteface Mountain, a reception at the top of the ski jumps, a presentation at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts or a teambuilding event in one of our historic ice arenas.”
South of the Adirondacks off Highway 87, Saratoga is a three-hour drive from New York City, Boston and Montreal. The city features diverse lodging, a modern conference facility and a downtown filled with shops, restaurants, bars, galleries and cultural institutions. One interesting off-site venue is the historic Saratoga Race Course, which is the oldest active sporting venue in the U.S.
“We’ve added a tremendous amount of lodging inventory to our award-winning downtown [and nearby], with a great mix of luxury to mid-scale and extended stay,” said Talia Cass, director of marketing and communications for the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau. “Deals are definitely there to be had outside of our spring and fall convention seasons, and even during our popular racing season.”
