When it comes to that iconic California coastal lifestyle—think fresh seafood from the Pacific Ocean, fine wines from some of the highest-rated viticulture regions in the world, and that laid-back-yet-ambitious joie de vivre that attracts some of the best and brightest—the Monterey Bay destinations of Santa Cruz and Monterey are the epitome.
Monterey
With a compact conference core near the city’s key tourism draw, Cannery Row, Monterey offers an easy-to-navigate environment where groups may feel like they own the entire destination, and where planners should definitely consider pre- and post-event time for attendees to explore with their significant others in tow.
The heart of any Monterey experience is its food and wine, with both sourced directly from the culinary bounty that surrounds it.
“Salinas Valley, aptly known as the ‘salad bowl of the world’ because of the number of flourishing farms, is key to the zeitgeist. And because of the tourism influx, there’s an inordinate number of restaurants,” said Mark C. Anderson, a food writer who specializes in the central California coast via Edible Monterey Bay. “There’s just a wealth of choices and a lot of them are family owned and operated, which is something I look for.”
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Some top choices to consider, according to Anderson, include Carmel’s Aubergine—“not a cheap ticket, but the only Michelin two-star”—and Carmel-by-the-Sea’s Chez Noir, with the former’s popularity resulting in it often being booked a couple months out and the latter being a bit easier to get a reservation for.
Anderson says wood-fired seafood is having its moment in Monterey, with Salt Wood Kitchen & Oysterette, located in nearby Marina, riding the wave.
Another key ingredient to the Monterey eating scene is its walkability, with downtown venues such as Montrio and Alvarado Street Brewing Company—with a “surprisingly clever menu,” according to Anderson—providing great options near the major meeting hotels. Stokes Adobe Restaurant, housed in a two-story historic home built in 1833, features a colorful past and a convenient location for groups convening downtown.
Cella Restaurant & Bar, a three-year-old property helmed by chefs Cal Stamenov and Ben Spungin, is also located in a historic adobe building and offers private dining, catering, winemaker’s dinners, mixology classes and a heated patio area under a vine-covered pergola.
“It all comes down to Salinas Valley produce and Monterey Bay seafood,” Anderson summed up. “Salmon, crab—I really love sand dabs—halibut, black cod, rock cod, great tacos… Castroville is the world capital for artichokes and Watsonville is the strawberry capital of the universe while Gilroy is the garlic capital. And when they call Salinas the salad bowl of the world, it’s definitely a leader in lettuces.”
And aside from holding special events at Monterey Bay Aquarium, a trailblazing venue considered among the top aquariums in the world, those who value culinary sustainability reference its ground-breaking Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch to get up-to-date recommendations on the best Earth-conscious choices of seafood from around the world.
A local hospitality veteran who is an authority on all things Monterey—and whose husband was even mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea—is Janine Chicourrat, managing director of Portola Hotel & Spa. Chicourrat has been in-market since 1998 when she opened up Casa Palmero at Pebble Beach.
[Related: 5 Outdoor Teambuilding Experiences in Monterey and Santa Cruz, California]
In her 16 years at Portola Hotel & Spa, Chicourrat has seen Monterey’s group business grow to welcome more corporate groups in addition to its traditional base of state association conferences.
“There’s really no place like it,” she said. “It’s a great place to do business. It’s a great spot to come and be inspired because of the natural beauty and all of the different things it has to offer. It’s just Mother Nature in general and having this huge marine sanctuary and beautiful mountains and incredible golf courses. It’s a very high-end product but also something that those who may not have those types of budgets can also come and experience.”
Portola Hotel & Spa is also in an enviable location, offering 60,000 square feet of indoor and another 60,000 of outdoor meeting and event space next to the Monterey Conference Center downtown.
“You know, it sounds cliche, but actually the location,” Chicourrat said of one of the property’s biggest selling points. “You get there, you park your car and you don’t have to get in a car the rest of the time you’re here. You can just walk everywhere.”
Chicourrat said the property is gearing up to close its restaurant, Peter B’s Brewpub, to conduct a major renovation that will offer a sports bar experience, which the destination currently lacks.
Offsite activities, however, are one thing Monterey has an ample supply of.
“Offsite’s easy,” she said. “You’ve got whale watching, you’ve got all kinds of teambuilding. You’ve got the Monterey Beach Station right on the beach that you can rent and have fires, which you don’t get to do very often on beaches in California anymore.
“I once had a group of travel writers and I took them gleaning,” she continued. “After a crop has been picked, you go through and there’s all kinds of leftover produce, and you pick the excess produce and then it goes to food banks as far out as Colorado from Salinas Valley. You can’t experience that anywhere else.”
Chicourrat said cheesemaking at Carmel Valley’s Carmel Creamery is a new offsite activity option that just opened, along with the always-popular grape stomping and blending classes at wineries.
For larger groups, the Portola Hotel & Spa, which offers 379 rooms, often partners with the adjacent 363-room Monterey Marriott to host groups as large as 2,000 between the two hotels and conference center.
“And because we’re a small town, you’re really a big fish in a small pond, so to speak,” Chicourrat said. “So, you have 100% of our attention.”
Other major meetings properties in Monterey include offerings from InterContinental, Hyatt, Hilton and the Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa, among others.
Santa Cruz
Bookending Monterey on the northern tip of Monterey Bay, the laid-back surf town of Santa Cruz has long welcomed visitors with an expansive beach that fronts the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, California’s oldest amusement park, which opened in 1907.
Groups traveling to this quintessential Central Coast destination will most definitely want to get outside and be active, enjoying teambuilding experiences such as surfing lessons.
[Related: Relaxing Beaches, Secluded Forests and Polished Properties Make Santa Cruz Retreat-Ready]
Popular event and activity companies in Santa Cruz include:
- Bret Harte Hall, set amidst the towering redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains and offering more than 6,000 square feet of meeting space in a building straight out of the 1880s, with myriad activity options, including mountain rail excursions on the Redwood Forest Steam Train.
- Cocoanut Grove at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, which offers all-inclusive beach party packages for groups from 50-5,000 or more on Santa Cruz’s famed Beach Boardwalk, with exclusive rentals of the Boardwalk’s arcade also in the offering.
- Mount Hermon Conference Center, a Christian retreat located in the charming mountain town of Felton amidst the redwoods and offering conference center space for groups of up to 650, with accommodations in its more than 150-room hotel or cottages.
- Kennolyn Events, a retreat center with ample teambuilding opportunities in the Santa Cruz Mountains town of Soquel, with onsite accommodations and various conference rooms along with a 250-seat amphitheater.
A little under five miles from downtown Santa Cruz, the 300-acre Chaminade Resort & Spa is a self-contained, IACC-accredited conference facility that traces its origins back to the early 20th century and was once home to a Catholic school for boys.
Boasting commanding views of the Pacific Ocean from its hillside location, the Spanish Revival resort offers 156 guest rooms,12,000 square feet of meeting space, along with ample open space for teambuilding options that include an impressive ropes course.
Other key Santa Cruz meeting properties include the 170-room Hotel Paradox, an Autograph Collection property with 6,000 square feet of meeting space; the 151-room Courtyard Santa Cruz, with just under 3,500 square feet of space; and the 106-room Hyatt Place Santa Cruz, with 1,500 square feet of space.
Less than 10 miles south of Santa Cruz in Aptos is the luxe Seascape Resort, a 285-room property with 21,000 square feet of meeting and indoor/outdoor event space boasting jaw-dropping views of the Pacific, and just up the hill on the way to San Jose is Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley, a 178-room property with 5,750 square feet of meeting space that is popular with tech companies due to its proximity to Silicon Valley.
