New Trend in Corporate Retreats Takes You to "Hell" and Back
Sep 03, 12 | 12:04 am
As businesses search for more creative ways to motivate, appreciate and incentivize staff, hotels are stepping it up to offer team-building activities outside of the boardroom. The following hotels and resorts offer meeting spaces that go beyond the conference room – from the Caribbean Sea and Arches National Park, to the San Juan Mountain Range and Napa Valley vineyards:
Take Aim on a World-Famous Clay Course
Give your next meeting a shot at The Homestead in Hot Springs, VA. The 3,000-acre property features 72,000 square feet of meeting facilities including the Outdoor Pavilion at the award-winning Shooting Club. Let your guests set their target and take aim. In addition to event space, the Shooting Club offers world-famous sporting clays courses and four skeet fields, perfect for group breakout activities.
Sip & Cycle Through Napa Valley
Silverado Resort and Spa, a Dolce Resort in Napa, California offers several team building activities for their business guests. Popular activities include Wine Blending, in which the group is divided into teams and provided the proper tools to blend a selection of high-end varietal wines of the local Napa Valley region. In addition to, the Sip & Cycle activity is a favorite, where participants are invited to enjoy the local surroundings while learning about and tasting the various wines along the way.
Take Out your Team on a Private Sailing Race
Explore the waters during your next meeting at the Tides Inn resort in Irvington, VA. Located on a private peninsula near the Chesapeake Bay, the resort is home to the Premier Sailing School, offering an abundance of waterside adventures. Give attendees the chance to earn their sea legs with a day of sailing lessons, team building events or relaxing on the bay. You can also let the competitiveness shine through with sailing races on the water, which allow for the perfect break from daily meetings and corporate activities.
Take a Dive over Arches National Parks
Sitting on the banks of the Colorado River and surrounded by dramatic red rock formations, Sorrel River Ranch is a favorite spot for corporate retreats, team building and group meetings because of its adventurous location and the ability for an all-resort buyout starting at $50,000. Groups will have a meeting to remember when the Adventure Concierge helps create a personalized “Bucket List” to experience whitewater rafting, kayaking, skydiving, Hummer tours, mountain biking, horseback riding, and scenic flights over the Canyonlands and Arches National Parks.
Paint in the Art Capital of the South West
La Posada de Santa Fe, an enchanting adobe style resort in the heart of Santa Fe, New Mexico welcomes corporate meeting guests with a host of cultural and artistic activities including art tours, memoir writing classes and tequila tastings. In addition, all stays between May 25th and Oct 31st 2012 have the opportunity to enter their name in a drawing to win $10,000 in art.
Hike 14,000 Feet in the San Juan Mountain Peaks
Surrounded on all three sides by the 14,000-foot peaks of the San Juan Mountains, Telluride provides the ideal environment for hiking, mountain biking, trail running and a myriad of alternative outdoor activities to suit every skill level. Hotel Madeline’s concierge services go above and beyond to create customized team-building adventures for corporate meeting guests including fly-fishing, jeep tours, mountain-biking, hiking, and rock-climbing. In addition, the hotel’s culinary team works closely with meeting planners to create unique dining experiences from farmer’s market dinners to poetry tastings.
Scuba Dive in the Caribbean
Situated on 700 feet of pristine white sand overlooking the Caribbean Sea, the Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa, Grand Cayman is far from a typical corporate meeting space. Guests may participate in a host of activities in between meetings including scuba diving, wave runners, snorkeling and exploring local attractions such as Stingray Sandbar and the island’s million-year-old rock formation, known as “Hell.” With seven meeting rooms and over 8,000 square feet of indoor and 50,000 square feet of outdoor function space, the resort can accommodate groups of up to 500 people. The resort staff is skilled at orchestrating events, galas and weddings that can suit every request. Along with outside meeting and event space, the hotel offers the Governor’s Ballroom. Positioned on the north side of the property, the ballroom has 5,800 sq. ft. with western exposure through floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Caribbean Sea. Its Oceanside lawn offers a spectacular setting for cocktail receptions, theme parties, luncheons and coffee services.
Give New Meaning to “Board” Meeting
The Westin Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa, located about 20 minutes from the famous Strip, offers “the Other Vegas” experience to corporate meeting guests. “Board” meetings can be arranged through the resort’s on-site Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) offering, as well as team-building games with relay races on the beach and jousting from paddle boards, or scavenger hunts on land and lake via footbikes and paddleboards. To energize before a long day of meetings, the resort can also arrange morning Pilates or Yoga classes for the group as well, and arrange leisure excursions like hiking to admire great views of the Las Vegas Strip and Lake Mead.
Source: Hawkins International PR
