Meeting News - December 15, 2008 - (Page 52)

Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau FLORIDA suites, plus 20,000 square feet of meeting space. The Four Seasons Hotel Miami offers 221 oversized rooms, including 39 suites. Groups can hold events in the 5,830-square-foot Grand Ballroom. For planners looking for a resort experience, Miami’s Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort and Club, which has just undergone a $100 million renovation, has it all—a beach and pools, two 18-hole golf courses, tennis, a spa, and a 40,000-square-foot conference center. Dining dish Miami’s restaurant scene is lively and multi-ethnic, and has played a key role in creating some of America’s most innovative cuisine. Ola, Chef Douglas Rodriguez’s Nuevo Latino restaurant, is a popular hit. SushiSamba dromo in South Beach offers an eclectic fusion of Japanese, Brazilian, and Peruvian fare. Azul, in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, serves groups an inspired menu of Mediterranean/Asian-influenced fare. And The Capital Grille, near the Convention Center and Arena, is best known for its thick, succulent beef. Recreation roundup Space specs This chic oceanfront city offers superb air access, excellent convention facilities, more than 50,000 hotel rooms, great beaches, an abundance of golf courses, and dozens of sophisticated restaurants. It is small wonder, then, that more than 880,000 delegates roll into Miami every year. The sleek Art Deco-style Miami Beach Convention Center spans four city blocks and offers more than 1 million square feet of exhibition and meeting space on three levels. The Miami Convention Center, in downtown, offers 34 state-of-the-art meeting rooms, including a 444-seat auditorium and a 117-seat lecture hall, and is able to accommodate meetings for groups as small as 20 or as large as 5,000. Many large hotels also add significantly to the city’s meeting space inventory. Most attendees will covet time to hit the hotel pool or stroll along the beach, and visitors to South Beach can take a walking tour of the Art Deco buildings. Greater Miami also offers dozens of golf courses. Day trip opportunities include glass-bottom boat rides, air boats on the Everglades, and canoeing on the Everglades’ River of Grass. The Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Homestead-Miami Speedway is a mustdo. The Vizcaya mansion is set in 50 acres of oceanfront gardens, and Miami MetroZoo has free-range exhibits and a tropical animal-friendly climate. Neighborhoods include elegant Coral Gables, hopping Little Havana, and funky Coconut Grove. Off-beat shops line South Beach’s Lincoln Road and elegant stores abound in Bal Harbour Village and Merrick Park in Coral Gables. For more information: (305) 539-3071; www.miamiandbeaches.com Rest and relaxation With 50,000 hotel rooms available in Greater Miami and the Beaches, meeting planners can easily find accommodations to suit their needs. Groups who want to stay in Art Deco South Beach, within walking distance of the Miami Beach Convention Center, might opt for the 790room Loews Miami Beach Hotel, which offers 65,000 square feet of meeting space for groups as large as 3,000. The JW Marriott Hotel in Miami’s Financial District can handle smaller groups, with 296 rooms and suites and 18,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel’s 10,000square-foot Grand Ballroom can host theater-style meetings for up to 1,000. The Conrad Miami offers planners 203 rooms and 103 residence 52 SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION Fast facts: Total guest units: 50,000 Miami Convention Center: 1 million+ sf Access: Miami Int’l Airport, 15 mins.; Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood Int’l Airport, 30 mins. DECEMBER 15, 2008 http://www.miamiandbeaches.com

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Meeting News - December 15, 2008

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