Successful Meetings - April 2008 - (Page 97)

PLACES SPACES & 04.08 Winter Spring Summer Fall Devil’s Thumb Ranch, Tabemash, CO Resorts for All Seasons One of the nation’s first resorts, The Greenbrier, in White Sulphur Springs, WV, offered fishing, sleigh rides, horseback riding, and a spa from its earliest days; a gun club, golf, and indoor swimming arrived early in the 1900s; and now there’s even falconry and kayaking. Trend-spotters notice new resorts following suit and similarly providing a surfeit of alternatives. “When you take people away from their families and ask them to be in a meeting, the bonus is giving them wonderful recreation options,” says Cheryl Dewland, director of sales and marketing at the Resorts at Crystal Springs, including the nearly complete 250-room Grand Cascades Lodge, in Hardyston, NJ. An hour from New York City, the mountain-ringed property offers golf on six courses, tennis, horseback riding, skiing, snowboarding, snow tubing, hiking, and fishing among other sports. The new Adirondackstyle lodge, with full conference center, has three-season pricing: Summer is peak; April and August are shoulder; November through March is “the softer season,” says Dewland. Planners generally don’t allow much time for recreation, says Dewland. Typical is a financial company that will do a teambuilding event on the golf course and an evening event around the fire pit. Even so, available activities include bald eagle watching and wine appreciation. Next month the Reflections Spa opens; and the unique “BiosSUCCESSFUL MEETINGS APRIL 2008 mimegasite.com phere” pool offers year-round indoor/outdoor swimming, as well as event space. Suncadia is another example of this trend. Located on 6,400 acres in Cle Elum, WA, 80 miles east of Seattle, it consists of an 18-room inn (with a location that will make golfers’ fingers itch), and a lodge (opening next month) with 254 privately owned suites and penthouses, of which some 230 can be booked. Inside Inside Guests pursue flyfishing and tubing on the river that runs right through the propPAGE 100 > Denver erty, as well as biking and hiking on 50 > Orlando PAGE 102 miles of trails. In winter, miles of groomed PAGE 110 > Missouri cross-country trails beckon, as does a PAGE 116 > Puerto Rico tubing hill with a rope tow. An 18,000> Show Specials: square-foot swim and fitness center is ASAE Springtime (DC) / operating, and the spa opens in June. As IMEX (Frankfurt) PAGE 118 for golf, there are two courses open, and another in the offing for 2010. “The real ‘wow’ for planners is the scope of things to do,” says Jack Schmidt, vice president, regional director of sales and marketing. He says group rates in the winter midweek run $159-$169 for the same accommodations that command $300 in peak summer. Years ago, the Mount Washington Resort, in Bretton Woods, NH, was closed in the winter. “They put the sheets 97 http://mimegasite.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - April 2008

Successful Meetings - April 2008
Contents
Editor's Note
Industry Trends
Suppliers
Events
On the Record
Suppliers
Planner's Spotlight
Technology Talk
Personal Success
Websites of the Month
Food & Beverage
On Site
Professional Development
On Site
Pre-Event
Professional Development
Miforum Q&A
Beyond the Flames
Reservation for—21,000
Casino Riches
Entertainment Jackpot
Who Needs a Passport?
The International Swing
Around the World in 18 Holes
Places & Spaces
Denver
Orlando
Missouri
Puerto Rico
Show Special: Washington DC / Frankfurt, Germany
Gurus

Successful Meetings - April 2008