Prevue November/December 2010 - (Page 32)

are you ready for this? gansevoort miami [ON LOCATION] Rare is it when you’ll find a 340room beachfront hotel in South Beach with 18,000 sf of dedicated indoor function space, guestrooms starting at over 500 sf, mid-market group rates, two marquee restaurants and one of the leading spa/ fitness centers on the strip. Actually, you can’t find that anywhere other than Gansevoort Miami Beach, located at the northern edge of the colorful Art Deco District, one of the hippest urban centers in the world. First the accommodations. They’re huge, with sultry fine-art photos on the walls, giant bathrooms with glass spa showers and long vanities, slinky mod furniture, big balconies and mini kitchens. And all of them have ocean views. Downstairs off the lobby, STK Restaurant is one of the more popular steakhouses in the city, and it can be a bit of a scene on the weekends. For finedining Chinese, the frisky Philippe eatery also packs in the crowds who come for the Maine Lobster satays and pretty Parisian decor. But the star attraction is the 26,000-sf rooftop pool deck called Plunge, with spectacular views of both Miami and Miami Beach. No other venue exists like this on the beach, so look into private events here with crabmeat dumplings and blackberry mojitos, and don’t bring your comfortable shoes. Lincoln Road and Ocean Drive—the two main boulevards of bling in SoBe—are five minutes away. gansevoortmiamibeach.com they arrived, while still having fun. For example, the Build A Cat Climbing Tower program appeals to animal lovers. Teams are challenged to build the fastest tower, and then each tower is donated to the local Humane Society. More physically active groups opt to help Save Planet Earth by collecting trash on the beach and then composing a sculpture from the trash. The team with the best sculpture wins. VERO BEACH by KIMPTON Grab your eye patch and practice your best “Arrrrrrrrg” when visiting Vero Beach, about 90 minutes north of Palm Beach County along Florida’s laid back mid-Atlantic shores known as the Treasure Coast. Operated by Kimpton Hotels, the 113-room Vero Beach Hotel & Spa invites you to get your pirate on with their Cardboard Pirate Ship Regatta, just one of many unique “Beyond The Boardroom” teambuilding activities here. The Regatta challenges teams to build a life-sized cardboard ship on the beach. Then, one team member enters their ocean-going “vessel” and races it 20 yards out, around a buoy and back. The real bounty is the “friendliness, personal attention, and reputation for being creative, quirky and thinking out of the box,” says GM Marco Scherer. “Groups love it. It gets them away from their normal boardroom meetings and doing something fun that reminds them of simpler, childhood activities.” To add additional twists to the possibilities, the group can do a treasure hunt on the beach with metal detectors, or during season, wear night vision goggles and watch turtle nesting. Vero Beach Hotel is the only oceanfront Kimpton property and only one of two Florida hotels to receive the prestigious “silver” level Green Seal Certification for ongoing sustainable practices. “Corporate groups come here because the beach is usually quiet and pristine, perfect for our Beyond The Boardroom competitions,” indicates Scherer. Other signature meeting themes include Elements of Wellness, Earthcare and Degrees of Discovery, but what really draws groups “is our willingness to offer activities no one else would think to do.” Plunge Greater Miami CVB: miamimeetings.com Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB: sunny.org/meetings Orlando CVB: orlandomeeting.com Florida Meeting Services: floridameetingservices.com JW Marriott Marquis Miami/Beaux Arts: marriott.com Sheraton Fort Lauderdale: sheraton.com W South Beach + W Fort Lauderdale: whotels.com The Ritz-Carlton, Naples: ritzcarlton.com Wizarding World of Harry Potter: universalorlando.com Vero Beach Hotel & Spa: verobeachhotelandspa.com 32 | prevue magazine http://www.gansevoortmiamibeach.com http://www.miamimeetings.com http://www.sunny.org/meetings http://www.orlandomeeting.com http://www.floridameetingservices.com http://www.marriott.com http://www.sheraton.com http://www.whotels.com http://www.ritzcarlton.com http://www.universalorlando.com http://www.verobeachhotelandspa.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Prevue November/December 2010

Dolce Hayes Mansion, CA
ARIA, Las Vegas
Anguilla
Starwood Lux, Merida
San Antonio/Philly/Vegas
Chattanooga
Crowne Plaza, Trinidad
Florida Faves
Gansevoort Miami Beach
Ocean Reef Club, Key Largo
HIlton Bonnet Creek, Orlando
Culture + Creativity
Bermuda
Singapore
La Cote D'Azur
Detroit
Culture 2011

Prevue November/December 2010