Another hurricane season has come and gone. Florida's East Coast has survived admirably, with most adversely affected tourism facilities quickly rebounding. In fact, with an impressive tourism and meetings infrastructure solidly in place, the region has enhanced its Appeal with several new, high-end resort meeting properties and new, expansive, luxurious spas at resorts from Jacksonville to Miami that also have some of Florida's best golf courses.
Essential Tool Box
Convention Facilities:
JACKSONVILLE Prime F. Osborn III Convention Center, 78,500 sf of dedicated meeting space, with 22 meeting rooms accommodating 5,600 theater-style. Altell Stadium, a 76,800-seat stadium with 68,500 sf of dedicated space, accommodates 76,800 theater-style.
DAYTONA BEACH Ocean Center Convention & Entertainment Complex, 74,000 sf of dedicated meeting space, with 18 meeting rooms accommodating 10,000 theater-style.
ST. AUGUSTINE St. Johns County Convention Center, 40,000 sf of dedicated space, with 19 meeting rooms accommodating 1,400 theater-style. On-site 300-seat IMAX theater.
PALM BEACHPalm Beach County Convention Center, 350,000 sf total space; 23 meeting rooms. South Florida Expo Center, 150,000 sf total space.
MIAMI AREA Miami Convention Center/James L. Knight Center, 28,000 sf of dedicated space; 37 meeting rooms. Miami Beach Convention Center, 502,848 sf of dedicated space; 82 meeting rooms. Coconut Grove Expo Center, 150,000 sf of dedicated space; 5 meeting rooms.
FORT LAUDERDALE Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Conven-tion Center, 199,526 sf of dedicated space; 32 meeting rooms.
Contacts
For More Info:
Amelia Island TDC
www.ameliaisland.org
Daytona Beach Area CVB
www.daytonabeachcvb.org
Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB
www.sunny.org
Greater Miami CVB
www.miamiandbeaches.com
Florida Keys & Key West CVB
www.fla-keys.com
Palm Beach County CVB
www.palmbeachfl.com
Jacksonville & The Beaches CVB
www.visitjacksonville.com
St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra, &
The Beaches VCB
www.visitoldcity.com
For complete facilities listings, visit
Tools & Resources at www.mimegasite.com
The region is bustling with development activity. Miami has further enhanced its tourism and meeting attendee product with the completion of the “Beachwalk,” a $3.8-million project that has created a walkway from the urban area of Miami Beach to the beach areas.
In addition, the glitzy South Beach area continues to expand its inventory of hotels with several new renovations of older properties, including the 332-room Hotel Gansevoort South scheduled to open this fall. Fort Lauderdale is undergoing a luxury hotel building phase that includes openings by St. Regis and W in the next two years. And the exciting news in Palm Beach County is the recent announcement of a headquarters hotel for the 350,000-sf Palm Beach Convention Center. The 400-room Westin property will offer a signature restaurant, ballroom, full-service spa, and pool.
Daytona Beach, which was greatly affected by 2004's hurricane season, is now buzzing about Ocean Walk Village, which is opening in phases through 2007 and encompasses resorts, a convention center and a retail complex. The Ocean Center convention complex will triple its size by 2007 from its current 74,000 sf of space to 244,000 sf of meeting and exhibit space.
FACILITIES UPDATE
Jacksonville: The 508-room Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Beach Club, site of the PGA Tour's The Players Championship in March, recently completed an enhancement program that included a new 20,000-sf spa and additional meeting facilities, bringing its total to 56,000.
Daytona Beach: The largest oceanfront resort has undergone a $20-million refurbishment program to reopen as the Hilton Daytona Beach Resort in Jan.
n Daytona International Speedway recently unveiled its multimillion-dollar infield redesign. The enhanced superspeedway now has two new buildings available for public rentals. The Daytona 500 Club's banquet hall seats 400 guests while the second-floor lounge can accommodate more than 200 for receptions. The recently debuted $29-million News-Journal Cultural Center features an 850-seat traditional proscenium theater with an orchestra pit, as well as a 250-seat studio theater and conference room.
St. Johns County: St. Augustine Guests at the 300-room Renais-sance Resort at World Golf Village (86,000 sf of meeting space) are afforded access to the PGA Tour Academy as well as the new PGA Tour Spa Laterra that recently opened.
Florida Keys: The 201-room Cheeca Lodge & Spa in Islamorada has added new amenities including an outdoor tiki bar and luxury cabanas with plasma-screen televisions and ceiling fans.
--The 200-unit Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, with two championship golf courses and a marina, has opened an 11,000-sf meeting complex, which includes a 7,500-sf ballroom.
--The 200-room Sheraton Beach Resort in Key Largo has completed a property-wide, multimillion-dollar renovation to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Greater Fort Lauderdale The Bonaventure Resort & Golden Door Spa is undergoing a $90-million enhancement program that includes a new 48,000-sf Golden Door Spa as well as an upgrade of guest rooms, meeting space, and public areas.
--The 229-room Hollywood Beach Marriott, with 6,634 sf of meeting space, recently opened.
--Scheduled for a winter 2006 debut is the 200-room Hollywood Grande Condominium Hotel & Resort, a five-story luxury property.
--Slated for completion in summer 2006 is the Q Club Resort & Residences, which will be managed by Hilton. Located on Fort Lauderdale Beach, the 25-story property will feature 333 luxurious rooms, a gourmet restaurant, a spa, outdoor heated pool, dataports in each cabana, and a 2,700-sf ballroom.
--In Dec, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced the completion of the sale of the 250-room Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Airport to HEI Hospitality. HEI plans to invest in a complete renovation of the hotel over the next two years and will begin with the meeting space and public areas. The hotel will continue to be flagged as a Sheraton under a long-term license agreement.
--With 14,000 sf of meeting space and a two-story, 17,000-sf European-style spa, the 24-story, $135-million, 166-room St. Regis Resort Fort Lauderdale will open mid-2006. Among the amenities are an oceanview 8,600-sf meeting room, along with its adjacent 8,680 sf of prefunction space.
--The $220-million, 23-story, 346-room W Fort Lauderdale and Residences, a member of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Luxury Collection, slated to open late 2006, will feature a spa, two heated swimming pools, dramatic views of the Atlantic Ocean and Intracoastal Waterway and 13,000 sf of meeting space.
Palm Beach County The 1,043-room Boca Raton Resort & Spa completed a multimillion-dollar upgrade of its 26,000-sf Great Hall.
--The 270-room Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach recently completed a $15-million renovation of all guest rooms.
--The 339-room PGA National Resort & Spa has recently completed a guest room make-over program that included upgrading all soft goods, light fixtures, and bathroom amenities.
--The 560-room Breakers, Palm Beach recently debuted its $15-million redesigned five-acre beachfront along its half-mile private beach.
--The 279-room Palm Beach Gar-dens Marriott has just completed the renovation of all its meeting space.
--Newly renovated, the 159-room Jupiter Beach Re-sort & Spa premiered a 7,500-sf spa and fitness center in Oct.
Greater Miami: The $412-million Miami Performing Arts Center, the largest public-private construction venture in the city's history, will offer large group facilities when it opens in Oct 2006, with a 2,400-seat opera hall and a 2,200-seat concert venue, plus dozens of smaller rooms that can be used for meetings.
--The 280-room Biltmore Hotel recently opened a 12,000-sf spa on the seventh floor of the hotel, which includes specialty treatment suites for groups.
--The 205-room Don Shula's Hotel & Golf Club in Miami Lakes opened its new Aveda Spa this summer, and a floor for women business travelers called the Patrician.
--The 641-room Intercontinental Hotel Miami has 65,000 sf of meeting space with 27 meeting rooms.
--The 693-room Marriott Doral Golf Resort and Spa is undergoing a $40- million, three-year enhancement
program that includes a free-standing, 60,000-sf meeting facility set for a Jan 2007 debut.
--The Royal Crown Plaza Resort has been renamed the Melia Royal Palm Resort.
--Sonesta International Hotels Corporation plans to develop a new ultra-luxury hotel on the beachfront site of the Sonesta Beach Resort in Key Biscayne. The existing resort will continue to operate as a full-service property until Aug when development will commence on the new 350-room resort, which is scheduled to open in 2008.
GROUPS SHOULD CONSIDER these recommendations from the Successful Meetings Home Team experts. On the northeast Florida coast, top choices include the 650-room Amelia Island Plantation, the 444-room Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island, the 138-room Casa Monica (St. Augustine), the 508-room Sawgrass Marriott (Ponte Vedra). On the southeast Florida coast, top choices include the 998-room Westin Diplomat; the 790-room Loews Miami Beach; the 693-room Marriott Doral Golf Resort & Spa; the 637-room Harbour Beach Marriott; the 179-room Mayfair Miami; the 204-room Lago Mar; the 349-room Eden Roc Renaissance Resort; the 293-room Sonesta Beach Key Biscayne; the 560-room Breakers, Palm Beach; the 210-room Four Seasons Palm Beach; the 270-room Ritz-Carlton Palm Beach; the 1,043-room Boca Raton Resort & Spa; and the 88-room Brazilian Court.
Sidebar:
Links to the Past with Golf Channel’s Jennifer Mills
Successful Meetings asked Jennifer Mills, the Golf Channel’s anchor/reporter for Golf Central and host of College Central, to reminisce about the Golf Hall of Fame, and the game itself.
Jennifer remembers:
When the World Golf Hall of Fame opened, I was hosting The Golf Channel’s coverage of the kickoff and the induction ceremony. The living legends of golf—Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Nancy Lopez, Sam Snead—all were there.
The afternoon of the ceremony, there was a “members only” grand opening in which these immortal golfing icons had a chance to be the first to experience the new home of golf’s history . . . much of which they created. It was amazing to witness how moved these players were as they watched many of their greatest memories “replayed” before them in the interactive exhibits.
One of my favorite exhibits is the members’ locker room. Each of the 108 members has a locker, stocked not only with their tools of the trade, but with thousands of personal items, like good-luck charms, trinkets, torn money, badges—in one case, a football, and in another, a Barbie doll—all things that share more of the little-known stories behind each legend.
A real treat at the World Golf Hall of Fame is the interactive nature of the exhibits. You can walk across a replica of the famous Swilcan Burn Bridge from the 18th hole at the Old Course at St. Andrews, or hit the infamous tee shot to the island green at
the 17th at TPC Sawgrass.
Whether you are a golfer or not, it’s a fabulous and entertaining place. Golf is a terrific game, and a wonderful business tool. I often do seminars with women in particular, teaching them how to use the golf course as their boardroom, just as their male counterparts have been doing for decades. I am convinced you will learn everything you need to know about someone after one round of golf—whether they are honest, have a temper, how they handle pressure, how they treat their colleagues.
My favorite memories with my father are from the golf course. He would let me, as a youngster of four or five, tag along for the last few holes of his round of golf. We’d pretend the last putt was “to win the U.S. Open!”
On Site: Amelia Island, FL
Passing Judgment
Last year, I had the opportunity to serve as a judge for the Flagler Awards, which are given each year by Visit Florida for the best advertising and marketing campaigns promoting the Sunshine State. I flew to Jacksonville International Air-port and shuttled 29 miles to Amelia Island, where I met my fellow judges at the 650-room Amelia Island Plantation.
At that time, the Jacksonville area was in the throes of self-congratulation over a successful Super Bowl, in which Amelia Island played its part. Not only had Sir Paul McCartney been accommodated at the 444-room Ritz-Carlton (yes, he had!), but rumors were flying that Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise had stopped at Barbara Jean’s Restaurant on Gateway Boulevard for the famous crab cakes (turns out they hadn’t). Heady times for an area that’s primarily a nature preserve, a quiet sanctuary in the otherwise bustling Sun Belt—albeit with five championship golf courses.
After a restful night on the ocean side, our panel convened in the Heron Room in the Racquet Park Conference Center (one of three separate facilities), where we faced more than 10 dozen Flagler submissions. It was hard work—even harder when you consider it all had to be done indoors, with the curtains drawn. Occasionally, I would take a break to relax and walk outside, where I would see colorful birds in the live oak trees, flitting between low-hanging beards of Spanish moss.
With a long day of judging behind us, we celebrated with dinner at the Verandah Restaurant, where good food (and lots of it) led to some pretty good stories. Back in my room, I opened my window and listened to the ocean.
Believe me, it’s the loudest sound on Amelia Island. – Terri Hardin
On Site: Miami, FL
See to Believe
During a recent trip to Miami, I was lucky enough to experience three event venues that are unique gems that any planner bringing a group to the area should definitely consider.
First, I was fortunate enough to attend a pool party at the Raleigh Hotel, one of the numerous art deco hotels in South Beach. A real hidden treasure, the boutique property stays true to its roots in vintage chic. There’s no hypermodern furniture, but this is no period film set either. It’s the kind of subtly idealized fantasy that makes a walk through the lobby reminiscent of an era, but very much contemporary at the same time. It may seem like you’re in an old movie, but you feel like you’re in a trendy hot spot. The experience extends to the pool area where guests, milling about the elegant pool, were serenaded by the soothing sound of a cascading waterfall, and sipping cool drinks, while uniformed staff passed out chilled scented towels.
Just between South Beach and downtown Miami, Parrot Jungle Island has been around since 1936. Its current incarnation, open since 2003, combines this historic landmark with a contemporary theme park. Featuring some of the globe’s most exotic and marvelous animals such as the largest crocodile in the New World and those famous flamingos highlighted in Miami Vice, Parrot Jungle Island is also home to playful baby orangutans, amazing tigers, and countless vibrant parrots of every kind. The Treetop Ballroom has hosted hundreds of events since its opening in 2003. The facility, able to accommodate groups from 25 to 1,000 guests, boasts exceptional views of the Miami skyline, Miami Beach, and the Port of Miami.
For those of us who can’t afford to plan an event at the Viscaya Museum and Gardens, the Venetian Pool, not too far from the Viscaya in Coral Gables, is a pretty good option. On the National Register of Historic Places, the venue (pictured) was originally a rock quarry, used as a source of coral rock for construction before it was transformed into a public pool inspired by the lagoons of Venice in 1924. The pool is surrounded by several Spanish-style buildings, a garden patio, and a grotto. The grotto is carved from the coral rock of the quarry walls and has waterfalls, a cave, and a rock diving platform. Spanning one section of the pool is a Venetian-style bridge leading to an artificial island with large palm trees. The terra cotta roof tiles, observation towers, and loggias of the pool’s buildings continue a tradition of Mediterranean-inspired design found throughout Coral Gables. - Vincent Alonzo
On Site: Ponte Vedra Beach
The Real Contender
While Orlando and Naples each make worthy claims as Florida's golf capital, the small coastal community of Ponte Vedra Beach on the Atlantic Ocean, 20 miles south of Jacksonville, can make a legitimate claim to the title as well.
Headquarters of the PGA Tour and home to pros like Vijay Singh, David Duval, Fred Funk, and Jim Furyk, Ponte Vedra Beach is peppered with superb golf courses and some excellent meetings-oriented golf resort options. Golf-loving meeting groups can select from the 508-room Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Spa, with 99 holes of golf and 56,000 sf of meeting space; the venerable 250-room Ponte Vedra Inn & Club, with two 18-hole championship layouts and 30,000 sf of meeting space; and the oceanside 66-room Lodge & Club at Ponte Vedra Beach, with access to 36 holes of golf across the street.
Ponte Vedra Beach is home to one of the world's more celebrated golf courses, the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course at Sawgrass Marriott Resort & Spa. With narrow fairways not much wider than a two-car driveway, immense waster bunkers, grassy mounds, and pool-table-fast greens, the Stadium Course, home to the PGA Tour's Players Championship, is world-class in challenge and beauty. My favorite hole, as it is for many linksters, is the famous and often photographed par-3, 17th island hole, a daunting challenge even for the pros.
Other courses at the Sawgrass community are the Sawgrass Valley Course, a water-happy layout crafted by Pete Dye and Jerry Pate; Sawgrass Country Club, a 27-hole complex designed by Ed Seay; Marsh Landing Country Club, an Ed Seay design that weaves through pockets of intracoastal marshes and lagoons; and Oak Bridge Club, a short, tight course. Other golf options in Ponte Vedra Beach include the Golf Club at South Hampton, designed by 10-time PGA Tour winner and Ponte Vedra Beach resident Mark McCumber, and The Champions Club, designed by television commentator and former Tour player Steve Melnyk.
Great Places for Group Meals in Southeast Florida
The restaurants below have group facilities and were selected from the Zagat Survey of the Southeast Florida area. The list was determined by Zagat's food and services of 23 and above and a price of up to $65 per person (without alcohol).
La Brochette Bistro, Cooper City, Mediterranean
Cafe Maxx, Pompano Beach, American
Chef Allen's, Aventura, American
Eduardo de San Angel, Fort Lauderdale, Mexican
Casa d'Angelo, Fort Lauderdale, Italian
Cafe Chardonnay, Palm Beach Gardens, American
Mark's South Beach, South Beach, American
Ortanique on the Mile, Coral Gables, Caribbean
Kathy's Gazebo Cafe, Boca Raton, Continental
Rainbow Palace, Fort Lauderdale, Chinese
For more information on the and other restaurants in the Southeast Florida area, please click on www.zagat.com
5 Great Places for Group Meals in Northeast Florida
The restaurants below have group facilities and were selected from the OpenTable Reservations database.
95 Cordova Restaurant, St. Augustine, American, Offers three private rooms
Beech Street Grill, Amelia Island, Continental, Offers six dining rooms that can combine
Giovanni’s Restaurant, Jacksonville Beach, Italian, Has semi-private room for up to 90 diners
Restaurant Medure, Ponte Vedra Beach, Continental, Available for private or semi private functions
Roy’s - Jacksonville Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Hawaiian, Available for large parties
For more information on these and other restaurants in the Northeast Florida area, please click on www.opentable.com
Readers Recommend
Our subscribers gave Pinnacle
Awards to the following:
Greater Fort Lauderdale CVB
Jacksonville & The Beaches CVB
Greater Miami CVB
Palm Beach County CVB
The Breakers
Boca Raton Resort & Club
Four Seasons Palm Beach
Amelia Island Plantation
The Biltmore Hotel
Marriott’s Doral Golf Resort & Spa
Fairmont Turnberry Isle Resort & Club
Fontainebleau Resort
Mandarin Oriental Miami
Ocean Reef Club
Loews Miami Beach Hotel
PGA National Resort & Spa
Ponte Vedra Inn & Club
Sonesta Beach Resort Key Biscayne
Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa
For complete facilities listings, visit Tools & Resources at www.mimegasite.com
Contributors to this section include Home Team members Terry Blumentstein, CMM; Tracy Chisolm; Michele A. Cranston, CMP; Gail E. Evans, CMP; Kathleen Horton, CMP; M. Kimberly Ruby; Jamie Giacobbe; Eli Gorin; Lisa J. Mikita, CMP, CAC; Joyce Steele; and William Youngs. Contact them at [email protected]
Edward Schmidt Jr. for Successful Meetings