Meeting Getaways: Some Suggestions for Your Next Company Retreat

LEAVING THE CORPORATE conference room behind and taking business meetings on the road offers many advantages. For one, an offsite location, free of distractions, can provide a fresh perspective for strategic-planning sessions. Whether it's a laid-back or a high-energy environment that suits your needs,

Artists Colony Inn

Located in the heart of Nashville, the Artists Colony pays homage not only to Nashville artists, but also to the period in which they thrived. This replica of a 19th century inn opened in 1992, and artfully mixes high-tech with the historical. The main inn houses 20 "quaint" Shaker-style rooms with private baths, TV and telephones. An adjoining building contains three executive suites with living rooms, kitchenettes and whirlpool tubs. One suite has a meeting space for up to 14 people. All rooms and suites are equipped with high-speed Internet connections and are smoke-free. A popular amenity year-round is the rooftop hot tub.

"The No. 1 thing guests comment on about us is our hospitality and our service," says Jeanne Bennett, sales manager. "Companies can go anywhere for corporate retreats, but we really focus on meeting all of their needs. For example, our menus can be modified to fit the group's needs. We'll even do takeout lunches if they want to go offsite."

The inn's meeting area, which can be leased for a minimal charge with room accommodations, can comfortably accommodate 40 to 50 people classroom-style and 80 people banquet-style, although smaller groups may opt to eat in the inn's dining room. A/V equipment is available onsite.

"We are doing more packages this year than ever before, to simplify things for our guests," says Bennett. Packages typically include breakfast and golf or other entertainment, plus shopping coupon books, which are a "big draw."

Caesars Indiana

This award-winning, 503-room luxury hotel, located near New Albany in Elizabeth and across the Ohio River from Louisville, opened in 2001, four years after the Roman-themed, four-deck riverboat casino. Amenities include: Chariot Run, the 18-hole championship golf course; eight restaurants, two of which are fine dining; headliner entertainment; a fitness center; and Roman baths.

"Business is strong," says Bill Mabrey, vice president entertainment, hotel and convention operations. "When you look at the total package, it's a unique offering in this marketplace."

Currently discussion is under way to add 300 to 500 more rooms to address the demand from the "Kentuckiana," Louisville and Indianapolis markets.

The 14,000-square-foot Colosseum, the primary room in the 24,000-square-foot Conference Center, can accommodate 1,000 people theater-style or 600 banquet-style. Twelve breakout rooms are available on the upper level. Services include wireless Internet, in-house catering, full-service A/V and onsite event planners.

"Our booking curve is the exact opposite of the typical full-service hotel," Mabrey says. "We are very strong on weekends, which gamers prefer, and we have some softness mid-week. That's when we can really get competitive with our offerings, particularly to corporate groups who normally want to book mid-week."

Conner Prairie

Conner Prairie, a living history museum on 1,400 acres in Fishers, depicts life in the 19th century. It offers meeting options for corporate retreats ranging from 10 to 1,000 people. Features include onsite catering, A/V equipment and Internet connections in some rooms.

Some of the most popular corporate meeting spaces are: Clowes Common, which can accommodate up to 1,000 people banquet-style; Woodland North & South, which can accommodate up to 300 people banquet-style and is divisible by two; Chinese House, which can accommodate up to 64 people banquet-style and features breakout rooms; and The Eatery, which can accommodate 150 people banquet-style. All of these areas except The Eatery have Internet access.

Conrad Indianapolis

If your group is coming to Indianapolis, consider the city's newest meeting venue, opened this March. Conrad Indianapolis is a 243-room, luxury-tier hotel that offers more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space, including a stunningly decorated ballroom, divisible by four, that can accommodate 370 banquet-style. It is surrounded by six meeting rooms (each 500 square feet) that can serve as breakout rooms.

"We are a perfect-sized hotel for groups that require 75 to 200 sleeping rooms," says David Brian Catalon, director of sales and marketing. "That size event pretty much assures the planner and participants that they are our primary group in the hotel, so they receive most of the attention."

The Conrad Indianapolis is the only full-service hotel in the region that has a full-service spa (Spa Chakra) on the premises. Although pampering and luxurious surroundings are part of the Conrad experience, Catalon stresses that the hotel is there to serve everyone--not just one segment of the population.

Besides full-service catering, the hotel has two restaurants--Restaurant de Soleil, a French brasserie that seats 190 plus, and Vitesse Lounge, a tapas bar.

"This is a very busy convention market, so our expectation coming in was that we would find our niche and go from there," says Catalon. "Now the city of Indianapolis can clearly and confidently say it has hotels that fit every market niche that a city-wide convention might need."

French Lick Springs Resort & Casino

Slated to open this November after undergoing a $382 million historic restoration and expansion, French Lick Springs Resort & Casino has an abundance of amenities, including a 42,000-square-foot casino, two golf courses, a fitness center, equestrian stables, six lanes of bowling, six food and beverage facilities and a 27,000-square-foot spa with 24 treatment rooms, one of the largest in the country.

"We understand our greatest selling attribute is our history, and we are going to pay appropriate homage to it through the way that we are restoring this structure, not just renovating it," says Scott Spurlock, general manager.

The resort's 442 rooms and suites are all equipped with wired and wireless Internet connectivity. Its 38,000 square feet of dedicated meeting space includes a 12,800-square-foot ballroom that can seat up to 1,400 theater-style and 1,200 banquet-style, a 6,900-square-foot junior ballroom and seven breakout rooms. Six indoor tennis courts, totaling 36,000 square feet, are designed to convert to an exhibition hall for trade shows. Package rates include everything from onsite catering by Chef Brian Kay to A/V equipment.

"We can comfortably do meetings from 10 to 1,400," says Spurlock. "We built this 38,000-square-foot meeting space so we could do a better job of catering to the Fortune 1000 and their peripheral companies. We are very committed to group meetings."

Oakwood Retreat & Conference Center

Situated on 42 acres in Syracuse, 45 minutes from both Fort Wayne and South Bend, Oakwood Retreat & Conference Center overlooks scenic Lake Wawasee, Indiana's largest natural lake.

"One big plus is that we are not in a big city," says Steve Fields, group sales manager. "It's nice for people to get out of that environment and leave the world behind."

Opened in 1996, the facility has a 77-room inn and fine-dining restaurant and cabins, cottages and campgrounds. It is an alcohol- and smoke-free environment. More than 80 percent of the rooms have a lake view. Amenities at the 42-acre center include: boating and water activities, sand volleyball courts, tennis courts, ball field, basketball court and a climbing tower with zip line.

"It's great for corporate team-building exercises," Fields says. "People love it. You find out who you trust."

The facility has 23 meeting rooms in three buildings (10 are in the inn), for a total of 30,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. At 10,000 square feet, the Program Center is the largest space, and can accommodate 1,000 people theater-style and 650 banquet-style. Services include A/V, complimentary Wi-Fi and banquet meals served in a private room or in the restaurant.

Ohio Building Meeting & Banquet Center

This downtown Terre Haute meeting facility has been serving the Wabash Valley and eastern Illinois area since opening last year. The turn-of-the-century building was originally slated for retail and office space, with a second-floor residence. During renovation, rental inquiries from local businesses and organizations poured in, causing owners and managing partners Al Ruckriegel and David Adams to create a meeting and banquet facility on the ground floor and to lease both Casa Urbana, the second-floor residence, and the Rooftop Terrace.

"We definitely have filled a niche that we didn't even know was available until after we started on this project," Adams says. "We are averaging at least three or four events per week. Our center has really helped downtown Terre Haute." Adams anticipates multi-day conferences will increase next year when the new Hilton Garden Inn opens just half a block away.

All rooms in the center are equipped with wired and wireless Internet. The 5,000 square feet of dedicated meeting/banquet space on the first floor can be tailored to meet the needs of 50 to 300 guests and the entire facility can accommodate 600 people. The second-floor ballroom can accommodate up to 80 guests banquet-style and features a fully equipped prep kitchen, a 17-seat theater room and billiards room. The Rooftop Terrace provides space for intimate gatherings of up to 50 people and features an outdoor fireplace, manicured lawn and a view of the city.

Wasatch Lake Resort

Privacy, simplicity and natural beauty are the trademarks of Wasatch Lake Resort in Poland, little more than an hour's drive west of Indianapolis in Clay County. The rustic nature retreat/ country getaway features a 50-acre well-stocked lake for fishing, swimming beach, 10 miles of hiking and biking trails and tennis courts.

"Companies like it because of its beauty, serenity and solitude, and the fact that they can truly focus on the agenda at hand with no distractions," says owner Turner Woodard. "Cell phones don't work here."

The 10,000-square-foot Long House Lodge can comfortably accommodate 100 to 125 people for business meetings--up to 200 for receptions. The lodge loft sleeps 12, and eight rustic cabins, the largest of which can sleep eight, provide additional lodging.

The lodge, which rents for $100 per hour, comes with tables and chairs in the conference room, kitchen, intimate fireplace room, billiards room and a porch overlooking the lake. Rental includes use of the grounds. Woodard says some companies conclude their seminar/business meetings with a fishing competition.