When ESPN chose Newport Beach’s Resort at Pelican Hill to host its annual three-day Women and Sports Summit last year, it wasn’t the guest rooms, ballroom or conference spaces that sold the Walt Disney Co.-owned global broadcaster on the venue.
In fact, much of the event was held outdoors.
“Companies are looking for unique spaces … we do what we can to showcase that,” said Robert Marusi, Pelican Hill’s director of sales and marketing.
The sprawling property throughout—from villas to wine and food to coliseum-themed pool—hearkens to an Italian countryside retreat. And since Pelican Hill started promoting ways the pool can enhance group meetings and events, for instance, business has boomed.
Bored Room
Is the swimming pool the new ballroom?
Groups have followed wider leisure trends, now tilting away from the traditional; conventional meeting areas are taking a back seat to more creative venues.
The American Express annual Global Meetings Forecast has predicted increased use of nontraditional venues for the three years running and OC resorts are joining in.
Properties in the county’s premier beach locales—Newport, Laguna, Huntington—have always had a built-in draw, of course, in OC’s coastline and the Pacific Ocean. Now these destinations are exploring new realms, responding to trends and adapting their public and outdoor spaces into sites for board meetings, corporate gatherings and incentive trips.
Pooling Success
This was top of mind when Waterfront Beach Resort in Huntington Beach underwent its massive expansion and renovation project last year that added 152 rooms and about 14,000 square feet of meeting space in a new, nine-story tower.
This new event space, which includes a new pool, rooftop restaurant and an event lawn, not only “broadened our target market, but allowed us to increase the caliber of events held,” said Kamran Enayat, director of sales and marketing.
The expansion pushed the resort to play host to pharmaceutical companies; previously, the property didn’t have the space to meet the industry’s requirements. Other companies joining its clientele include medical and tech firms.
Such groups “have become more selective and being able to offer this unique outdoor space for meetings is a huge bonus,” Enayat said.
The new rooftop venue is Offshore 9, a restaurant doubling as space for private corporate gatherings or receptions.
“Companies are willing to spend more money than they have in the past, and that’s especially true when they have better, customizable options,” Enayat said.
A recent pool party on the Waterfront’s deck, for instance, added a concert to the relatively common reception with guests milling about.
Tech Upgrades
As events move outdoors, so does technology.
It’s no longer important for just the conference room to have the latest upgrades; these investments are moving to the pool deck, to the restaurants, to the lobby.
“We have continued to see an evolution of audio/visual technology, and we make sure that’s available across the property,” said Anne-Marie Houston, general manager of the Montage Laguna Beach.
Events “limited to a ballroom or boardroom are long gone,” said Houston. “Meetings are much more fluid” from conference room confabs to lobby pop-ups to outdoor classes—sometimes several of these with groups starting in one area and moving to another within the same time frame.
“The fewer restrictions, the better.”
Well, Well, Wellness
This extends beyond the physical spaces of a property, with resorts taking a look at menus and package offerings.
Pelican Hill, Waterfront and Montage have each gone all-in on a past leisure trend that first moved into corporate travel and now has become more of a mainstay: wellness.
Healthful menus from local, sustainable sources, access to fitness facilities and activities—think big upgrades on the thousand-square-foot, treadmill-and-five-pound dumbbell layout of yore—and, more recently, increasing emphasis on mental health.
“Companies are booking meetings destinations that inspire attendees … to ensure continued creativity,” said Ashley Johnson, CEO at Visit Laguna Beach.
The destination marketer and the city overall are touting a “Pathway to Zen”—linking shops, eateries and hikes ranging from free to five-star under a single banner and pushing information out to corporate groups along with leisure travelers.
Johnson reports increasing interest from meeting planners in these new experiences.
The city’s Montage is a heavy wellness advocate, too; it recently moved its meetings food and beverage offering from set courses to an a la carte menu with healthier, sustainable choices.
Pelican Hill’s Marusi argues companies aren’t just looking for healthy offerings—they want to ensure they work with organizations hewing to CSR: corporate social responsibility.
Hospitality professionals have discussed it for years, he said, “and it’s finally here. Decisions are being made with CSR in mind, so we have to make sure we’re savvy” in environmental efforts and philanthropy.
Houston echoed this, noting the Montage has added sales team meetings to ensure “everyone is in tune with what is happening on the property, and what we have to offer.”
