Island Meetings Resort Adds Hotel Conference Center
The Amelia Island Plantation, long an established meetings venue where delegates combine work with tee time and tennis, is planning to accommodate even more groups once the new Amelia Inn and Beach Club hotel and conference center is completed in April 1998.
The new property, which will be connected to 23,000 square feet of conference space, is expected to have between five to eight floors with 250 oceanfront rooms, said vice president of marketing Jim Tierney. The property also will include a two-bedroom, two-bath presidential suite that can accommodate small meetings as well as social functions.
The rest of Amelia Island Plantation, set on 1,250 acres of environmentally preserved land and located about 29 miles from Jacksonville International Airport (although corporate aircraft and charters fly directly into nearby Fernandina Beach Municipal Airport), offers an abundance of conference facilities for groups of all sizes, Tierney noted.
The 8,000-square-foot Racquet Park Conference Center, located in the center of the Plantation's Health & Fitness Complex, offers self-contained meeting space and is geared toward groups that range in size from 30 to 100 delegates. The 9,000-square-foot Executive Conference Center, which holds up to 400 people, includes built-in audiovisual equipment and teleconferencing capabilities. The Inn & Beach Club has 2,900 square feet of conference and boardrooms for smaller groups.
For after-hours social functions, events can be set up in the Grand Pavilion and Beach Club Deck and Pool.
For accommodations, the property offers multiple condominiums that range from one- to three-bedroom apartments and penthouses, all with either beach or resort views.
Recreational activities include award-winning golf courses (45 holes), 27 tennis courts and 21 swimming pools, as well as more than seven miles of biking and nature trails.
To get around, a fleet of vans constantly roves the property to transport guests from one location to another in a matter of minutes at no charge.
To qualify for meetings rates, planners need to book a minimum of 10 rooms. "Rates are negotiable depending upon the number of rooms and meeting facilities required," said Tierney.