Summer Means Savings For Corporate Meeting Buyers

Ah, summertime. Corporate travelers may already be thinking only of keeping their cool as the mercury inches upward, but many corporate planners view the simmering season as a time of prime discounting opportunities. In shoulder and off-season markets here and abroad, good deals are cropping up.

While much of Florida is gearing up for vacationers, the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Oceanfront Beach Resorts--with easy access to Fort Lauderdale and Miami International Airport--is instead, focusing on the corporate market which is a significant part of its clientele.

The property is offering a discounted package that includes a guest room rate of $139 for two nights, meeting room for one full day or two half-days, coffee breaks for one full day or two half-days, and a one-hour welcome reception with open bar and hors d'oeuvres until Sept. 30. The rate is based on per person, double occupancy, with a minimum of 20 guest rooms and 25 people.

With more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space, and 463 guest rooms, the property can accommodate from 10 to 400 people. Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Oceanfront Beach Resort also has a fitness center, watersports and tennis.

New Seascape Cruises is reaching out to the corporate market with a special rate of $19.95 per person for day cruise meetings, for groups of 20 people or more. Although the standard package is designed to bring attendees to the cinema--seating up to 140 attendees--for a lecture-style session, ship management will allow a sizable enough corporate account to take it over for the day or evening. The ship sails from Pier 1 at Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades.

In Dallas from now through Dec. 31, meeting groups of 15 or more can book Rosewood Hotels & Resorts' properties for a rate of $150 per night, per room, with waived meeting room rental fees on any day when group lunch or dinner is served. The Mansion on Turtle Creek is an Italian-Renaissance-styled mansion with meeting space for up to 200. Hotel Crescent Court, a property near exclusive shops and galleries, offers 14,000 square feet of meeting space. Equipped with amenities that include a vintage wine cellar, European-style spa, the hotels are just a mile apart in the downtown business district.

For planners who need an option in Manhattan, the U.N. Plaza-Park Hyatt Hotel offers excellent facilities and discounted room rates. Conveniently located next door to the United Nations World Headquarters and close to three New York metropolitan airports, the property has guest rooms equipped with two-line phones with voice mail, fax and computer capabilities.

Guest services include a multi-lingual concierge (the hotel staff speaks a total of 48 languages) and special assistance for the disabled. With six meeting facilities that can accommodate anywhere from 25 to 125 attendees, including a mahogany and glass paneled U Thant room that is ideal for board meetings, the U.N. Plaza also is offering discounts, with a meeting package in March that will be valid until Aug. 31. Rates are $330, Monday through Thursday nights, and $285 Friday through Sunday nights, based on single occupancy. A minimum of 25 meeting participants is required.

Planners looking for opportunities in key U.S. cities should take note. The U.S. arm of Regal Hotels International --which has built its ranks through acquisition and conversion and boasts a line of 16 service-oriented hotels in gateway cities--is offering significant discounts to boost meetings business.

Earlier this month, Regal announced a multi-city program giving planners reduced rates in the Regal Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles ($95 per night in July, Oct. and Dec.); Regal Knickerbocker Hotel, Chicago ($110 per night in July and Aug.); Regal Minneapolis Hotel ($99 per night in July and Aug.); Regal Cincinnati ($89 per night through Sept. 30.); Regal Maxwell House, Nashville ($69 per night through Aug. 31.); and Regal Riverfront Hotel, St. Louis ($99 per night, Aug., Nov. and Dec.).

In the Caribbean, the Aruba Sonesta Resort & Casino will enable groups visiting from April 16 through Dec. 14 to receive a discounted golf package called "Meet On the Greens." The program includes two for one golf at Aruba's first professional golf course, Tierra del Sol Golf, a one-hour open bar with the purchase of two evening functions, and a complimentary 4-day/3-night stay at the Aruba Sonesta Resort for the meeting planner (it can also be given away as a VIP gift). From July 1 through Aug. 31, groups who stay can get a special guest room rate of $99.

In Hawaii, the Doubletree Alana Waikiki is offering a meeting package that includes continental breakfast, lunch and meeting facilities for just $30 per person, taxes and gratuities included as are projector screens, water, mints, pads and pens. Five meeting rooms, equipped with computer hookups, are available including the Ahinahina, which can host up to 14 attendees, and the Ohelo for up to 40. The largest, the Naupaka, can handle up to 72. The hotel's business service center can provide meeting planners with support.

European Deals

For those requiring a European destination, Kempinski Hotels recently opened a new sports resort called the Kempinski Hotel Sporting Club Berlin--which marries a tranquil environment with meetings facilities and business-class amenities. The property is offering an introductory discounted guest room rate of approximately $150 per night through Aug. 31.

Near the lakes of Bad Saarow, each guest room features voicemail, fax and PC connections, and an in-room safe. The property has meeting facilities for up to 100 guests, a spa, two 18-hole golf courses, a golf academy and six indoor and eight outdoor tennis courts.

Another international hotelier, the Royal Garden Hotel in London, is offering a sort of luxury "white" sale--with guest rooms priced at $220 per night for August with more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space (which need to be contracted separately) and weekend rates for business travelers who want to add a mini-vacation to their itinerary. The property is ideal for board meetings of 10 to 12 attendees.