Unique Meeting Venues Ease NYC's Hotel Crunch
Large hotels with corporate meeting facilities inarguably are well-equipped and fully prepared to host corporate meetings, but many corporations and meeting planners in New York City are finding that holding meetings inside hotels is not worth the price and extra effort it takes to find availability in the current seller's market.
"Hotels do a great job," said Ina Lee Selden, president of destination management firm Manhattan Passport, "but there are places that are less expensive and more interesting." The dry décor so often found in hotel meeting spaces, coupled with high prices and tight availability, is influencing planners to seek out the city's numerous alternative options.
"We can find places to put heads in beds, but we have to be more clever with finding places to put our meetings." according to Jaclyn Bernstein, president of Empire Force Events.
Famous restaurants, public transportation stations, parks and tourist attractions give corporate meeting attendees a chance to get out of cookie-cutter hotel rooms and into an environment more conducive to creativity.
"Common sense tells you that if people are in an interesting space, they will have more interesting ideas," said Selden, who, along with Bernstein and other planners, is taking advantage of the summer months by booking her meetings and events in venues with gardens, rooftops views and waterside access.
"Get people out of the hotel and give them a view" said Bernstein, who is in the process of planning a meeting within the new New York Waterways terminal. This company, New York's largest privately owned ferry service, recently opened terminals in New York and New Jersey that feature glass-enclosed facilities with views of the New York and New Jersey skyline.
Half of the Port Imperial terminal in New Jersey, which just opened in May, will close for an upcoming event of Bernstein's, which will turn this public transportation stop into a unique venue for an afternoon meeting that leads into an evening event. This venue is ideal for any type of meeting or event as long as audiovisual equipment isn't necessary, as there is no easy way to block light out of the glass-enclosed structure, which offers magnificent views.
For a more standard meeting space that still affords a view of the water, The Boathouse in Central Park is another popular venue. This restaurant has 4,000 square feet of space, with an additional 3,500 square feet in the garden, and can hold up to 300 people.
"The type of meetings that we get most is product launches, where the companies are inviting editors and it is more of an event," said Kerry Neal-Shaw, director of special events at The Boathouse. The skin care company Aveeno recently launched a new product and found the idea of being nestled in the park perfect for its all-natural skin care line. A wine company also recently used The Boathouse to introduce a new product. The owner of the company, along with the new bottle of wine, entered the gathering on a gondola, which the restaurant provided.
Exposed beam ceilings, slate stone floors and glass French doors opening up to the lake all make The Boathouse an ideal summer spot for presentation-style meetings or corporate events. The restaurant has the necessary audiovisual equipment and room for up to 300 people, although it does not have a breakout room.
Many visitors would enjoy a chance to get out of Midtown or Downtown and see a different area of New York City. For an area full of life and culture, and one that is very different from the financial district, Tribeca offers many unique venues to hold meetings.
Tribeca Grill, a restaurant co-owned by actor Robert De Niro, is located on the first two floors of the Tribeca Film Center. "They have a great meeting space and, as you would expect, a great screening room." said Selden. The grill offers three private party spaces, in addition to the main dining room, and the Tribeca screening room can hold up to 72 people.
Bernstein likes to take her clients down the quaint, cobblestone streets of Desbrosses St. to Tribeca Rooftop. Describing it as a "wonderful, lofty venue," Bernstein said that the wood floors, bare brick walls and steps leading up to the spacious rooftop all give the area a comfortable and sophisticated feel.
Billy Reilly, the owner of Tribeca Rooftop, hosts a wide range of events from weddings to corporate meetings. Prices to hold events start at $100 a person and go up from there. The Rooftop offers more than 20,000 square feet of space and the rooftop serves as a unique break room. The venue does offer audio-visual equipment and has availability for those looking for meeting space.
Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, located in Times Square, offers various meeting rooms that can be adorned by the celebrities of your choosing. For such amenities as audiovisual equipment and food, Madame Tussaud's will work with vendors to bring in necessary conveniences. With two meeting rooms, plus the option of a full complex buyout, the museum can hold up to 1,200 people, not including the wax celebrities. Companies can gain inspiration from such past legends as Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Martin Luther King or even George Washington, by arranging to have them placed in the room.
"The space is great for teambuilding exercises, social events, presentations and meetings of any kind," said special events manager Michael Zucker. "Unlike a hotel room, the space is already decorated, so you don't have to worry about bringing anything in."