The Naples Grande Beach Resort offers 83,000 sf of meeting space and a spectacular setting on the Gulf of Mexico.

Most people don’t think “diverse and varied” when they conjure up images of Florida — but they should. Jacksonville and Naples are nothing alike. Ditto Destin and Palm Beach. Orlando and the Florida Keys are worlds unto themselves — very different worlds. And the Atlantic Coast offers a completely different history, aesthetic and vibe than the Gulf Coast. Tying it all together is abundant sun and sand, and in Miami, a sizzling Latin beat adds spice to the mix.

ORLANDO

Inland and without the inviting presence of the ocean, Orlando sets itself apart with a heady mix of thrills, sports, theatrical entertainment, an ever-evolving dining scene, urban sophistication with international flair and, of course, magic — magic that includes all the ways Orlando and Walt Disney World combine to increase attendance numbers.

That was one reason Amanda Young, Americas event leader with GE Healthcare, set her annual IT educational conference Centricity Live at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel in May 2014. The conference offers thought leadership, best-practice sharing, interactive demos, continuing education credits (CEs) and more.

“Orlando gives you the chance to enhance the experiential elements of your event as well as use a geographic location to grow attendance.” — Amanda Young

“We chose the Swan and Dolphin because we thought it would not only provide the meeting space we needed to produce a conference for 1,700 people, but also because the hotel paid attention to our goals and objectives for the event and worked with us to ensure the hotel could help us succeed,” Young says. “Since Orlando is a tourist destination, it gave us a chance to provide our attendees a good experience with access to the amusement parks. We knew we could grow the attendance numbers in Orlando, so we made sure to produce a quality conference that attendees benefited from in terms of education and experience.”

The entire event was held in the hotel, including a performance and talk by singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge and an appearance by Mickey Mouse at the awards ceremony, as was 75 percent of the room block. Overflow housing was within walking distance. The hotel, Young says, “offered everything we needed.”

Including a top-notch staff. “The staff was so passionate about service and quality of product,” Young notes. “You could tell they enjoyed what they were doing. The GM was down to earth, the convention services manager had just won best CSM for Sheraton worldwide, and our sales manager had won sales manager of the year for Sheraton worldwide. Accolades aside, their expertise and professionalism really impacted our event for the good.”

Food, Young says, was integral to the overall success of the event. “The presentation of food was part of the experience. They used all the latest gadgets and presentation trends to feed our group. We hosted an interactive drink station at one of our receptions that customers are still talking about. You could rim your glass with different sugars, pop rocks or chocolate, and then the bartender would fill the glass with a drink. It was so clever. It shows you don’t have to spend a lot of money on food or beverage to have an interactive experience. They came up with those ideas for us.”

The hotel is not owned by Disney but they have a special relationship that allowed Young to get Mickey at her event, which she calls a “major hit for the audience.” The hotel and Disney also worked with Young to provide park passes and tour options and set up a special website that attendees could link to, and they made sure not to sell activities during meeting times.

Orlando, Young adds, proved to be customer-friendly in terms of access to the city and rates. “Orlando gives you the chance to enhance the experiential elements of your event as well as use a geographic location to grow attendance. Focus on those two areas when building your marketing plan,” she suggests. “But remember you have your own company and conference brand so don’t let your conference be overwhelmed by the Disney brand; use it to complement your conference experience.”

Then again, there’s no holding back on some Disney elements. “I got to meet Mickey Mouse in private,” Young says. “I was star struck!”

In addition to offering up Mickey and other Disney elements, the hotel, which is midway through a $125 million renovation, also offers a provocative and creative collection of spaces and venues for functions. Groups can hold events in the hotel’s giant freezers, banquet kitchens and back hallways, among others.

PALM BEACH COUNTY

Palm Beach County extends from Boca Raton in the south to Jupiter in the north. Its heart is Palm Beach, which has been a haven for the well-heeled since Henry Flagler opened his first hotel there in 1894.

Today, Palm Beach retains its Gilded Age glamor, but adds nature, sports, and contemporary aesthetics and amenities appreciated by travelers of all ages and interests.

Destinie Ames, executive assistant with Moe’s Southwest Grill, part of the Focus Brands group of restaurants, set Moe’s FAC Meeting at Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in June for 26 attendees. One criterion for the meeting site: that it be on or near a Florida beach. Additionally, Ames was looking for an affordable room price and quality. With the help of Susan Raible from HPN Global, Ames found just that. Eau Palm Beach was exactly what the group wanted.

“Our event manager, Carrie Zimmerman, stood out,” says Ames. “Carrie was fun and helpful. She handled last-minute changes with ease and went above and beyond to ensure that our needs and expectations were met. The hotel is also a beautiful property, from the gorgeous spa to the fun and bright hotel décor.”

Ames lauds the room amenities (beach bag and flip-flops) and the fact that hotel staff was flexible, accommodating and helpful, including poolside servers whom Ames calls “attentive and fun.”

The hotel served as the primary meeting venue. “Our meeting was held in the Ocean II Ballroom,” Ames says. “Our breakfast and lunch were held in the other side, the Ocean I Ballroom, and we used catering for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We set a dinner in the Angle Restaurant one night, a night that the restaurant was closed so we had the place to ourselves. During the summer months, the Eau has a summer menu offering discounted pricing, which is helpful if you are working with a smaller budget.”

Ames says Palm Beach County was the destination of choice for several reasons, including the beaches and the variety of dining, shopping and activities. “On the nights when no group dinner was planned, smaller groups ventured to Delray Beach for dining,” she says. “Delray is about a 20-minute drive south and offers a multitude of restaurant options. Cut 432 is a modern steak house, Vic & Angelo’s offers classic Italian with alfresco street-side dining and Buddha Garden & Buddha Sky Bar had delicious sushi. John G’s, right near the Eau, was a popular breakfast spot for those days when breakfast wasn’t catered by the hotel.”

Among the highlights of the meeting was a group tour on a catamaran. “We used Kirkland Event & Destination Services for the excursion. It was a great way to cruise around Palm Beach County and see the beautiful homes and enjoy the water.”

Transportation was a positive as well. “Getting in and out of the airport was easy,” Ames says, as was travel around town. “There is little to no traffic and there are a multitude of transportation options including car services, taxis and Uber, which is what our group used to travel into Delray.”

While Ames calls the hotel “a gorgeous property with wonderful staff,” she notes a few things planners should consider when booking a meeting there.

“If you plan to have an evening event by the pool, it will require lighting. Due to its beachfront location and the preservation of the sea turtles, the hotel’s outdoor lighting is minimal and therefore requires you to purchase lighting,” she says. “Additionally, there are limited offsite restaurants within walking distance. Fortunately, the onsite restaurants are delicious, and both Delray and West Palm are just a short car ride away, but it is something to keep in mind.”

The hotel underwent a recent update of all 309 guest rooms, its fresh look created by potter, designer, author and part-time Palm Beach resident Jonathan Adler. Think Isle of Capri, Santorini and Palm Beach fused into one sophisticated seaside location — with every guest room offering a view of the ocean.

JACKSONVILLE

At the northern end of Florida’s Atlantic shoreline, Jacksonville gets much of its character from the 310-mile-long St. Johns River, which flows through downtown and out to Jacksonville’s beaches where it empties into the Atlantic. Many of the city’s top meetings hotels, including the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, the region’s largest convention hotel, stand along the river’s urban banks, and the revitalized riverfront area offers plenty for attendees and planners. The hotel has just completed a major renovation of all 963 guest rooms, the rooftop fitness center and Regency Club Lounge. In addition, the Hyatt Regency, which boasts more than 110,000 sf of flexible meeting space, has added six hard-walled meeting rooms, located on the fourth level of the hotel’s Terrace Building. The 354-room Omni Jacksonville, with 14,000 sf of meeting space, is also located along the Riverwalk on the St. Johns River.

Jacksonville boasts 22 miles of beaches, providing ample opportunities for water sports and activities — one of the favorites being deep-sea fishing charters. Foxy Lady Cruises offers private yacht charters for up to 149 for corporate events. A popular oceanfront lodging option is One Ocean Resort & Spa in Atlantic Beach, which offers 193 guest rooms and 10,000 sf of meeting space.

Jacksonville claims a long and diverse list of unique offsite venues. Among those most frequently touted by Visit Jacksonville are the Epping Forest estate, the Atrium at the Jacksonville Main Library, Tap Room at Aardwolf Brewing Company, the rooftop at the Museum of Science and History, the Skyline Dining and Conference Center on the 42nd floor of the Bank of America building, the Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, The University Club of Jacksonville, The River Club, The Jacksonville Equestrian Center, The Ritz Theatre and Museum and the grounds at the Beaches Museum & History Park.

GULF COAST & DESTIN

Destin is part of Florida — but not. For one thing, it has more of a Southern vibe than the rest of the state thanks to its closest neighbors, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Set between the striking green Gulf waters on one side and Choctawhatchee Bay on the other, the area provides extraordinary visual appeal. Among planners’ top choices for meetings here are Sandestin Golf & Beach Resort, which can accommodate groups of up to about 1,600 people, and Hilton Sandestin Beach Golf Resort & Spa, which recently added a third ballroom to its meeting space and can accommodate groups of up to 2,000 attendees. The resort also expanded its spa and over the last three years has put more than $30 million into transforming much of its space.

Sanibel Island on Florida’s southwestern Gulf Coast sits just off Fort Myers, about an hour northwest of Naples. Connected by bridges to the mainland on one end and Captiva Island on the other, the 12-mile-long barrier island offers far more than its diminutive size suggests. There are plenty of hotels and restaurants to choose from, and enough activities and sweeping beaches to keep attendees well engaged.

“We had a lecture by a conch­ologist who later took the group shelling on the expansive beach at the resort.” — Sarah Brozna

Sundial Beach Resort & Spa provided a good base for Sarah Brozna, senior program manager with Road Scholar educational learning adventures, created by Elderhostel Inc. She brought a group of 34 to the resort for a week in February — just one of 12 Road Scholar groups at Sundial in 2015.

“Sundial is located in an ideal setting right on the beach, has nice-sized meeting space and is reasonably priced for Sanibel,” she says. “The staff went above and beyond to ensure we were accommodated. Given that many members of our group were seniors, staff went out of their way to assist them, using a golf cart for transportation on resort property. They were very pleasant to work with while planning the group events and took excellent care of our participants.”

Brozna used the resort’s meeting space for lectures and meals several times during the week. “One room we used for our private lunches had floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Gulf, which created a perfect setting and added to the special event. The rooms were comfortable and the resort had a variety of AV options.”

The catering staff worked with Brozna and the participants. “We had preselected meal options that the group was able to select from on the day of the event,” Brozna says. “Options were varied and featured a variety of local produce. The staff customized meals for members who needed to make modifications due to dietary requests and they were extremely attentive to our needs.”

Brozna also used offsite options. “There are many local venues that are able to accommodate groups for meals,” she says. “We particularly like working with Cip’s Place, George and Wendy’s Corner Grill and The Jacaranda. Also, Rosie’s Grill has the best ice cream on the island!”

Sanibel is known for exceptional shelling, something Brozna’s group took advantage of. “We had a lecture by a conch­ologist who later took the group shelling on the expansive beach at the resort,” she says. “Our marine expert was able to later describe and identify what the participants found. After the event, our expert mentioned that the beach by the Sundial had the best shelling on the island.”

Shelling wasn’t the only activity. “The participants enjoyed lectures about the history, nature and ecological challenges the island faces, and they were able to visit many of the local sites, including J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, the Bailey Shell Museum and Sanibel Historic Village, to name a few,” Brozna says. “The chartered Tarpon Bay Refuge Tram through Ding Darling was a standout activity for our group. The naturalists are knowledgeable, and the excursion featured local wildlife with many photo stops. Mornings are the best time for spotting wildlife.”

MIAMI & THE KEYS

Miami infuses its city sophistication with Latin heat. Add a long strip of beaches, bright sun, easy access, fabulous dining and eclectic nightlife options, and it’s a setting that easily draws attendees from the Americas and beyond. The city has multiple convention centers. Miami Convention Center is located beside the Hyatt Regency Miami while Miami Airport Convention Center is adjacent to the airport. Miami Beach Convention Center is currently undergoing a $500 million expansion and renovation. Phase one will wrap at the end of this year, phase two in December 2016, phase three a year later with final completion set for summer 2018.

Of particular interest to corporate and incentive planners is the 2015 suite upgrade at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. Four luxury suites ranging from 950 to 2,400 sf now feature curated art, marble and a soft, neutral palette with sweeping water views.

The Florida Keys, where nature is front and center, could not be more different. Laidback and enhanced by national parks at both ends of the island chain and a marine sanctuary offshore, the Keys give planners opportunities to mix casual with quintessential barefoot elegance.

Key Largo, at the northern end of the Keys just 68 miles from Miami, is home to the Ocean Reef Club, a private membership facility that welcomes select groups for meetings, corporate retreats and conferences. The property — which has a range of accommodations that include 175 inn rooms, 100 spacious one-, two- and three-bedroom villas and private homes — spreads over 2,500 acres and boasts its own private airport and private 175-slip marina, two golf courses, tennis, croquet and 30,000 sf of meeting space, including a ballroom that can hold 700 and a rooftop terrace for 175 with views of the marina.

Attendees can take advantage of a range of group activities beyond golf and spa at Ocean Reef Club: Angling aficionados can experience deep-sea, flats, reef or backcountry fishing off the shores of the resort; other group activities can include chartered yacht dinners, beachside events, eco-tours and teambuilding programs such as golf cart scavenger hunts, cardboard boat regattas and beach olympics, to name a few.

In the end, Florida’s perennial sun, sand and surf are just part of the attendee draw. Creative meeting space, settings from low-key beachy to supremely elegant, Gulf and Atlantic and a range of amenities mean choosing just one city or town is the hardest part.

NEW & NOTABLE

ORLANDO

I-Drive 360 opened in May. The $200 million retail, dining and entertainment complex revolves around the 400-foot-tall Orlando Eye observation wheel. In addition to a range of restaurants the complex includes a 420-foot-tall spinning attraction, the StarFlyer; Madame Tussauds Orlando; Sea Life Aquarium; and Skeletons: Animals Unveiled.

Escapology Orlando brings a new kind of entertainment to I-Drive with its first U.S. location. The attraction challenges guests to be their own heroes in a thrilling game of adventure and mystery. Teams of up to six players are locked in a themed room with just 60 minutes to combine clues, solve puzzles and discover the key to escape.

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Hotel has completed the redesign of all 758 guest rooms at the Swan Hotel. It’s part of a multiphase, multiyear, $125 million renovation plan to transform every guest room in both the Swan and Dolphin hotels. The first phase of the 1,509-room Dolphin starts later this year.

Embassy Suites by Hilton Orlando – Lake Buena Vista South recently completed a $13 million dollar renovation to all 334 suites, creating the new prototype of the entire Embassy brand.

The 400-room Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek is currently undergoing a meeting space expansion set for completion in May 2016.

Opening in phases through 2016, Downtown Disney will transform into Disney Springs. The first two restaurants to be announced, The Boathouse and Morimoto Asia, will feature private dining rooms. Disney’s MagicBands, which attendees can use to make dining reservations and access attractions, also can be color-coordinated to a company’s brand or meeting theme.

Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista recently completed a large remodel of public spaces and guest rooms, and a $7 million renovation of the meeting space and function area. A new walkway bridge between the hotel and the new Disney Springs is set to be completed this fall.

Loews Sapphire Falls Resort will become the fifth onsite hotel at Universal Orlando Resort, featuring 1,000 rooms and suites with a casual Caribbean theme, when it opens summer 2016. That should be in time for the opening of Universal’s highly anticipated new attraction, Skull Island: Reign of King Kong.

Another entertainment option in town is SeaWorld Orlando, which recently debuted a new Clyde & Seamore’s Sea Lion High show in April. SeaWorld also has a variety of venues, and groups can book some of its furry and finned residents to make guest appearances.

PALM BEACH COUNTY

The new 400-room Hilton West Palm Beach, being constructed next to the 350,000-sf Palm Beach County Convention Center, has announced that it will open ahead of schedule in January 2016. The convention hotel, which will house 24,000 sf of meeting space, will be accessible via covered walkway from the convention center.

JACKSONVILLE

Several “Jax” hotels are getting an update. The Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfront is undergoing a full-scale renovation and will be re-flagged as the DoubleTree by Hilton Jacksonville Riverfront when it reopens this fall.

The Courtyard Oceanfront in Jacksonville Beach completed a $1.3 million renovation in March.

As for new venues, the most intriguing may be The BARge, a floating, flexible rental venue on the St. Johns River, scheduled to open late 2015.

In nearby Ponte Vedra Beach, the AAA Five Diamond Ponte Vedra Inn & Club recently completed a multimillion-dollar renovation of its Peyton House accommodations and oceanfront Surf Club, while also introducing the new Tavern Lounge and upgrading the complimentary Wi-Fi system property-wide. The resort will complete a multimillion-dollar renovation of its Ocean House accommodations in fall 2017. Shoot for the Pin, a new interactive golf-oriented group activity is being offered to inject a little friendly group competition into the meeting agenda.

SOUTHWESTERN GULF COAST

Following an $18 million renovation completed earlier this year, the Waldorf Astoria Naples in Southwest Florida transitioned to the independently owned Naples Grande Beach Resort & Naples Grande Golf Course. The 474-room hotel has 83,000 sf of meeting space, five restaurants and bars, three pools and 100-foot waterslide. A scenic boardwalk to the beach winds through a protected mangrove sanctuary.

MIAMI AND THE KEYS

The Miami Worldcenter, which breaks ground later this year, will be anchored by a new, $750 million 1,800-room Marriott Marquis Miami Worldcenter Hotel & Expo Center that will include more than 600,000 sf of convention facilities, including a 100,000-sf ground floor exhibition hall, a 65,000-sf main ballroom, a 1,500-seat theater and 390,000 sf of meeting rooms and event space.

The hip YVE Hotel Miami recently added more than 2,000 sf of meeting space to its Bayfront venue, expanding to 3,000 sf in total.

Loews Miami Beach Hotel upgraded its 28,000-sf Americana Ballroom and additional indoor function space.

In May, Miami International Airport joined the growing list of airports using “Clear,” making it easier for passengers to speed through security.

Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo will unveil its newest meeting venue, Carysfort Hall, in February 2016. Able to accommodate up to 300 guests, the hall will include a 5,607-sf ballroom; five breakout rooms, all with natural light; an expanded, 3,000-sf interactive cooking school where up to 150 attendees can participate in tasty teambuilding activities; and wraparound outdoor decks with breathtaking views of the marina.

In the lower Middle Keys, Hawks Cay Resort on Duck Key has undergone a redesign with new walls, carpeting and even fixtures now reflecting the aquamarine ambience that surrounds the resort. Walkways and meeting room entrances are now located outside under a covered awning to better integrate the waterfront. For the first time, the resort can accommodate large groups of up to 600 people and provide the flexibility of the entire group being able to meet in one room and dine in another. A new Marina Walk, serving as an entertainment destination within the resort, will include the new Angler and Ale Restaurant, which will feature indoor and outdoor function space for groups large and small. The Marina Walk and restaurant are scheduled to open in January 2016. C&IT