Hotel Meetings for Unique Groups
Require Creativity, High Level of Service
It’s not every day that a hotel manager gets to host a bunch of cows. But that’s exactly what happened when Marriott general manager Ed Rudzinski hosted a conference for dairy farmers at his old hotel in Chicago. It was years ago, but it was an experience he hasn’t forgotten.
Today, Rudzinski manages the Wardman Park Marriott Hotel in D.C., the largest hotel property in the District. His hotel is almost like a small city, complete with more than 1,350 rooms, several restaurants, and its own exhibition and conference space.
The groups that bring their meetings to the Marriott Wardman Park are looking for a place that will provide nearly everything—with little need to go outside except to see the sights. The groups run the gamut from medical gatherings to diplomatic functions to, well, the sky’s the limit. And sometimes the groups also border on just plain different.
Washington’s hoteliers are seasoned veterans when it comes to hosting unique, often random, gatherings. Wine tastings? Easy as pie. Star Wars junkies or Japanamation conventions?
They don’t even bat an eyelash.
Large hotels such as the Wardman Park, Hilton Washington and Omni Shoreham Hotel, each of which have a significant amount of conference and meeting space, are poised to host meetings for just about any type of group or organization.
Emily Durso, president of the Hotel Association of Washington, D.C., said the city’s hotel managers have seen it all. “They can fill any kind of request from any kind of client, whether it’s special accommodations for the dog or a unique meeting with unique requirements,” Durso said. “A city like this, they’re used to expecting anything.”
Joe Stern, director of sales and marketing at the Grand Hyatt Washington near the Washington Convention Center, said his property recently hosted the Armenian Youth Federation over the Labor Day weekend. More than 1,200 people converged on the hotel for a large gathering that nevertheless had the feel of an intimate family reunion.
“They were up all night long—the parents, the kids—being together and sharing stories and celebrating their culture,” Stern recalled. The energy was nearly contagious. “It was a wonderfully social group, the families and young people, all of Armenian descent, and they had a big family reunion,” he said. “It was a fun three days here.”
At the Melrose Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue last fall, hotel staff transformed the property into an eclectic art gallery to showcase an artist’s bronze work. It was among the coolest events the hotel has hosted, and staff pulled it off flawlessly, said Thom Puccio, director of sales and marketing for the Melrose.
The swanky transformation involved converting the hotel’s 4,800-square-foot lower floor into a “gallery” that took on the hotel’s signature yellow and blue colors, creating an incredible, otherworldly space.
The Melrose typically hosts smaller gatherings such as board meetings and senior management retreats. “We’re not known for this, but they converted the space in the hotel into a gallery,” Puccio said. “It turned out to be amazing.”
Many hotels convert their space for similar events, but most don’t usually end up looking like a room straight out of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. That night, the artist sold thousands of dollars worth of his bronze pieces. Guests drank white wine and sparkling water in casually elegant dress, wearing everything from tuxedos to cowboy boots.
Admittedly, Puccio said he thought the artsy crowd of around 250 would be snooty. They weren’t. “It was one of the most eclectic groups I’ve ever seen,” he said. “It was pretty wild. It was a really cool event.”
As a hotelier, conducting research about meeting groups or individual guests is critical to good hospitality, said Hector Torres, vice president of sales and marketing of Capital Hotels and Suites.
Sometimes, it just comes down to knowing a preferred brand of vodka or a particular taste in global cuisine, requiring the hotel to communicate with the chef or culinary staff of certain embassies to properly prepare food for the group.
And when it’s a meeting that requires the utmost discretion, the hotel always plays along. “The high-privacy type of meetings require a great deal of secrecy and not even the staff have access,” Torres said. “However, [guests] demand a high level of service and it’s a very tricky issue.”
Agreements are often set up before a meeting takes place at one of the Capital Hotels’ properties, the St. Gregory Luxury Hotel and Suites or the Beacon Hotel and Corporate Quarters. If it’s a sensitive meeting, such as matters of Interpol, Torres said the group requests that no one be around to hear the goings-on. They’ll also at times need paper shredders at the conclusion of a meeting.
The St. Gregory gets a good dose of these high-level, hush-hush meetings. When it’s an organization discussing a new business strategy or the launch of a new product into the marketplace, the group will require that no competitive companies or organizations meet or stay at the hotel during the same time.
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