WHAT’S NEW IN MEETINGS IN NORTH LAKE TAHOE FOR FALL/WINTER
(NORTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nevada) – North Lake Tahoe continues to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in property and facility renovations to maintain its ranking as one of the country’s best meeting and conference destinations. Also new this fall and winter are special savings and discounts, designed specifically for groups.
The luxurious Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort, Casino & Spa is currently in the final design stage of a $12-million-dollar guestroom renovation that will take place in 2012. The resort is also breaking ground on a newly renovated Lakeside Ballroom November 4, spending approximately $350,000 on the project. Past ventures have included a $2-million remodel of its Lakeside Cottages, which served as the final phase of a $62-million-dollar property renovation along with a 20,000-square-foot spa remodel.
Equally stunning is the four-star Resort at Squaw Creek in Olympic Valley, which completed a $55-million-dollar renovation a few years back. Currently, the resort offers Ski-Ride-Drive for Free for meetings of 150 or more total room nights. Groups have an option of a free lift ticket to Squaw Valley USA or Alpine Meadows Ski Resort or free golf on the resort’s Robert Trent Jones Jr. Golf Course. There is one ticket or round of golf per room over peak nights. Groups must book by December 15, and the promotion is valid for events taking place through December 15, 2011.
The Ritz Carlton Highlands, Lake Tahoe is the latest edition to the North Lake Tahoe conference family and opened to much fanfare last December. The lavish ski-in, ski-out, 170-room upscale hotel property, situated mid-mountain at Northstar-at-Tahoe in Truckee, is Lake Tahoe’s first five-star caliber hotel and offers a sumptuous 17,000-square-foot spa, along with its 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
The Crystal Bay casino corridor on Lake Tahoe’s North shore is poised for a significant transformation spring 2011, with plans for a new green hotel that will include 300 hotel rooms, 59 condominiums and cutting edge improvements to energy use, water clarity and carbon footprints. Also planned within its pedestrian village are dining, meeting space, public parks and underground parking.
Having undergone a major renovation in 1995 to become PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn, PlumpJack in Olympic Valley has once again received a facelift. Between November 2009 and last June, PlumpJack has renovated over half of its 57 hotel rooms and created three new plush suites. Guests at PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn can now also bring along the furry members of their family via the property’s new Tails & Trails program. Pets are pampered with their own comfy beds, house-made all-natural treats, bowls for food and water, and a PlumpJack ID tag.
The Village at Squaw Valley, originally developed and managed by Intrawest ULC, was purchased last January by Squaw Valley USA, the first lodging property that the ski resort has operated in the last 30 years. The acquisition has greatly added to the Village at Squaw Valley USA’s meeting space, which now provides 10 times the amount of meeting space as before – from 7,500 square feet to 75,000 square feet, including locations on both the lower and upper mountain with its spectacular views. The customizable meeting space includes everything form newly renovated locations suitable for groups of 700 or more to intimate private rooms for small meetings.
The historic Cal Neva Resort, Spa & Casino in Crystal Bay, home to the likes of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack back in Lake Tahoe’s heyday, is situated lakeside and continues to offer some of the grandest views of the largest alpine lake in the country. The resort’s conference room was renovated in the summer of 2009 to include new wall coverings and carpets. The property provides special Lake View Suite upgrades to large groups Sunday through Thursday, and offers private tours through the resort’s underground tunnels that celebrities, such as Marilyn Monroe, used to bypass paparazzi.
The Village at Northstar in Truckee has newly renovated meeting space and a wide variety of lodging options at different price points. Additionally, the resort has added ceiling treatments, which provides transformation of their standard meeting space into ballroom settings. They have also unrolled new catering/banquet menus, as well as a special executive menu for groups under 20 people. Those booking by August 15 receive either free meeting space, audiovisual or golf. Restrictions apply.
JMA Ventures, the owners of Alpine Meadows and Homewood Mountain Ski Resorts, is planning to open the 47,299-square-foot Hotel Avery in historic downtown Truckee. The 40 condo-hotel, which received endorsement from the Town of Truckee Historic Preservation Advisory Commission last spring and was approved by the Truckee Planning Commission fall 2008, will sit on the banks of the Truckee River (on the corner of Bridge and South River Streets) and offer high-end service and amenities, upscale dining, Truckee’s first underground valet parking and fitness/spa area. Preliminary plans call for construction to begin this year, opening the winter of 2011/2012.
After opening a European-style hotel in 2006, the Cedar House Sport Hotel in Truckee unveiled an event facility and meeting center in fall 2008. The expansion closely matches the innovative and environmentally sound design of the existing structure that is home to 42 stylish guestrooms and suites. The event facility includes a separate, private dining room with two patios and an open kitchen design, perfect for culinary team building or cooking demonstrations for up to 45 people. The new meeting center is comprised of two rooms: a small conference room for 10-12 featuring native rock, reclaimed lumber and private garden, and a main meeting room that fits 30-80 participants (depending on seating arrangement).
For companies looking to have a small meeting at a ski resort, Diamond Peak in Incline Village is the perfect place. In 2008, the resort’s Base Lodge was remodeled to include a 300-square-foot meeting space called the Fireside Room. Companies can have a meeting in the morning than enjoy skiing in the afternoon. Diamond Peak also offers lift tickets for just $33 per person for groups of 10 or more. A great way to end a day of meetings is to take part in the resort’s Last Tracks, when groups take the last chair lift up to the mid-mountain Snowflake Lodge where they enjoy wine and appetizers before skiing down the groomed mountain run – all to themselves.
North Lake Tahoe area offers more than 30 meeting sites in California and Nevada, 200,000 square feet of meeting space and 7,000 rooms. An easily accessible destination, North Lake Tahoe is located 45 minutes from the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, two hours from the Sacramento International Airport and a three-hour drive from California’s San Francisco Bay Area.
Numerous transportation options are available for groups, including the new North Lake Tahoe Express that runs to and from the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. The 21-person shuttles (that can handle any sized group) stop at major lodging properties in the North Lake Tahoe region, and runs daily from 3:30 a.m. to midnight.
The award-winning staff at the North Lake Tahoe Visitors and Convention Bureau assists with every aspect of meeting arrangements and activities, including daily transportation from the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, along with locating special off-site event venues, coordinating group activities and hosting site visits. Planners simply call, fax or e-mail their specs and knowledgeable meeting staff informs properties about their request the same day at no charge.
For more information about meeting in North Lake Tahoe, click to the North Lake Tahoe Visitors and Convention Bureau’s official website at www.GoTahoeNorth.com, or contact Director of Conference Sales Jason Neary, of the North Lake Tahoe Visitors and Convention Bureau, at (800) 462-5196 x 106 or (530) 581-8703 and via email at Jason@GoTahoeNorth.com
