Does your SMERF group want the bright lights and entertainment of a big American city but not the prices? Conference center bookings located within range, but not right in the center of things, might be an answer. Leafy, mind-focusing environments can deliver up to 40 percent savings over downtown hotels, along with productive outcomes.
At Doral Arrowwood, near New York’s Westchester County Airport, Jack Meehan, its director of sales, says education groups love the property’s 114 acres of woodlands that put them near great train transport into New York City, especially on weekends. On-site amenities include 369 sleeping rooms and 65,000 square feet of meeting space, as well as a golf course, pools and tennis court.
“We are a conference center, hotel and resort,” Meehan says. “Fortune 500 companies come to us weekdays, and universities in the Tri-State area often book us for weekend MBA study and other education programs. We have a lot more meeting space than the typical hotel, so we are really good for both general sessions and training breakouts.”
Like many conference centers, Doral Arrowwood offers a la carte pricing as well as all-inclusive package rates. While it is very expensive to house and feed groups in Manhattan most anytime, Meehan says, his property can often give SMERF groups an attractive alternative.
“And, we have a more productive environment—away from the many distractions of the big city,” he adds.
Near Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) in the lush, rolling Northern Virginia countryside, the 900-guest room National Conference Center (NCC) is a 40-minute drive to the nation’s capital. Weekdays, the site has mostly corporate and government training and meetings groups, and the mix on weekends is likely to include religious, social and educational groups. Chuck Ocheltree, chief marketing officer for NCC, says SMERF groups account for about 30 percent of the property’s total group business.
“A religious retreat planner just told us she brought her group of 400 women to us because we offer a complete meetings package that was far more affordable than what the group got last year at a downtown D.C. hotel,” Ocheltree says. “Her attendees pay their own way, and their costs of getting into the city and/or parking costs were more than the room rate. She came to us for things like free on-site parking, shuttle rides from Dulles, and things like free Wi-Fi in guest rooms and free breakfasts.”
