Hotel Meetings: The Good, the Bad and the Envy

Picture the honeymoon couples, families with children and other leisure guests—tired and beached-out—making their way back to the hotel when they spot the black-tie waitstaff setting up the private outdoor reception and dinner for your corporate group on the property’s sprawling terrace and lawn.

Call it what you will, but their (unfiltered) reaction could well be … why don’t we get that? And not just the sight of those stacks of champagne flutes and serving bowls overflowing with shrimp can induce it.

What about the group registration desk set up squarely in the main lobby where your pre-registered attendees are picking up their room keys, while the leisure guests are waiting at the front desk to get theirs? Or the bank of computer terminals set up so group attendees can download their boarding passes for the flight home, while leisure guests are dependent on the terminals in the crowded business center?

If you as a planner have inspired envy in your fellow hotel guests, you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done. But if leisure guests at the property act as though they don’t even see your group, it’s probably because the venue has been doing its job well.

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