Courtesy Casablanca Inn
Bond with Bond
Fifty years ago, a daring, debonair secret agent named James Bond charmed moviegoers. He’s been doing so ever since.
Thanks to Bond’s broad appeal, the Casablanca Inn’s Bond-themed holiday parties will likely be in demand. Michael Miles, owner of the St. Augustine inn, is rounding up music, Bond masks and cardboard cutouts of Bond and other characters for a kickoff party this month. He’ll offer the ingredients to meeting clients who want to have Shaken Not Stirred holiday parties.
Miles believes the drink for a Bond party evening should probably be a dry gin martini, but he plans to let his bartenders have some leeway. “We’ll make up some drinks, don’t worry,” Miles said.
A Goldfinger martini with gold liqueur is one idea. In addition to collecting musical scores from Bond movies for a recorded compilation, Miles has alerted the jazz pianist in the inn’s Tini Martini Bar to “bone up on your Bond themes.”
800-826-2626
www.CasablancaInn.com
Blast off for the new year
The holidays also mark the coming of a new year. Companies that want to get 2013 off to a fast start might opt for Travaasa Austin’s Rocket Your Business Into a Successful New Year team-building program. The resort is about 30 minutes from Austin in the Texas Hill Country.
Somewhat like the Amazing Race, teams earn tokens as they compete in a number of events: rock wall climbing, geocaching, an archery contest, a steer-roping contest, bull riding and diving for pearls. Tokens are cashed for rocket kits; teams build the rockets to represent the launch of new business. The event closes with a rocket launch.
512-334-4649
www.travaasa.com
A saguaro Santa? Christmas in the desert
Resorts seem as plentiful as saguaro cactus in the toney Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale. The properties tend to be trendsetters.
At the Hotel Valley Ho, a retro hotel downtown, this holiday season might find party guests lounging around firepits as they devour mini- tacos and chicken pot pie cups while listening to a 10-piece band, said Jennifer Rueb catering and conference services director. For dessert, they’ll visit a candy bar stocked with retro candies, mini-cupcakes and gourmet popcorn.
480-421-7734
hotelvalleyho.com
At the Boulders, the holidays mean strings of luminaries and cacti adorned with twinkling lights. Instead of mistletoe, desert sage hangs above doorways, the Southwestern symbol of affection.
Holiday events focus on health and nature: a cooking class that shows guests how to eat happily and healthfully, holiday fireworks from Promise Rock and moonlight bicycle tours. The day can end with a Boulders turn-down treat: a Boulders Chocolate Rock with blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and sliced strawberries, served with brown and powdered sugars and whipped cream.
480-488-9009
www.theboulders.com
At the Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, catering director Christi Des Jarlais expects mixologists to be prominent on the holiday party scene, reintroducing old cocktails with a new twist such as the Hemingway, the Sidecar and the Manhattan, while sharing techniques, cocktail history and spirit details with the crowd.
800-245-2051
www.sanctuaryoncamelback.com
