California is known for its temperate weather, its palm trees and its beautiful coastline. Meeting groups wanting to tap into all these things can host events in these five waterfront destinations.
Coronado Island
Across the bay from San Diego, Coronado Island offers meeting planners a self-contained waterfront destination with plenty of aquatic activities to choose from.
The historic Hotel del Coronado is wrapping up a $550 million renovation that is restoring the resort to its original 1888 blueprints. The hotel has 938 rooms in five neighborhoods and offers meeting spaces throughout the property, many of them coastal and some with private beaches. Because the beaches are private, groups can host events there, such as polo games or circuses, that wouldn’t be welcome on mainland beaches. The Crown Room is the hotel’s most notable venue. It is a wooden building that was constructed with no nails but still has access to state-of-the-art technology.
The 440-room Loews Coronado Bay Resort is off the beaten path on the Silver Strand, a narrow strip of land with the road that connects San Diego to Coronado Island. The hotel is surrounded by water, with one side of the resort overlooking San Diego Bay and the other side overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It also has great meeting spaces.
The 330-room Coronado Island Marriott Resort and Spa on the bayfront faces downtown San Diego. It has its own pier, and guests can take private boats or water taxis across the bay to San Diego. The hotel also offers beautiful views of the San Diego skyline and the famous Coronado Bridge. In addition to its indoor ballrooms, the Marriott has two bayfront lawns that make incredible outdoor meeting venues.
For fun, groups can do glow-in-the-dark paddleboarding, yoga on a yacht, wine tastings on the water or boating excursions. Groups can take e-bike tours of the island, organize competitive pickleball tournaments or take sandcastle-building classes.
Santa Cruz
Located on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, about 75 miles south of San Francisco, Santa Cruz features beaches, a long wharf and a beach boardwalk with vintage amusement park rides. It is also just a short drive to Natural Bridges State Beach and redwood forests.
Groups hosting events in the area can incorporate beach cleanups, art workshops, redwood zip-line adventures or even surfing lessons. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is a great location for team building, large group outings or evening events. Cocoanut Grove is a conference center attached to the Boardwalk with 20,000 square feet of event space.
The newest full-service hotel in the area, La Bahia Hotel and Spa, will open in September. It is a luxury beachfront facility with over 13,000 square feet of event space, including a large ballroom and a seaside rooftop deck for panoramic ocean views.
Chaminade Resort and Spa is a secluded mountaintop retreat with 12,000 square feet of meeting space, spa services and redwood forest trails. Hotel Paradox in downtown Santa Cruz has 8,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space, and Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley is a wooded escape with 7,000 square feet of event space near redwood parks and Silicon Valley.
Attendees can rent kayaks or paddleboards in Monterey Bay and book sailing charters or surf lessons. Santa Cruz Wharf is a prime spot for hosting a group dinner, and whale-watching tours are popular.
Monterey
Monterey is famous for its Monterey Bay Aquarium, its beautiful coastal and mountain scenery, and its plethora of waterfront activities.
Groups hosting events in the city like to include team-building activities, such as whale-watching cruises, kayaking out to the sea kelp beds to get up close with the sea otters, snorkeling or scuba diving in Monterey Bay’s Blue Canyon, or going out on Monterey Bay Eco Tours’ electric-powered catamarans.
A Taste of Monterey offers local wine tastings during the day with scenic ocean views and makes a fun spot for an evening event. The venue also offers team-building activities, such as wine and food pairing or a winemaking experience where teams work together to produce the best Bordeaux blend.
Monterey Bay Aquarium can host evening events in the Open Sea and Kelp Forest exhibits, or groups can book the entire aquarium for an evening event for up to 2,000 guests.
Several venues can accommodate groups of 200 to 1,000 guests, including Monterey Conference Center, with more than 40,000 square feet of space that can host groups up to 1,700. The Monterey Marriott and Portola Hotel and Spa are connected to the Conference Center, and Hotel Pacific is adjacent. Asilomar Hotel and Conference Grounds features 65,000 square feet of event space for up to 650 guests.
Several smaller venues welcome groups under 100 guests, including The Sanctuary Beach Resort, La Playa Hotel, Carmel Mission Inn, Quail Lodge and Bernardus Lodge and Spa.
South Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the U.S., covering 191 square miles. It is known for its crystal-clear water and the surrounding mountains. The cities of Lake Tahoe and South Lake Tahoe are rare in that they straddle state lines. One half of the city is in Nevada, and the other half is in California, but guests visiting the area don’t realize they are constantly crossing between the two.
Meeting planners wanting to host events on the California side of the lake have several nice options. Margaritaville Resort Lake Tahoe has 399 guest rooms and 14,000 square feet of event space right on the lake. The largest meeting venue in Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Blue Event Center, is on the Nevada side of the city but less than a mile from Margaritaville. The event center opened three years ago and features 143,000 square feet of convention and exhibition space overlooking Heavenly Ski Resort. The Beach Retreat and Lodge has 261 rooms and 8,200 square feet of meeting space.
Camp Richardson Resort is a historic property on the south shore of Lake Tahoe that can host groups of 60 to 100. Basecamp Tahoe South has 73 guest rooms and several event spaces that can accommodate smaller groups of 40 to 200 guests or an outdoor reception for 900 on the Mountainview Deck. The Coachman Hotel has 101 guest rooms and some smaller meeting spaces.
A gondola takes visitors to the top of Heavenly Ski Resort, or they can walk from Heavenly Village to Van Sickle Bi-State Park with trails that go around the rim of the Tahoe basin. The M.S. Dixie II paddle wheeler can host groups of 500 for a cruise on the lake, and there are guided kayak tours on the south shore. Tahoe is also close to three ski resorts.
Huntington Beach
Huntington Beach has 10 miles of uninterrupted coastline and wide sandy beaches. Four oceanfront resorts are steps from the beach and boardwalk. They offer 1,400 guest rooms and 185,000 square feet of meeting space among them.
Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa has four ballrooms, the largest of which is 20,000 square feet and can host 1,440 for a banquet. It also has several smaller meeting rooms and three courtyards for hosting outdoor events. The Waterfront Beach Resort has more than 50,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting spaces — many overlooking the Pacific Ocean — and can accommodate up to 650 guests.
Paséa Hotel and Spa features an 8,400-square-foot ballroom and a 14,600-square-foot Ocean Lawn and Terrace with ocean views. It also features several smaller rooms with a more traditional meeting setup. The Kimpton Shorebreak Huntington Beach Resort has 22 meeting rooms, including a 3,000-square-foot ballroom that can host 190 for a banquet.
Groups staying in any of these four beachfront destinations can take surfing or paddleboard lessons, cruise Huntington Harbour on a private wine charter, and end the day with a beach bonfire and s’mores. Huntington Beach Pier is one of the longest piers on the West Coast, and a visit to the area wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum, which boasts the world’s largest surfboard.
