Posts Tagged ‘spa’

{hotel spotlight} Four Seasons Silicon Valley

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

I recently visited the Four Seasons Silicon Valley and definitely liked what I saw.  When you drive up to the hotel you feel like you’re arriving at a Four Seasons.  The staff was extremely welcoming.

The hotel is located in Palo Alto, CA in a corporate office complex.  This is a great hotel for teams wanting to get away from the office for a meeting and stay on property.  You’re also just a short drive down University Avenue to some amazing restaurants.

The details…

200 sleeping rooms
7,000 square feet of meeting space
6 meeting rooms

This hotel can easily sleep and feed groups of 75 with a classroom set-up or 160 with a theater set-up.  Both with minimal AV with these max capacities.  One thing to keep in mind – groups looking for day meetings might have a tough time getting space because of the rooms to space ratio.

The hotel has a great pool deck that would be ideal for receptions as well as the terrace just off their restaurant.  They also have a well equiped fitness center and spa which is always an added plus.

If you are looking for something higher end for your group – this is definitely a place you will want to check out.  The area is defintely lacking in the higher end accommodations.  The closest comparision would be the Rosewood Sandhill in Menlo Park or the Hotel Valencia Santana Row in San Jose.

Boardroom

Ballroom A

Foyer outside Ballroom

Suite Bedroom

Suite Living Room

Suite Living Room

Suite Workspace

Guestroom

Guestroom Workspace

Guestroom Bathroom

Terrace adjacent to the restaurant

Pool Deck with private cabanas

This hotel gets 3 ROARS

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One More Site Visit to go and the VIEW is stunning {part 4 ~ Cavallo Point Lodge}

Thursday, February 24th, 2011

We’ve done 3 site visits already.  We have experienced sunshine, rain, hail and sunshine again – crazy weather.

We’ve on the home stretch – next stop Cavallo Point Lodge located in Sausalito.  This hotel use to be Fort Baker.  The property opened a few years ago and the grounds are beautiful with an amazing view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.

The property is spread out among 3 main buildings that house meeting space, the cooking school, the mercantile, art gallery, restaurants and the front desk.  In between each building is outdoor space with firepits.

Lobby at Cavallo Point

Meeting Room

Cooking School

The Main Ballroom

The Lodge offers 14,000 square feet of indoor meeting space.  The main ballroom (which is not divisible) use to be the gymnasium.  It still has the open ceilings and it makes the room feel very open.  The property offers 12,500 square feet of outdoor meeting space.

There are 2 different styles of sleeping accommodations.  The traditional rooms which were the old sleeping quarters at Fort Baker and the contemporary rooms which are on the back side of the property.

Traditional Room

Living Room in a Traditional Room

Contemporary Room

Living Room of Contemporary Room

This is a picture that I took from a Contemporary Room.  These rooms are on the back side of the main buildings and sit high on the hill so the views are amazing.

View from a Contemporary Room

Cavallo Point has an amazing spa and healing arts center.  There are hiking trails and you can even walk the path to the Golden Gate Bridge.  Their restaurant, Murray Circle is Michelin rated (we had dinner there – YUM-O!).  A great team building activity would be a cooking class at their cooking school.  When we were doing the site – they were preparing for a class the next day – and boy oh boy – did it smell great!

Rate: Rates really vary because they are so close to the city.  When the city is being compressed because of city-wides, people cross the bridge which can drive the rates up.  Spring – $199 – $250.

Ideal Client: This property is great for 20-100 people.  It is especially ideal if you only need a general session and 1 small breakout because you can stay in the same building.  If you need more space, you need to be prepared to have the group in multiple buildings.

Drawbacks: Really the only drawback is that all the meeting space isn’t in one place.

The property is beautiful.  The rooms appeal to the more traditional or those seeking a more modern accommodation.  My personal favorite is the Contemporary rooms.  This is a great location for those wanting to get away – but still feel somewhat close.

Part 1 of the series can be seen here – The Meritage Resort.

Part 2 of the series can be seen here – The Silverado Resort.

Part 3 of the series can be seen here – The Carneros Inn.

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A Must do ~ Property Site Visits {part 2 – Silverado Resort}

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

Our second stop on the whirlwind site visit was The Silverado Resort in Napa.

On the drive up – you’re greeted with the most amazingly spacious green lawn.  The main building looks like something you would find in the south – a white mansion.

Entrance to Silverado Resort

This hotel recently was purchased by Dolce Hotels & Resorts.  They specialize in conference properties – like Hayes Mansion in San Jose, the new Ravella (formally the Ritz Carlton) in Lake Las Vegas, NV.  I’m really curious how this property will be changing.  I really hope that they don’t follow the “conference model” for dining.  It will really take away from what the property has to offer.

Silverado has 280 suites.  All of the suites have a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.  This is a unique property as each unit is “owned” by individual investors and not owned by the hotel.  The decor is different in every room.  The hotel gives the owners a list of standard items that must be in each suite – but they can choose the color schemes that they want.  I asked the sales person what would happen with the new ownership and she said that designers were working on 3 decor options and the owners would have to pick one.  I’m liking this idea because I’m a stickler for consistency.  Currently, there really isn’t any consistency.  All of the suites are in clusters around the property so you will definitely get your exercise if you are walking to the main building for your meeting.  You can call bell desk and they will come and pick you up (especially handy if it’s raining outside).

Suite Bedroom

Bathroom

Living Room

Suite Kitchen

The conference center which is located in the main building is 2 floors and has a total of 15,000 square feet of meeting space.  The main ballroom, the Silverado Ballroom is on the main floor and is 5200 square feet and divisible into 4.  To be honest – the majority of the space needs a little facelift.  A section of the ballroom does open up to the Fairway Terrace which is great to have breaks or lunches outside.

Silverado Ballroom

Fairway Terrace

On the other side of the main building is the Vinter’s Court.  This a lovely room that has been recently remodeled.  There are 9 smaller rooms that are on the 2nd floor which are perfect for breakout rooms.  These rooms don’t have any windows.

Vintner's Court

There is another outdoor space that we didn’t see because of the weather – The Grove.

Silverado is known for it’s golf.  They have 2 18-hole, par 72 Championship golf courses – both designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr..  Currently they are being upgraded to the new PGA standards so they will be able to host PGA tournaments again.

The hotel also offers a spa which has been recently renovated.  We didn’t get a chance to go over there this time around because we were needing to run to the next property.

Currently, there is only one restaurant on property which is The Grill.  I was hoping the menu would have been a bit more upscale since it is the only one on property.  The Royal Oak Steak and Seafood Restaurant is closed and they are unsure what type of restaurant they will replace it with.  They do have a lounge in the main building for appetizers and cocktails after a long day of meeting.

The Lounge (main building)

The Grill

Spring Rates: $159

Ideal Client: If you are looking for golf, spa and meeting ~ this would be a great option for you.  This would be perfect for smaller associations, medical meetings and corporate meetings needing breakouts.  You can use the main ballroom as general session with breakouts downstairs and meals on the Fairway Terrace (there are heat lamps).

Drawbacks: The consistency of the room product needs to be brought up to the standards of likes of Starwood.  During the summer and fall, they can get higher rates because of golf, but it would be great if they could get it because of their guest accommodations as well.

I do hope that Dolce puts some money into this property because the setting is very pretty.

Part 1 of the series can be viewed here – The Meritage Resort.

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