It’s wonderful when you can revisit a destination and experience something new and exciting. We recently operated a program in Florida and stayed at the Boca Raton Resort & Club. Boca Raton is an original Florida resort developed in the mid 1920’s. Today it’s a lovely mix of old luxury and today’s conveniences. The resort recently underwent a $120Million renovation and the changes are visible and deep. Visiting Florida in the summer is also a terrific value.
View of Beach Club and Ocean
The resort boasts two golf courses, tennis courts, a fitness center and a phenomenal spa. It has great restaurants, beautiful vistas of a half mile white sand beach and the Atlantic Ocean. From the front desk staff to the restaurants, service here is top notch. It felt very personalized as the Bellman, among others, engaged us in pleasant and very welcoming conversation as we were shown to our rooms. It was the perfect centerpiece for an incentive reward program.
On this trip, our client wanted their participants to interact with each other and to network with upper management. They also wanted to provide them with some true vacation time – time to spend on their own away from their business colleagues. We accomplished this with a varied and interesting agenda.
Aboard the Kathleen Windridge
On the first evening, the entire group boarded the Kathleen Windridge, a luxury yacht, where they enjoyed cocktails, dinner catered by the resort and a four-hour sail on the Intracoastal Waterway. They enjoyed views of beautiful homes, the setting sun, the company of their co-workers and company executives while listening to a Jimmy Buffet-style trio.
Over the next few days, guests enjoyed the amenities of the resort as they pleased. We provided additional agenda flexibility by applying a room credit to the guests account. This credit could be used at any of the many restaurants onsite, at the golf course, spa or for any other resort service. The room credit concept works for the company since it is cost effective, provides a good value and delivers agenda flexibility to the guest.
Tower of Boca
I would like to share one last memory of our trip to Boca Raton. At the end of a delicious meal at Trulucks Seafood, Steak and Crab House, we ordered a “Tower of Boca,” for our table, a foot high chocolate square pound cake filled with raspberries and whipped cream. Each individual serving was topped with dark chocolate sauce and sugared pecans. It was astonishingly delightful and managed to satisfy every sweet tooth in our party. If you are in the Boca area you really ought to try this restaurant for an exceptional dining experience. I recommend it highly!
