Why choose Vail?

Katie Nelson //February 17, 2014//

Why choose Vail?

Katie Nelson //February 17, 2014//

Vail is a popular meeting destination in part because of the outstanding variety of special events and mountain activities. When the snow melts, the town of Vail transforms into the vibrant hues of summer with wildflowers and sunny days.

Activities are endless: hiking, mountain biking, fly-fishing, a world-class concert or sampling the fare at the Farmer’s market. Events include free weekly concerts during the summer and winter, the GoPro Mountain Games, the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Vail International Dance Festival and the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, to name a few.

Vail is located about 30 minutes from the Vail/Eagle County Regional Airport or a two-hour drive from Denver International Airport, providing a mountain retreat with easy access from anywhere in the U.S.

Why Choose the Antlers at Vail for Your Meeting?

  • 7 meeting space configurations that accommodate 6 to 100 attendees
  • Meeting rooms with natural light
  • Meeting rooms with independent climate and sound controls
  • Complimentary wireless high-speed Internet access
  • Broad audiovisual capabilities with on-site technical support
  • Advanced technology including polling technology to help you boost conference participation and engagement
  • Dedicated Conference Services Manager to assist with all your meeting and event needs
  • Exceptional event menus tailored to your needs by our Australian-born, European-trained chef
  • Complimentary heated underground parking
  • Fully equipped business center

Planning a Vail meeting, conference or group event? Come and check out the Antlers at Vail’s 2,600 square feet of group meeting space with four meeting room options and an executive boardroom. Some groups combine their meeting each day with popular Vail activities such as skiing, golf, or fly-fishing.  In fact, the Antlers has even promoted a scuba exploration course to our groups that was taught in our swimming pool right outside. Have an idea you’d like to try? Just ask.

The Antlers at Vail meeting space works as four separate, natural light-filled rooms, or a single ballroom, opening onto an outdoor patio.  Either way, the list of glowing testimonials from meeting planners is lengthy.  We invite you to come see why.

What’s New at the Antlers at Vail?

A new state-of-the-art audiovisual system is making meetings better at the Antlers at Vail. The 90-room condominium hotel with more than 2,500 square feet of conference and event space overlooking Gore Creek has long been popular for meetings and conferences, recently ranging from a corporate retreat for a city magazine staff to a technical medical seminar to an adventure film school.

The Antlers’ highly personalized experience for meetings planners has long included making sure all of a group’s audiovisual needs are met, but the newly installed system makes syncing with a meeting’s program requirements easy, while improving sound quality and a variety of capabilities including digital recording and remote presenting.

Too often, says Antlers at Vail General Manager Rob LeVine, conference hotels take an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to their audiovisual systems.

“We’ve always been able to meet our meeting and conference clients’ needs at a level that’s comparable with what the majority of Vail hotels currently offer,” LeVine says. “But we saw an opportunity to go one better in convenience and potential for our groups. Yes, you can connect everything with cords, for instance, and if you plan sufficiently it all works fine, but new WiFi technology removes that hassle of checking and tripping over cords for a much improved experience.”

LeVine predicts that A/V will be an increasingly important area of concern for meeting planners as available technology continues to change at exponential rates.

“We used to know what a group with a PowerPoint presentation on a laptop would need walking in the door,” he says.  “Now conference materials can be provided in all kinds of formats on all kinds of devices.  Capabilities may be needed for connecting with off-site group members, including having well-placed microphones all around the room to facilitate conference calls or video conferencing.”

Levine says another useful aspect of the new system is its digital recording capability.

“I’m amazed how many times I still attend meetings where they’re plunking a tape recorder down on the table and pushing ‘record,’” he says.

Additional advanced technology provided by the Antlers includes  polling devices – used successfully with groups such as Vail Symposium – that project conveniently graphed results instantly to boost conference participation and engagement.

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From an industry trade show for hundreds to wildflower Vail weddings to a group of lawyers from across the country more interested in skiing than meeting, the Antlers at Vail meeting and banquet facilities receive all kinds of group requests and can handle up to 100 people comfortably, depending on the type of event. In addition, the smaller venue ensures that a dedicated conference services manager oversees a group’s experience from the time of booking to “day of” details, through checkout.

The Antlers’ 7 Tips for the Perfect Vail Event

Because each group’s needs – from high-tech audiovisual capabilities to catered fine dining to convenient ski storage – are different, we pride ourselves on our personalized – and personal – service for one and all. Along the way, we’ve come up with a few tips for meeting planners to consider when booking a Vail event:

One on One: Want to make sure everything goes perfectly from the first planning stages to the final checkout? Choose a hotel where the person who books your meeting is the one who services it. We can handle up to 100 people comfortably, depending on the type of event, but because we are a smaller venue, the meeting planner has the benefit of one person who can see the group’s experience through from start to finish – they don’t have to track down a separate ‘day of contact’ person from the person who books them, for instance. And details don’t “slip through the cracks.”

Can You Hear Me Now: Make sure a venue’s audiovisual system can handle your technology and presentation needs. While Antlers has just installed an all-new A/V system for winter 2014, hotels with slightly older systems may not be able to sync easily with whatever a presenter might be bringing. And many hotels charge extra for audiovisual services, which are provided by an outside company. At Antlers, it’s all handled in-house without any fees. One additional tip, learned the hard way: When in doubt, put everything on a flash drive that can be easily moved from one computer to another in case of glitches.

Location, Location, Location: The number one rule of real estate applies to group events, too – from meetings and conferences to weddings and reunions. Your attendees or guests will be happiest if they have quick access to an area’s amenities – like the Antlers’ proximity to great restaurants, shops, your morning latte, a bike/hike path, the slopes (the Lionshead Gondola is just yards from our front door), and events from Vail Jazz Fest to the Lionshead Oktoberfest. And for everything else, the free Vail shuttle stops right outside our door.

Dine Al Fresco: An outdoor dining spot can bring a breath of fresh air to meetings – ask during planning stages if the venue includes the chance to step outside at meals. When you get your lunch at the Antlers (or even your continental breakfast), take it down the steps just outside the conference room and eat poolside, overlooking Gore Creek. Don’t miss the start of your meeting, though.

Fee or Free: Hotel “extras” can increase your bill significantly when each service comes with a price attached. Consider what services your conference-goers might need, including WiFi, parking, or even watching a movie, and ask about hidden charges. The Antlers at Vail prides itself on its many complimentary extras (including unlikely ones like bikes and snowshoes) – so much so that we wrote a separate blog post on the subject.

Community Props: A strong community marketing organization helps conference planners find your community and get the big picture on what the area has to offer. Vail is lucky to have the nonprofit Vail Valley Partnership – a 2012 and 2013 winner with Colorado Meetings + Events magazine for “best destination marketing” – representing the community to groups.

Know Your Audience: Tailoring a meeting for best results can be as easy as having a way to efficiently gather audience responses. Antlers meetings offer polling devices – used successfully with diverse groups including Vail Symposium – that project conveniently graphed results on the screen instantly.

(Editor’s note: This paid content is sponsored by Antlers at Vail.)