With work-from-home colleagues and telecommuters becoming more and more popular, many companies are planning overnight holiday parties. This allows colleagues a chance to meet in person and eliminates the risk of drunk driving.
The trend figures to only continues considering the number of employers offering a work-from-home option has grown by 40% in the past five years, according to a 2018 piece by Fundera
Among the many destinations experiencing a rise in corporate bookings during the holiday season are Gurney’s Resorts, Mohonk Mountain House and Rosewood Sand Hill.
Gurney’s Resorts (Newport, Rhode Island; Montauk, New York)
Iconic luxury brand Gurney’s Resorts, known for its waterfront four-season properties in Montauk and Newport, is at the forefront of curating out-of-the-box teambuilding activities, which is why planners go there for overnight holiday parties. A bonus: The beautiful summertime destinations are just a short trip from major cities New York City and Boston, respectively, and just as stunning during winter to bond in an unfamiliar setting.
Gurney’s Resorts tailors different teambuilding activities based on the goals of the group and what they would like to achieve. For example, Gurney’s Montauk Resort & Seawater Spa offers mixology and cooking classes, games in the Igloos and paint-and-sip classes. Over at Gurney’s Newport, corporate guests will bond while gliding across the ice skating rink overlooking the famed Newport Bridge and Newport Harbor Lighthouse. To warm up, the property offers an Après Skate menu with festive cocktails like the Naughty Hot Chocolate and Fig Cosmo, and delicious dishes like a Chili Cornbread Jar, Firecracker Shrimp and World’s Best Grilled Cheese & Tomato.
Mohonk Mountain House (New Paltz, New York)
The 150-year-old, family-owned mountain resort in Hudson Valley has been a beloved destination among groups for year (the “Saturday Night Live” cast retreated there throughout the ’90s.) But Director of Sales Eric Domitrovits has noticed an upswing in overnight group retreats—many of which were specifically labeled as holiday parties—during December. Groups can participate in unusual teambuilding activities like human ice bowling and building ice boats out of PVC water pipes on Mohonk’s award-winning outdoor ice-skating pavilion. Groups can then wind down and de-stress with a winter forest bathing session—this ancient Japanese form of meditation asks participants to ground themselves in nature as they absorb the sights, sounds and smells of the surrounding environments.
Rosewood Sand Hill (Menlo Park, California)
Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Rosewood Sand Hill provides a luxurious locale for employees to come together and toast the holiday season with luxurious accommodations, deluxe amenities and ample meeting space. Brands hosting retreats at this northern California hotel should take advantage of three boardrooms, a ballroom and generous outdoor meeting space, as well as private dining rooms inside Michelin-starred restaurant Madera.
Over the past few years, Rosewood Sand Hill has seen a rise in requests for holiday parties (with overnight stays included), in addition to receiving a number of requests to incorporate employee recognition into the holiday events, such as spa treatments at Sense, A Rosewood Spa for top-performing employees, keeping in trend with people’s increased interest in experiences rather than material gifts.
