These new and recently renovated boardrooms, meeting centers, ballrooms, and private rooms—plus a movie theater—in Miami and South Florida can accommodate groups small and large for meetings, conferences, product launches, presentations, and other types of corporate gatherings.
1. The Hampton Inn & Suites Miami Brickell Downtown opened in late September with more than 3,800 square feet of meeting space, comprised of five rooms, each of which is named after types of birds. The Heron and Blue Bird boardrooms hold as many as 12; the Egret meeting room holds 45; and Ibis I and II each hold 150 for a meeting, but when combined can accommodate 300 in their joint space of 2,300 square feet. All rooms feature audiovisual equipment and complimentary Internet access.
2. Boutique hotel Lords South Beach can host meetings in its three penthouses, complete with balconies for groups of as many as 55. Another option includes the porch and lobby area, which total 2,640 square feet of space for meetings and other events.
3. The Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel & Executive Meeting Center opened in December with Art Deco-themed facilities that include a 20,000-square-foot executive meeting center, 405 guestrooms, and 20 meeting rooms. Its conference center also includes a 4,000-square-foot ballroom. Groups can also play rounds of golf at next door's Melreese Golf Course.
4. Warehouse-turned-event-space Fusse Studios, which opened in April, offers 2,000 square feet of space for events, including meetings. The venue's main area seats 60. Fusse offers wire-track gallery lighting, a Panasonic projector, a Bose sound system, and two LCD HD TVs, one with cable, a DVD player, and Sony PlayStation 3.
5. Two ballrooms and a boardroom are the main event areas available at the B Ocean Fort Lauderdale, which opened in February. The 3,180-square-foot Infinity Ballroom can accommodate 250 people; the Horizon Ballroom can accommodate 150; and the 506-square-foot boardroom can hold 40 people. Both classroom and conference-room settings with round or U-shaped tables are offered. There are also the B on Top meeting rooms with ocean views.
6. Open since October 2010, SoHo Beach House's second-floor Screening Snug movie theater doubles as both a private room for a film screening and a presentation/meeting space. The theater can seat 22 on plush sofas.
7. The recently renovated Shelborne South Beach now has the Starlight Ballroom and three other event areas that offer flexible meeting space accommodations. Designed by ADD Inc., the 3,500-square-foot ballroom has an Art Deco theme and can hold 370 guests. Other rooms include the Diplomat, which holds 15; the Gold, which can accommodate 50; and the Shell room lounge, which can host as many as 100 guests. The 1,215-square-foot library can hold 85 in a classroom setting and 15 in the executive boardroom.
8. Earlier this year, the Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay added an executive ballroom and the 2,500-square-foot Bayview Ballroom to its list of meeting spaces. There are a total of 23 meeting rooms as well as a grand ballroom that can hold as many as 1,350.
9. A multi-million dollar renovation is currently underway at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Miami Airport & Convention Center, which boasts more than 155,000 square feet of meeting space, including 50 meeting rooms. Equipment available includes portable walls, staging, dance floors, and a piano as well as audiovisual capabilities and video-conferencing services. The hotel offers complimentary round-trip shuttles from the Miami International Airport.
10. Renovated in June, private club the Bath Club can seat 350 in its ballroom, which has floor-to-ceiling windows and chandeliers. For an outdoor meeting, the pool deck area can seat 100. The beachfront property is located in Miami Beach.
