School isn’t just for kids. More and more properties are providing groups with learning opportunities that also incorporate team building.
Attendees will harken back to the days where they were excited for that first day of school, where open mindedness was pervasive and possibilities were endless. Here are a few properties that put class into team building.
History
American History: Commonly known as “the Midwest White House,” Hilton Chicago’s museum-style interactive lobby installation highlights the hotel’s storied past dating back to 1927. A few historic highlights include housing the U.S. army during World War II, curating its Normandie Lounge with the remains of a French cruise liner-converted WWII ship and the stories of the property hosting nearly every U.S. president since it opened.
Art History: The Graffiti concierge at Hotel Indigo Lower East Side in New York City is an expert when it comes to directing groups to iconic street art locales. This allows visitors to explore like locals to spot the ever-changing walls that serve as a canvas to local and international artists alike.
Science
Marine Science: In the historic district of Charleston, South Carolina, HarbourView Inn offers behind-the-scene tours of the Avian Conversation Center and Sea Turtle Hospital at the South Carolina Aquarium where guests can learn about the Holy City’s local ecosystem, wild birds of prey, aquatic animals and endangered species.
Nutrition: Guests who step into the BodPod at Well & Being at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess and >Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas will receive the world’s most advanced body composition assessment, measuring percentage of total weight that is fat compared to lean muscle. Well & Being fitness experts use these numbers to provide guests with healthy nutrition suggestions and exercise recommendations to help reduce overall body fat percentage.
Foreign Language
Spanish Lessons in Costa Rica: Nestled between the Pacific Ocean and a 1,100-acre tropical rainforest, groups staying at Los Suenos Marriott Ocean & Golf Resort in Herradura can learn Spanish onsite from a native language instructor. Complimentary hour-long Spanish classes are offered every day by the palm-lined pool overlooking the ocean.
Spanish Lessons in Dominican Republic: For meetings attendees who want to “hablan espanol,” AlSol Hotels & Resorts, a collection of all-inclusive resorts in Cap Cana Dominican Republic, offers daily Spanish speaking lessons by the pool. Taught by native Spanish speakers, who are also well versed in English, guests get a crash course in every day greetings and salutations, restaurant ordering and more.
Art
Painting: The Westin Cape Coral Resort at Marina Village has a partnership with eclectic local artist Leoma Lovegrove, who offers onsite group painting classes on the resort’s event lawn. Guests will channel inner creativity and relax as they paint along the water with a quiet breeze and a calming view of the Gulf of Mexico, Caloosahatchee River and San Carlos Bay.
Sand Sculpting: Award-winning artist Marianne van den Broek runs the sand-sculpting workshop at Casa Marina in Key West, Florida. Each sculpting session takes place on the resorts private beach, the largest in Key West, where groups are taught the fundamentals of sand sculpting and enjoy carving anything from a favorite pet to a company logo.
Dance
Salsa Dancing: Spirit of New York’s specialty cruises feature salsa dancing lessons with New York City’s hottest international Latin dance company, Piel Canela. As groups cruise along the Hudson River with the iconic Manhattan skyline as the backdrop, they’ll be immersed in a three-hour experience featuring a sizzling mix of popular Bachata, Salsa, and Merengue hits along with a delicious buffet of creative cuisine.
Hula Lessons: Developed in the Hawaiian Islands by the Polynesians who originally settled there, the ancient form of hula dancing is a complex art that uses hand motions to represent the words in a song. At Hilton Waikoloa Village on Hawaii Big Island, a resident kumu hula, or teacher of hula, provides groups with lessons so they can take their skills back home with them.
Physical Education
Cross Country: Conrad Miami offers a pocket-sized map of local jogging routes in each guest room where guests can choose from three jogging routes (2, 4 and 6 miles) for a fun and healthy way to explore the area’s neighborhoods, including Brickell Key, Key Biscayne and Coconut Grove.
Surfing: Hilton Hawaiian Village, sitting on Waikiki’s widest stretch of beach, immerses meetings attendees into the Hawaiian culture with beginners surfing lessons at the resort’s world-famous Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon, where surfing was popularized.
Nothing like a surf lesson to promote team building. Learning can be fun, just like when we were kids.
