Smart Meetings

Napa has been a small town since the mid 1800's, even then sporting hotels, saloons and gambling emporiums. Culture had also made its mark with a lyceum for public lectures, a reading room, an opera house (going strong again) and an agricultural society. Today Napa is a 19-mile stretch situated along the Napa River with a number of meeting venues.

The one-year-old Calistoga Ranch (calistogaranch.com), an Auberge resort, has 46 exceptional guest lodges on 157 acres. The Ranch offers full-service event packages where facility fees include everything from tables and chairs to china, silver and crystal, set up and breakdown and valet. Their 1,175 square-foot wine cave is available for events, as well as the Lakeside Restaurant & Patio with 1,450 square feet of meeting space. Their largest space is the poolside patio at 1,530 square feet.

The Christian Brother's Retreat & Conference Center (christianbrosretreat.com) is, as Napa Valley CVB's Carmichael says, "a unique experience in itself. The facility is the home of an order of retired priests. " The 500-acre property is well-equipped to handle meetings with an executive 1,490 square-foot meeting room. The A/V capabilities in the room include a computer projection system, large and small screen televisions and VCR, an overhead document camera, overhead projector and wireless Internet access.

The spectacular centerpiece along the river banks is COPIA, the American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts (copia.org), self-described as, "a non-profit center whose mission is to explore and celebrate the cultural significance of wine, food and the arts. "

This organization epitomizes the very identity of the Napa Valley and Sonoma County. COPIA hosts food and wine programs (the property's restaurant Julia's Kitchen is the only restaurant that the late Julia Child endorsed with her name), and when attendees are between meetings, they can stroll through the art gallery or outside into COPIA's Permanent Living Exhibition: The Edible Gardens. Of the center's many meeting spaces, the largest is the 2,500 square-foot Meyer Food Forum. There is also the Staglin Family Vintage Room at 1,248 square feet, and the 1,334 square-foot Garden Vista Terrace.

Getting There

Oakland Airport - flyoakland.com

San Francisco Airport - sfoairport.com

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