Claim to Fame: Laid-back waterfront vibe

Minutes from LAX yet light years from cubicle world, Marina del Rey specializes in unique meeting venues—private yachts, dockside event space, private waterside terraces— for on-the-water team-building and waterfront meeting and dining.

Splash

Get your group truly up-close-and-personal with the azure Pacific by diving into activities that range from parasailing, kayaking and rowing to yoga classes on paddleboards. Or book another of the several cruise options with fun teambuilding, including Blue Water Sailing, Fantasea Yachts & Yacht Club (which offers unique event decorating) and Tiki Mermaid Charter Yachts.

Pedal

The 22-mile Marvin Braude Coastal Bike Trail hugs the water from Torrance to Pacific Palisades, and the Marina del Rey section is made for fiery sunset watching, and spotting billowing sails and sea life. If your hotel doesn’t loan or rent bicycles, Daniel’s Bicycle Rental & Sales on Fiji Way in Marina Del Rey is closest among the several options that are nearby.

Stay

The Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey, L.s A.’s only AAA Five Diamond waterfront hotel, pairs the brand’s lofty hospitality standard with a marina setting. Its 304 guest rooms, all newly renovated, feature private balconies. The Ritz-Carlton Ballroom (8,190 sq. ft.) and additional indoor event spaces (more than 6,500 sq. ft.) are being updated in hues reflecting local waters and skyline. Technology for meetings and events is being upgraded, as well.

Other hotel updates:

Marina del Rey Marriott, with 370 guest rooms, is midway through renovating meeting spaces. Completed are the 6,072- square-foot California Ballroom, and the 4,264-squarefoot Bayview Ballroom, with floor-to-ceiling coastline views on the penthouse level. Remaining meeting spaces are expected to be redone by September.

Jamaica Bay Inn, a boutique hotel with 111 guest rooms, is creating the Bermuda Room as a 1,008-square-foot waterfront meeting space, joining two other indoor rooms and a patio space. Construction is slated to complete by fall 2017.

Only Here

Hornblower Cruises & Events
  • Fleet of five yachts, all with recent or scheduled interior updates; including Zumbrota (capacity 125 guests), once owned by circus magnate Charles Ringling and named after the biggest elephant in captivity
  • Team-building at sea for any budget, such as salsa cook-off cruises
  • Event specialists to help create a celebration for your team, clients or vendors

And in Closing…

L.A. is more than a destination. It’s a state of mind. It represents, in theory and practice, an unquenchable desire to create magic or majesty that has never before been seen.

At its best, L.A. gives us a glimpse of the world as we would like it to be—unfettered by what has come before, bound only by the limitations of what we can imagine our lives to be.

Actor Denzel Washington once observed, “In Los Angeles, everyone is a star.” Host your meeting or event there, and you can be one, too.

Get your L.A. on.


L.A. Insider Tip

Get your licks in on AKB. Nearby Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice is the local go-to for trendy, exciting shopping, dining and partying. It was dubbed “coolest block in America” by GQ magazine. Worth the wait in the inevitable line is Salt & Straw (pictured), an ice cream store known for inventive flavors (black olive brittle and goat cheese, rhubarb crumble with toast anise) and farmsourced ingredients.

Further Reading:

Destination Guide: Greater Los Angeles
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