I am looking for a place in Florida to take my Board of Directors for
a national non-profit. It must meet the following criteria: Have at
least 15 bedrooms available, b) be interesting, c) have a room in
which all 15 may meet as a group, and d) have breakfast available at
the site (and preferably lunch) or breakfast available and lunch very
very nearby.

There would likely be 15 people for each of the nights of February 12,
13, and 14, 2004. There must be an airport nearby (10 miles?) and it
should be in a fairly major city - Miami? Fort Lauderdale? Tampa? as
we have people fly in from all over the country for the meeting.

We have been to large fancy hotels before, as well as to a big bread
and breakfast and an executive retreat. The best option seems to be a
boutique hotel when they are available. The hard part is we need to
stay uner $150 a night and this is in the high season. My Board
President would prefer to be on the water - or the waterway - but that
may be just out of the question. Being in an area that is interesting
(but not too heavy on the nightlife - miami beach might be a bit much
as this is a pretty staid crowd). As an example, last year we were in
a small boutique hotel next to the Alamo in San Antonio and this was
the BEST meeting we had ever had. There was a bit of culture available
right outside the door (our breaks are short), given a short walk we
were on the Riverwalk (great places to eat dinner).

I am hoping that there is someone from Florida who knows of some
special place that I just can't find with my internet searching. As a
polite note, I did find one place that appeared to exactly meet my
needs, but it catered primarily to a gay clientelle and my liberal,
but primarily straight, Board would probably have felt a bit out of
place.

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Request for Question Clarification by leader-ga on 29 Dec 2003 07:33 PST

Hello susank-ga:

Le me know what do you think of the following hotels so the
researchers might have an idea. Anyway, I have worked in the travel
industry therefore I felt excited about the question.

Don Shula?s Golf Club
http://www.donshulahotel.com

Boca Raton Plaza Hotel & Suites
http://bocaratonplaza.com
(The rooms might not be available directly from the hotel but they can
be booked individually from other search engines.)

Thnaks.

As a former FL resident, I stayed at the Grenelefe Resort for several
conferences.  It meets all of your criteria except for being within 10
miles of an airport.  It is about 30 minutes from Orlando, which has
the closest airport.  Transportation is easily arranged to the
airport.  It is also fairly close to all the major Orlando
attractions, yet it is in a natural setting located on a golf course.
Here is a link:
http://reservations.freehotelsearch.com/hotel/10005073-10215096O.html

We have solved this problem and will be at the Radisson on Tampa Bay. 

I researched the items suggested by both researchers, however neither
was appropriate due to the isolation factor/challenge of airport
accessibility. Our solution with the Radisson is not ideal because it
lacks a unique flavor, but it got us on the water and in the price
range. Thank you both for trying.