HARBOR MAGIC
Phone a Harbor Magic Hotel in Baltimore, and the first thing the receptionist asks is, “How can we make magic for you today?” After visiting the hotels and seeing what they have to offer, meeting planners answered in kind.

“We have in-hotel activities as regularly scheduled daily entertainment for hotel guests, and meeting planners started requesting them for breaks,” says Lisa Salvatore, marketing manager for Harbor Magic Hotels. Now when attending a meeting at one of the hotels, not only do guests get a taste of the seaport city they’re in, they get an otherworldly dose of folklore.

The Admiral Fell Inn had its structural beginnings in the late 1700s and became a legendary seamen’s hostel in the late 1800s. Over the years, there have been reported sightings of wandering ghosts and things going bump in the night, so the inn takes advantage of this supernatural reputation.

“We offer the Admiral’s Tea break, where a ghost named Livingston [a Baltimore bigwig who died in 1850] tells stories, passes around refreshments, and teaches the 10 tea etiquette faux pas,” says Salvatore. The Admiral’s Tea features assorted finger sandwiches (cucumber dill, egg salad, tomato and spinach), scones (blueberry, cranberry orange, cinnamon, raspberry white chocolate), and cookies (Russian tea, strawberry thumbprint, butter) with a selection of tea and coffee.

The hotel also offers a ghost tour for a break option, where Livingston leads meeting-goers from the basement to the roof, telling chilling stories of the sightings at each haunted spot. The tour ends with the ghost sharing 10 facts about Baltimore and the inn itself, while attendees enjoy menu items like Berger cookies (a Baltimore bakery tradition since 1835); Maryland crab dip with pita bread, baguettes, and crackers; Old Bay chips; and tea, coffee, and cream soda. The Pub Sing-Along break, best suited for the conclusion of meetings, is led in the Admiral’s Lounge by old seafaring ghosts who sing sea shanties and pass around a vintage (and potent) sailors’ punch.

Outside of the paranormal, the Pier 5 Hotel hosts educational breaks like the Crabby Hour, where meeting attendees receive a handson cooking demonstration of Pier 5 Maryland Crab Dip and Crabby Crêpes. While munching on the fruits of their labor and wearing wacky crab hats, they learn the history of the Maryland-based Old Bay Seasoning, win trivia prizes, and (as a post-meeting option) sample Maryland microbrews and wine. Also popular at Pier 5, the Wish Upon a Star Chocolate Bar features three chocolate fountains (white, dark, and milk) with a host of dippable treats like pretzels, pound cake, granola bars, shortbread cookies, strawberries, and melon.

These are a sampling of the breaks and activities available at Harbor Magic’s Admiral Fell Inn, Pier 5, and Brookshire Suites, whose creative sales and marketing team seems to be making good on their magical promises.

THE EDGEWATER
Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau now has a one-word tagline to promote their city: Metronatural.

“It basically means that, in Seattle, visitors can benefit from all that nature has to offer during the day, and then in the evening, enjoy a sophisticated nightlife,” says Nancy Helms, director of sales and marketing for the Edgewater Hotel. Recently, the Edgewater developed the Metronatural meeting break as a tribute to the city’s new epithet and subsequently promoted it by giving a complimentary demonstration to Convention and Visitors Bureau staffers.

“We had a fitness instructor lead yoga exercises like chair twists and seated cat stretches, and then she demonstrated how to do squats and planks on stability balls. For refreshments, we had healthy choices like energy bars, sliced fresh fruit and berries, a sweet and salty trail mix, and Odwalla fruit and vegetable juices.”

Other Seattle-centric breaks on the Edgewater’s catering menu include We’re Smokin’ Now, a house-smoked trio of alder salmon, misoglazed cod, and pecan trout served with aioli, chives, capers, egg, and rosemary lavosh. Asian Persuasion is a break that embraces the Pacific Northwest’s large Asian population; offerings like spicy tuna, vegetable, California, and Alaskan sushi rolls or beef, chicken, and salmon pot stickers are served with wasabi peas, coconut rice, tamarind and sesame truffles, and green tea. Finally, the Fab Four break strikes a British chord with treats like homemade scones with Devonshire cream and preserves, tea cookies and assorted finger sandwiches, and a selection of Tazo teas. Helms says this break celebrates Paul, George, John, and Ringo because, without them, the Edgewater might not be what it is today.

“In 1964, the Beatles were scheduled to give a concert at the Seattle Coliseum and needed a place to stay, but no other hotel in town was willing to take on the mobs, press, and security issues that came along with them. When the Edgewater took in the Fab Four, they put us on the map. The press we got from that visit was immeasurable and continues to this day,” Helms says.