Doubletree Bethesda stimulates creativity for meeting attendees.
The Doubletree Hotel Bethesda (Maryland) is the nearest full-service property to the National Institutes of Health and the Bethesda Naval Medical Center, putting it at the epicenter of well-established meeting business. Keeping meeting planners and attendees wowed is always a big challenge for staff, with constant rethinking given to added value, resonance, and support for client objectives.

“We tried to find a way to flip the dormant mental switch, to transport meeting attendees back to childhood, and send a subliminal message encouraging playful creativity,” says Joyce Lephart, director of the Doubletree’s executive meeting center. “We consulted with a behavioral psychologist, who helped us design 15-minute meeting breaks that re-energize adult learners and inspire creativity. They decrease boundaries to learning and increase receptivity to new ideas.”

Afternoon break activities are staged in the Doubletree’s conference center and are enhanced by a variety of toys, puzzles, games, and videos to rekindle childhood memories. “The sight of meeting attendees laughing and collaborating on a six-by-eight- foot puzzle of the Statue of Liberty is a happy one,” Lephart says. “And there’s nothing like seeing a 50-year-old scientist down on the floor, gleefully monkeying with a remote-controlled Corvette.”

For an Elvis-themed break with a video of The King as the backdrop, meeting attendees are served fried peanut butter, banana, and bacon sandwiches. A superheroes theme features Spider-Man videos, action figures, and menu selections such as chicken batwings and kryptonite green jelly beans. As Frank Sinatra croons on the TV screen, meeting guests enjoy a New York, New York theme with mini hot dogs and soft pretzels with mustard. Wellness breaks feature dimmed lighting, fresh fruit smoothies, yoga videos, and chair massages. The three communal break centers in the Doubletree’s conference center are fully equipped with granite-topped serving stations and built-in refrigerators and freezers. All hotel groups share these break areas, resulting in money and labor savings.

Lephart is pleased with the results of the hotel’s one-year initiative in “childhood-inspired” meeting breaks. “Even in this topsy-turvy economy, we have retained and expanded on our meeting business,” she says. “The response to these breaks has been a noticeable increase in customer loyalty. When we can support the client in staying on task and within budget and partner with them in creating more successful meetings, they come back.”

theWit Chicago employs intellect and humor in meeting break design.
theWit is a 27-story boutique hotel that recently opened in downtown Chicago. With 7,000 square feet of meeting space named after great wits such as Churchill, Lincoln, and Wilde, ambience prevails, with stunning views seen through 16-foot windows. The wit theme is woven throughout the property, even in the acronym-inspired credo of customer service: “Whatever it takes.”

Specialty refreshment breaks, priced at $12 to $26 per person, include the Chocolate Fantasy, an indulgent display of house-made brownies, chocolate-dipped strawberries, and Hershey bars and Kisses; the Häagen-Dazs shop, an extravaganza of premium ice cream and sorbet bars; the Cool Shortcake Special, with strawberry, banana, and mixed berry shortcake, as well as house-made whipped creams and sauces; Joey’s Lemonade Stand, featuring freshly prepared lemonade, flavored tropical iced teas, Jones sodas, gourmet chips, and berry parfaits and nut assortments; High Tea, with mini tea sandwiches, traditional fruit scones with Devonshire cream, arugula and herb boursin cheese bundles, and smoked salmon with cucumber; Brew Master, with local microbrew beers, tortilla chips, house-made guacamole, spicy salsa, and jumbo pretzels and cheddar cheese; and The Candy Man, rife with retro favorites such as Lemonheads, licorice whips, old-fashioned bottled cream soda, root beer, and cotton candy.

SCREEN is theWit’s high-definition, luxury multimedia theater space, accommodating 40 meeting guests in 1,600 square feet. Breaks feature the screening of corporate photo montages, television clips, sporting events, and popular movie clips, such as Home Alone movie scenes, accompanied by a menu of popcorn-three-ways with caramel, truffle and garlic butter, warm pretzels with garlic and cheese sauce, potato chips with caramelized onion dip, classic Buffalo and spicy Asian chicken wings, cotton candy, and Fontina cheese toast with garlic butter. The celebrated baseball movie Bull Durham brings a menu of sliders with cheddar cheese, pickles, and caramelized onion; mini chili cheese dogs with relish and onion; smoked sausage on a stick with spicy mustard, spiced and boiled peanuts, and Cracker Jack. Memoirs of a Geisha features assorted sushi rolls, panfried dumplings, salty edamame, and spicy cucumber salad.

“We get lots of great feedback on our witty break themes,” says Executive Chef Bradley Manchester. “The break menus are a pleasure to prepare and set up. The menus offer enough variety in flavor and innovation in theme to be exciting and fun for meeting attendees.”

Nancy Fox covers food and beverage, travel, and lifestyle. A 20-year travel industry veteran based in Orlando, she has held positions with Walt Disney Attractions and AAA.