Holiday corporate gatherings at hotels are trending toward smaller, more casual groups than in the past. Just because all is calm doesn't mean that all isn't bright, though.
The pace of these bookings remains stable, and the more intimate settings provide an opportunity for food and beverage and other experiences to shine through.
Jennifer Thorn, area director of sales and marketing for Kimpton Hotels of New England, said one of her properties — the Kimpton Marlowe Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts — is still aiming to capture the demand from larger groups but has started to pivot to accommodating smaller groups.
"What we're finding is a lot of our clients are looking for more intimate, informal, more fun settings versus coming into a hotel and taking over the ballroom or an entire floor and putting on this huge production," she said.
Demand for these events has remained steady, with clients seeking a more casual experience, Meredith Slovin, director of sales at the Hotel AKA Back Bay and Hotel AKA Boston Common, said in an email interview.
" ... We're seeing a shift toward smaller, team-focused gatherings rather than one large, office-wide celebration, which is a perfect fit given the range of event spaces we offer and our personalized service and planning approach," Slovin said.
Joseph Turano, CEO of Park Terrace Hotel in New York City and chief operating officer of its parent company Club Quarters Hotels, said his property saw an increase in holiday gatherings this year. Those gatherings have been smaller in quantity of people than in the past, but the per-person spend is up.
"It's more like executive-level receptions, leadership dinners, client dinners, rather than full-wide company events," he said.
Kevin Gibbs, hotel manager at the Table Mountain Inn in Golden, Colorado, said the holiday corporate gatherings at his property have remained around the same size but there's been softer demand and more price resistance from companies in the market. Some of this can be attributed to companies deciding to host their own events rather than renting out a space, he said.
Another shift is a contraction in booking windows for corporate holiday events. Turano said a lot of the bookings this year were "very last minute" and there was a sharp uptick of reservations in mid-November instead of the usual time of year in September.
Thorn said the booking windows for these events have been mostly similar over the past few years, but they're shorter than they were prior to the pandemic.
Rockin' around the Christmas bar
While the size of holiday gatherings has gotten smaller, the food-and-beverage offerings have never been more robust.
"There's more of an emphasis on elevating the offerings," Turano said. "We've seen the clients prioritize premiums on our cocktails, premiums on wine for our receptions, premium hors d'oeuvres, where when it's larger company events, it's more of, 'What can I do to make everybody happy?'"
This year, the Kimpton Marlowe Hotel partnered with Miracle, a Christmas-themed pop-up cocktail bar. The add-on is located in the hotel's living room area right off its lobby, and has holiday-themed drinks and light snacks on the menu.
This is drawing in both companies and individuals alike who are seeking a more casual experience, Thorn said. From the corporate perspective, the rise in remote work since the pandemic has increased the desire to catch up with coworkers in person.
"Our corporate clients ... are coming in with a smaller group of maybe 10 to 30 people," she said. "Ever since COVID, we've definitely seen the need for people to come together in a smaller, more intimate setting. They want an opportunity to be able to talk and connect and make it more of an experience than this big annual blowout."
The Hotel Commonwealth in Boston gets its director of food and beverage — who is also the property's executive chef — involved with the planning process right from the start, working with clients to deliver on whatever they want, said General Manager Shane McWeeny. There's been a demand for themed food stations that give partygoers a chance to make their own selections and also catch up with colleagues while waiting in line for their turn.
Gibbs said his team has been pitching different ideas to get away from the normal buffet and bar concept for holiday parties. For example, this year Table Mountain Inn added an interactive dessert bar where guests can decorate their own cookies and more.
"It becomes more of an activity than just like, 'Here's your desserts for you to take,'" Gibbs said. "We're kind of in the early stages of thinking outside the box like that, but we are seeing an increased demand for people wanting to do [something new]."