The meeting facilities of Overlook Lodge at Bear Mountain just might prove true the old adage of “location is everything.”
The lodge is a full-service hotel that combines rustic charm with modern-day amenities. And it offers a retreat-like setting for corporations and organizations looking to gather in an easily accessible off-site venue.
Overlook Lodge is nestled within Bear Mountain State Park, which straddles Orange and Rockland counties in New York and boasts some 5,000 acres.
Walking across the circular drive to the entrance, one is immediately captivated ”“ a pair of glass doors provides a peek all the way across the lobby, yielding a dramatic glimpse of the Hudson River beyond.
“This is like our little hidden secret up here, for sure,” said Ann Marie Grew, the facility”™s catering and sales manager.
She settles into that evocative lobby, a warm space filled with classic wing chairs, a stone fireplace and tables fashioned out of rough-hewn wood, to discuss how Overlook Lodge is poised to accommodate business events of all kinds.
Grew said though the lodge is best known as a wedding destination, she is responding to a growing demand from businesses, both within and outside the region.
“I”™ve been getting a lot more phone calls in the past month or so,” she said. “I feel like people are probably tired of the standard hotel. This is like a totally different getaway.”
And that, she said, is perhaps the venue”™s greatest strength ”“ the way Overlook Lodge offers companies the chance to combine their business meetings, seminars or conventions with the attractions of one of the Hudson Valley”™s most picturesque destinations.
“The park is at your disposal,” she adds. “We are all in one. Once you”™re here, you”™re here.”
Set out on a morning hike before a day of seminars. Follow a strategy session with a paddle around Hessian Lake. End a day working on the annual report with a gourmet meal, prepared by award-winning Executive Chef Michael Matarazzo, a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America.
“Food is very important to us,” Grew adds with a laugh.
Overlook Lodge and the other facilities at Bear Mountain are administered by Guest Services Inc., a hospitality management firm based in Fairfax, Va.
Having been through an update of its lodging and event spaces three years ago, Overlook Lodge now features 24 guest rooms, meeting facilities and meals for those booking business events.
“We”™re flexible as far as what their needs are,” Grew said, adding groups of 20 to 200 can be accommodated for business functions. “We have so many different options to work with.”
The lodge”™s Hudson Salon, a ballroom with a wall of windows again offering sweeping views, is part of some 30,000 square feet of available event space throughout the park buildings. As to overnight accommodations, nearby stone cottages offer 24 more rooms, with the historic, newly renovated Bear Mountain Inn offering 15 luxury suites.
There are, as expected, the basic services, from Wi-Fi to audio-visual capabilities to a business center with copier and fax machines.
In total, Grew said, Overlook Lodge offers a company the chance to provide its employees with a meeting or convention in a setting both practical and memorable.
“It”™s calming up here, too.”
For more details on Overlook Lodge, sign on to visitbearmountain.com
or call (845) 786-2731.
Comments 1