6 New Venues in San Francisco/Northern California for Summer 2024 Meetings and Events

Planning a corporate retreat in the area? Look no further than the recently opened Lodge at Marconi, located only 90 minutes from San Francisco off Highway Route 1 within Marconi State Historic Park. The property offers 45 modern accommodations and a variety of buyout options and room blocks. Formerly Marconi Conference Center, the property is set amid 62 sprawling acres in Tomales Bay. Meeting and event space includes four indoor and three outdoor venues. Meeting venues range in size, with Cypress and Pine Halls, located side by side, accommodating groups of up to 45 each, while Buck Hall, the largest indoor event space, can accommodate much larger groups. From team-building activities like birding, hiking, and guided nature walks—plus kayaking and farm tours located just off site—planners have a variety of options to help attendees refuel creativity. The prime views of the surrounding park and bay don't hurt either.

In April, Napa's largest resort unveiled a $25-million renovation. The Meritage Resort & Spa now boasts 322 updated guest rooms—alongside existing 147 guest rooms and suites—for a total of 467 modern, spacious guest accommodations. This extensive renovation also includes a new lobby and expanded bar area; refreshed ballrooms, prefunction, and meeting rooms; an updated bowling lounge; a reimagined café and grab-and-go outlet; and a new steakhouse and Champagne lounge. In the adjacent vineyard, you'll find a new chef’s vegetable and herb garden, a dining terrace for alfresco dining in the vines, and a brand-new coop for the resident chickens.

In May, Hyatt Regency San Francisco—located along San Francisco’s Embarcadero—announced the restoration of its rotating venue in celebration of its 51st anniversary. Previously a rotating restaurant dubbed The Equinox (which closed in 2007), the space is now called the Regency Club, and it features rotating, 360-degree views of the city and the bay. Access to the space is available for World of Hyatt Globalist Elite Tier hotel guests and those who book the Revolve at Regency Club Package. The Regency Club rotates for six hours a day (three hours in the morning and three at night). Each 360-degree rotation takes 56 minutes. Overall, the property features 821 guest rooms and 72,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including 39 venues and an 11,125-square-foot Grand Ballroom.

In May, one of Sonoma’s most historic landmarks, El Dorado Hotel & Kitchen, debuted the first of a two-part renovation plan at the iconic property. The first is a redesign of its 27 guest rooms that draws inspiration from the energy of wine country and the Bohemian charm of Sonoma. Phase one also included the reopening of its casual Mexican restaurant, EDK Cantina, featuring a new menu of tacos and antojitos. Executive chef Armando Navarro serves up dishes inspired by Latin American flavors and made with locally sourced ingredients. Stay tuned for phase two, which will be unveiled in early 2025 and include enhancement to public spaces like the lobby, pool, and El Dorado Kitchen, its main dining room.

In July, The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay unveiled a major renovation to its spa. Expect reimagined lounge spaces, elevated wet amenities, and aesthetic enhancements. Guests will now find refreshed changing rooms and relaxation lounges, a new Himalayan salt sauna, a steam room, a cold plunge bath, and a mineral whirlpool. Plus, each treatment room has been refined under the creative direction of Hirsch Bedner Associates. Rooms have updated artwork, furnishing, and accessories. This also means new treatments are available, including vibrational sound therapy, energy healing, an aromatic CBD massage, Jin Shin Jyutsu, which is described as Japanese hands-on healing art. The new updates are perfect for incorporating into retreat or incentive programming.

In June, chef Kim Alter of Nightbird launched a new dining space for pop-ups called NightJar. As of publication time, the space is hosting Alter's prime rib concept PrimeBird through September, but NightJar can also serve as a private dining room for Nightbird, as well as a space for seated dining events and pop-up mixers with partners like creators, chefs, winemakers, and more. The maximum number it can seat is 14 people for a five-course dinner as a private event.