The Elite Retreat – To San Fran And Back

I just returned from our yearly conference that we put on in San Francisco, called the Elite Retreat. I am biased, but I have to say that this was by far the best one yet. Last year went really well, but it was my first time running it, and there was a big learning curve. Just stupid things that make a world of difference once you have done it before.

I chose the Hotel Vitale this year, because I felt like we needed a smaller venue, one that would pay attention to us, and only us. And compared to the Intercontinental from last year, I don’t think I would ever go to a bigger hotel again. The staff was unbelievable, and they all knew we were there, because we were the only meeting going on. Anything, absolutely anything that we wanted, we got, and we got it immediately. I can’t tell you how much stress that relieves from doing a conference.

And just because it’s a smaller hotel doesn’t mean that it is any less fancy. The hotel was pretty sweet, and with the outdoor terraces that we used for the reception, it was perfect.

I started planning for this event in October, so it was about 4 and half months for it to come together. But I found that when you have a group of 55 people and are looking for the best restaurants in town, you have to give them plenty of notice to reserve the space. So we got both of my top choices for food, Boulevard Restaurant, and Waterbar. I think that Boulevard is one of, if not the highest rated restaurant in San Francisco. And lucky for us, it was across the street from the hotel. Waterbar was just a few blocks down the road on the Embarcadero, so easily within walking distance which makes it nice for everyone. Last year we ate at Aqua, and it was nice, but it was a little to pretentious for me, we want nice food, but someplace that we can be comfortable wearing jeans and cussing And both of these places were phenomenal. When I was closing out the bill at Waterbar, our waitress there knew we had ate at Boulevard the night before, and her words as I walked out the door, were “Boulevard, shit, they don’t have anything on us”. That made me laugh, and also made me realize that I made good choices for restaurants. They fit our personalities very well.

Another Elite Retreat is in the books, and hopefully all of the attendees enjoyed it. Till next time…