Boulder's invigorating blend of work and play is obvious the moment a visitor steps into downtown, where it's common to see executives riding their bikes to work or along the creek that winds through the heart of the community during a lunch break. Home to the University of Colorado, the college town flush up against the Rocky Mountains is known for its devotion to quality of life. "An entrepreneurial town with people who love the outdoors, Boulder has a nice balance between work and play, which carries over into meetings held here," says Mary Ann Mahoney, executive director of the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The whole energy of the town creates that think-outside-the-box mentality."
The Flatiron mountains, which diagonal out of the earth like massive sheets of rusted iron, overlook Boulder and it's myriad of adventures that can fold neatly into a meeting program, from hiking and mountain biking for all abilities to snowshoeing during the winter and kayaking or fly fishing on Boulder Creek. "The mountains are so close that our backyard is filled with great sports," says Sal Silvester, president of 5.12 Solutions, which provides team building and leadership workshops utilizing Boulder's vast mountainous backyard. His favorite is the adventure of rock climbing, which naturally brings out qualities like trust, teamwork, and problem solving. "It's incredible to see the look of accomplishment on participants' faces at the end of the workshop," says Silvester.
Boulder's newest meeting facility debuted last September; an addition to the University of Colorado's Folsom Field stadium, which is able to host banquets of up to 800 and a reception for 2,000 with expansive views of the UC campus and Flatiron mountains. In hotel news, the 165-room Ramada Inn University completed an extensive renovation and reopened as the Boulder Outlook Hotel & Suites last spring even as construction got underway downtown on the 200-room St. Julien Hotel & Spa, a luxury property scheduled to open next December with 11,000 square feet of meeting space. This month the 155-room Boulder Marriott completed a renovation that doubled it's ballroom(up to 2,400 square feet). Other Boulder meetings hotels include the 269-room Millennium Harvest House Boulder, the historical 160-room Hotel Boulderado, and the 115-room Boulder Broker Inn.