Eric Boehm thought he knew what state parks had to offer: leafy campgrounds, wooden picnic tables and, of course, plenty of outdoor activities. Then in April of this year, as regional manager and meeting planner for Maryville, Tenn.- based Clayton Homes, he helped organize a conference at Lake Guntersville State Park in Alabama. “Our experience was not at all what I expected,” he says. “I was really blown away.”
What Boehm found was surprisingly high-end accommodations, fully equipped meeting space and resort-style recreation- at bargain rates to boot. The park offers a variety of accommodations at reasonable rates, including 20 chalets (starting at $125 per night) on a bluff overlooking a 69,000-acre reservoir, 15 lakeside cottages (also from $125), and 112 rooms and suites (from $96) at the sprawling Guntersville State Park Lodge. In the lodge are eight meeting rooms, most featuring wireless Internet and a full complement of A/V resources, accommodating from 14 to 500 attendees.
Boehm’s group spent two days at the park. On the first day, which was devoted to meetings, “we never left the facility,” says Boehm. “We had everything we needed.” Day two was spent enjoying the park’s recreational amenities, including an 18-hole golf course, a beach complex, fishing, and hiking. Boehm was so impressed with the place that he brought his own event, a sales managers’ meeting that he plans twice a year, to the same location a few months later.
From the article “Natural Selection” by Kaylee Hultgren in the August issue of Meetings and Convention magazine:
For more information on Lake Guntersville State Park Resort see: http://www.alapark.com/LakeGuntersville/