By Linda Humphrey
MONACO -- This nation's only private beach will gain a new
conference center next month, called the Sea Club Complex.
Officials at the Sea Club, linked to the Le Meridien Beach Plaza
hotel, expect Americans to comprise its third-largest market,
according to director of sales and marketing Ricardo Page.
Americans already rank as the hotel's fourth-largest market, after
the French, Italians and English, he said.
By the year 2000, Monaco plans to open a second, mega-conference
center a half mile away, suitable for a group of 2,500 guests.
Monaco currently has one 20-year-old conference center, called
CCAM, which hosts groups of up to 1,000.
The Sea Club features 2,000 square meters of meeting space on
four levels and a garden roof terrace. Its two main rooms -- each
with a 500-guest, theater-style capacity -- and most of its 10
meeting rooms -- with an 80-guest capacity -- have panoramic sea
views. One of the main rooms breaks out into three rooms, and three
of the smaller rooms break into two rooms each.
Unlike most of the Riviera resorts, where hotels and beaches are
separated by a road, the Sea Club is directly on the beach, Page
said. Guests also can splash in three outdoor, sea-front pools (one
filled with sea water) and one indoor pool.
Attendees in the five top-floor meeting rooms can take breaks on
outdoor terraces. Participants on the second floor can gather on an
outdoor terrace for cocktails, coffee breaks and dining. The Club
also features a snack bar on the beach, a business center and a
fitness center with sauna and massage room.
The Sea Club's main entrance, on the Avenue Princess Grace, is
separate from the hotel. The Meridien's lobby links to the Club's
main entrance hall. An underground garage, also linked to the
hotel, holds 40 parking spaces.