The Chateau on the Lake – An Unprecedented Event Planning Experience in Branson, Missouri

In 15+ years of event planning, I’ve experienced many onsite challenges. There is the frequent (albeit frustrating problem) of late coffee/break food delivery; and the ever present risk of poor housekeeping – and subsequent attendee complaint. I’ve had floor staff remove 100+ carefully arranged speaker gifts out of a LOCKED room and scatter said gifts with the outgoing garbage from a recent gala – all because someone double-booked the room. And then there was the morning I awoke to a geyser in the middle of the street outside my room window. The water main had broken and with it the hotel’s water supply (and health permit) were flushed down the road.

As such, I’ve come to expect the unexpected. It happens with three-star properties and four-star properties. Something always goes wrong, and while sometimes someone is at fault, other times it is just bad luck. However, after fifteen years of arranging events coast-to-coast, I’ve never before had the experience that I did at the Chateau on the Lake.

Located on the shore of beautiful Table Rock Lake, the Chateau on the Lake in Branson, Missouri is a John Q. Hammons flagship hotel. Promoting its lodgings as the “Castle in the Ozarks,” the facility features 301 guest rooms with an additional 57 suites. Combined with an assortment of onsite dining, private theater, spa, tennis courts, full-service marina and lake activities, pool, etc., it is easy to see the attraction of the Chateau for vacationers.

On paper, the Chateau’s 43,500 square feet of meeting space provides impressive options for small-meetings to larger conferences. It was also one of the reasons that we visited in March 2013. The purpose of our trip was to scope out potential locations for a mid-sized conference (350 attendees and guests) tentatively scheduled in late 2014. Our visit was pleasant, the staff we met were friendly and the rooms (meeting and sleeping) were large and well appointed. In other words, it was what one would expect from an AAA rated, four-star facility.

What would follow after our arrival onsite for the actual event was not predicted. From the moment we arrived, we did not have one problem. ALL of our boxes that we shipped ahead of time were quickly located and delivered. Last minute changes to lodging (for some of our VIP attendees) went smoothly – even after hours! Food was delivered on time and floor staff actually took the time to look at our BEOs (Banquet Event Orders) and their copies reflected ALL of our changes. I realize that should be standard practice, but I’ve found that only 1 in 4 facilities successfully manage BEOs!

Additionally, Five Star Audio Visual was superb. Our usual schedule includes myself and occasionally an additional staff member setting up the meeting room presentation equipment for our breakout sessions (projectors and laptops) beginning at 6:30 am. Our goal is to have all equipment setup, tested and presentations loaded prior to breakfast at 7:30 am. This then gives us an hour to deal with last minute presentation changes as well as provide us time to review the AV equipment (mic, presentation clicker, etc.) with the session moderator. Five Star Audio not only had the room AV ready to go, but they helped setup the projectors and laptops taking care to ensure that they utilized our pairing system (crucial as we had paired projectors with specific laptops to avoid hardware/software issues). To top it off – they usually beat me to the floor. I’ve never had AV staff beat me to the floor every morning!

The Chateau’s billing was also accurate and I didn’t have to request any corrections. While the weather didn’t cooperate – they were in the middle of an unheard of heat spell – everything that was under the control of the Chateau was handled fabulously.

   Two thumbs up, Chateau! Keep up the excellent work!