For most people, we think of hotels as places to stay when we are going out of town or need a place to crash for the night. We know hotels have the basics: rooms, gym, ice machine, and, of course, a bar. What most people do not think about is the meeting spaces at hotels; however, most of them have conference centers. Although, these are mainly used in place of ballrooms for wedding receptions. Businesses often use these spaces to host large corporate meetings because of the ease and convenience of meeting where guests are already staying.

But let’s think outside the box for a minute. Let’s think outside of the traditional hotel room. When out of town for a corporate conference, participants need down time, time to get away and re-calibrate. When participants are working and resting in the same place, it can become rather overwhelming. So why not host your business meeting at a new and exciting location that gets out of town guests out and about in a new city and even those guests that are local see a side of their city they may not be familiar with?

One such place is The International Spy Museum in Washington DC’s L’Enfant Plaza. The International Spy Museum boasts four different spaces for an event depending on what type of meeting needs to occur. The 7th Floor Ballroom are the best for accommodating a typical meeting or presentation, while The Veil and the Rooftop Terrace can be great locations for breakout sessions, mingling, and debriefing. While guests take time to rest and relax, they can peruse the museum at their leisure to learn about all things international spy. They can spend their free time working through their own undercover mission, learning about how our world as we know it has been shaped by espionage, or viewing artifacts from around the world.