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Tucked into the hills of Rensselaerville is a retreat and conference center very different from the norm. The Inn & Meeting Place at the Rensselaerville Institute offers businesses and organizations a unique meeting facility in a spectacular setting.
"This is a meeting planner's paradise," said Bonnie Chase Gifford, director of sales for the Inn & Meeting Place.
The 100-acre estate provides an environment conducive to meetings and discussion. It is free from distractions, includes all meals, and offers a wide range of amenities - from sports and hiking to gourmet meals, said CEO Steven Pierce, who came to Rensselaerville last year from Denali Park Resort in Alaska, where he managed three hotels.
It is not a traditional hotel facility. The inn's 55 rooms can accommodate 80 individuals in four buildings on the estate. Larger groups often have the entire estate to themselves, Pierce said.
Groups can use the larger auditorium in the estate's main Guggenheim Building, or hold smaller meetings in the living rooms, dining rooms and porches of the houses, he said. Annually, more than 10,000 people use the Inn & Meeting Place.
"If I could take every group there I would,"...