Add a fun team bonding activity to your next conference, meeting or incentive program with these creative ideas from six Melbourne hotels. Think time travel wine tasting, escape rooms and karaoke. Cocktail-making workshops, unique mini golf and freehand spray paint classes with Melbourne Street Art Tours. The options are endless!
Hyatt Centric Melbourne
Joyce Castillo | Director of Sales & Marketing | Hyatt Centric Melbourne
Joyce recommends these two interactive cooking and cocktail-making activities at Hyatt Centric Melbourne.
A Salsa Verde soiree
In this exciting team-building activity, learn the art of making delicious Salsa Verde. Led by Hyatt Centric’s stellar chefs, this hands-on cooking class will teach delegates how to create a tantalising blend of fresh herbs, vegetables and spices.
Whether they’re a seasoned chef or complete beginner, this class will boost morale and inspire creativity as delegates bond over the creation of this timeless Mexican favourite.
Shake it out and master the art of the Margarita
Shake things up with this fun cocktail workshop. Led by a skilled mixologist, your team will learn the art of creating delicious and show-stopping cocktails while bonding over a few laughs (and some tasty drinks, of course).
The class will teach your team about the history of cocktails, the basic principles of mixology, and the importance of communication and collaboration when working together to create something truly special.
By the end of the class, your team will have gained a newfound appreciation for the art of cocktail making and will have formed closer bonds that will carry over into the workplace.
Image: Hyatt Centric Salsa Verde cooking class.
W Melbourne
Michael Fletcher | Director of Sales & Distribution | W Melbourne
W Melbourne’s mission is to ignite curiosity and Melbourne is filled with unique team-building activities that are sure to spark curiosity.
W Melbourne works with a number of partners offering curated team bonding activities. Check out Michael’s insider tips for popular activities their delegates enjoy:
- Hand-made jewellery-making classes making with Blonde
- Turkish Mosaic Lamp Workshop with Ana Tolia Studio
- Learn to surf in the Southern Hemisphere's largest wave pool with Urban Surf
- Make a Terrarium with Haylee Magendans from The Plant Whisperer
- Design your personal fragrance from Meta Scent
- Make your own Maneki-Neko with Carla Scotto
- Melbourne Street Art Tours and Freehand Spray Can Art with Melbourne Street Tours
Inspired by the city’s street art and rebels, you will find W Melbourne at its Flinders Lane address, sitting on a laneway between two streets where the magic happens.
With 294 rooms and meeting space catering for up to 600 delegates, W Melbourne is one of the city’s top hotels for dynamic conferences, executive meetings and exciting incentive experiences.
Crown Melbourne
Angie Becker | Director of Sales | Crown Hotels and Crown Events & Conferences Melbourne
If you’re planning a team building activity that’s a putt above the rest, Angie recommends a number of activities to take your conference, meeting or incentive from drab to rad.
Holey Moley Crown
Located in the Crown Melbourne Complex, delegates can conveniently drop by Holey Moley Crown to explore 18 themed holes over two courses. It’s the craziest round of mini golf they will ever play! With legendary cocktails and delicious pizzas that would make your Nona proud.
Image: Holey Moley Crown Melbourne Complex
Jukes Karaoke
Delegates will also get a happy endorphin buzz after belting out a tune or two at Jukes Karaoke, exclusive to Holey Moley Crown. Jukes will jazz up any work party and has rooms to suit teams of all sizes, big or small.
Image: Jukes Karaoke Crown Melbourne Complex
Red Herring escape rooms
For the ultimate group challenge, work as a team to crack codes, solve mysteries and piece together puzzles at Red Herring escape rooms.
With three immersive rooms to choose from, Red Herring is located next door to Holey Moley and Jukes Crown and is the perfect place to host your next team building activity.
Image: Red Herring escape rooms at Crown Melbourne Complex
Kingpin Crown
Lastly, Angie recommends Kingpin Crown for groups of 10 to 800 delegates. Kingpin is not just about bowling – it’s a full entertainment experience, just as you would expect from Crown.
Whether it’s team building, competitions or simply showing employee appreciation, it’s a fantastic activity, offering bowling, laser tag and over 180 arcade games. Plus you can expect chef-quality food and beverages fit for kings and queens.
Image: Kingpin at Crown Melbourne Complex
Pullman Melbourne on the Park
Tony Byron | Director - Commercial | Pullman Melbourne on the Park
Tony is excited to share a new and unique team building experience arriving in Melbourne Q2 2023 ideal for conference and meeting delegates. Opening on the ground floor of Pullman Melbourne on the Park, Salt Movement & Recovery offers a choice of customised team building and bonding activities run by two previous AFL players and high performance coaches – Dean Solomon & Matthew (Maxy) Kennedy.
Delegates will benefit from fun and practical activities that stimulate team connection, incorporating coaching on everything from strength and conditioning, rest and regeneration, goal setting, mindfulness and daily disciplines (with some massage therapies for good measure).
The Salt team building experience is suitable for groups of 5 to 30 and can range anywhere from one hour to a full day.
Image: Salt Movement & Recovery
Quincy
Cristina Guevara | Associate Director of Sales | Travel Partnerships / TFE Hotels
Cristina talks highly about a number of team bonding activities available at two of their TFE Hotel venues – Quincy and the Chapter Place events space at the new $1b Pentridge lifestyle precinct.
At Quincy, delegates can gather for a Cocktail Making Class or Interactive Chef’s Table.
The Cocktail Making Class is a great way to wrap up a day of meetings or fun on an incentive reward trip. Hosted by some of the city's finest bartenders, delegates will be guided through a series of fun and interactive activities, learning how to make the classics or cocktails, Quincy style.
For a small group of up to ten delegates, Quincy’s exclusive interactive Chef’s Table held at their award-winning Salted Egg restaurant is a great experience.
Designed by Executive Chef Adam Woodfield, The Chef's Table is a superb private dining experience with diners well and truly in front of all the action. It celebrates the absolute best that Southeast Asia has to offer and includes a hand-picked selection of boutique wines and cocktails.
Image: Quincy Hotel's Salted Egg restaurant.
Chapter Place at Pentridge
Chapter Place at Pentridge is a one-of-a-kind event space built inside the walls of the heritage-listed former HM Prison Pentridge, now a bustling dining and entertainment precinct.
Event planners have the choice of eight unique event spaces catering for the most intimate six-person executive retreat to multi-day residential conferences for up to 250 delegates.
Christina suggests groups bond with these two unique Chapter Place team activities that don’t shy away from what the prison was but, instead, celebrate the space.
The Real Underbelly
Take a ‘real underbelly’ tour, where delegates will uncover stories of the darker times from someone who lived them. One of Pentridge’s original prison guards will share stories from its early Ned Kelly days, through to personal experiences with some of Melbourne’s most notorious characters. Finish off the tour with drinks and cheese platters around fire pits in the tranquil Reflection Garden (formerly a prison exercise yard).
Image: Original prison guard from Pentridge hosting 'The Real Underbelly' historic tours.
Image: Reflection Garden at Chapter Place at Pentridge
*Travel Time with Wine
Delegates will embark on a journey through time with the venue’s knowledgeable Sommelier team. This is not your typical wine tasting experience!
Guests will taste dramatic differences in aromatic profiles, from classic to the most controversial wines. They’ll gain an understanding of the generational shifts in winemaking. And will encounter three wines from three different eras, along with a fascinating narrative of transformation and vision.
This outstanding experience enables delegates to explore what time does to a wine, with a sensorial journey tasting across multiple vintages, with access to some beautifully aged bottles.
*This is an Interlude conference product. It can also be a premium tier offering within the Chapter Place.
Image: Travel time with wine at Chapter Place at Pentridge - 'The Interlude'.
Ask Melbourne Convention Bureau for assistance
The friendly team at the Melbourne Convention Bureau provides free assistance and support for conferences, meetings, events and incentive groups. Get in touch for advice on venues, tours, business event suppliers, accommodation, transport and more.