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La Banque, La Voute and Ravisloe mix history with atmosphere

An interview with Meg Sakka, hotel manager at La Banque Hotel.

Q: Where are the properties located?

A: La Banque, La Voute and Ravisloe Golf Club are located in Homewood. The hotel and bistro are at 2034 Ridge Road, just off the corner of Ridge Road and Dixie Highway. Ravisloe Golf Club is 18231 Park Avenue in Homewood.

Q: What does the venue have to offer when it comes to corporate meetings?

A: La Banque and La Voute are both excellent options for corporate meetings. La Banque is a boutique hotel with 18 rooms - luxury rich in sophistication. Every bedroom in the hotel has been beautifully designed with warm, wonderful and calm interiors and sumptuous linens, towels and robes.

Every bedroom has work stations, complimentary high speed internet and Keurig coffee makers. La Banque's conference room features complete A/V materials with an 80-inch flat screen HD TV, Apple TV with an HDMI port, centerpieces, white boards, easels and more.

La Voute is much more intimate, hosting up to 10 people in the private dining area of the "the vault" or you can do a complete hotel/restaurant buyout holding up to 150 people in the restaurant with world class chefs at the helm in La Voute (with nearly any catering requests possible for both locations).

La Banque, also, just recently, received the Triple AAA 4 Diamond Award, the only hotel in the south and southwest suburbs with this distinction.

Q: Tell us one interesting fact about the venue that most may not know?

A: The names of the hotel and restaurant both pay homage to the building's past and present. La Banque and La Voute are French for the 'the bank' and 'the vault' and both give a nod to the building's original purpose as well as the French Canadian heritage of their owner Claude Gendreau.

Q: Describe the atmosphere and history of the building.

A: La Banque and La Voute are both nestled inside what once was the Homewood State Bank from 1925 until 2013. In keeping with its soul, many pieces of the old bank were incorporated into the venues. The original vault door is signed by then FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. It leads to the private dining room and many safety deposit boxes have been restored to their original beauty and repurposed as room numbers and shelving over The Gold Bar.

Q: What attracts clients when booking meeting space?

A: The meeting space at La Banque is a great space to get away from the distractions of a company's office and allows for privacy as well as group interaction and creativity. With La Voute just steps away and featuring both an award winning executive chef and some of Chicagoland's best mixologists for bartenders, clients can have lunch catered or they can decompress in the restaurant.

In addition, just 5 minutes away is our sister property in the award winning Ravisloe Golf Club, which in 2016 was ranked the No. 9 golf course in Illinois by Golfweek Magazine. A Donald Ross designed course, Ravisloe has been one of the true gems of Chicagoland since 1901 and has been opened as a public course since 2009. With a hotel, restaurant and golf course all linked together the possibilities for our clients are endless. Given our proximity to the Metra station, we can even pick up any clients and deliver them to La Banque, La Voute or Ravisloe and transport them in between.

Q: What about eco-friendly practices?

A: Our HVAC systems are highly rated for their efficiency. The lighting is exclusively from LED sources. We use timers or sensors for lighting, heating and cooling. We use water efficient shower heads and faucets as well as dual flush toilets. Products used in our laundry area are approved by the EPA. We use consumable paper products made from recycled paper.

Q: What size groups can you accommodate?

A: We are able to accommodate small groups and can accommodate up to 150 people for dinners.

Q: What is one hospitality secret you can share with our readers?

A: It's no real secret, listen to the customer and give them what they want. Treat them well and they will be happy.

Q: How is social media changing the industry?

A: Social media isn't just changing the industry, it's changing the world. It has become the avenue in which people get their news, share their opinions and both discover and promote new businesses and ideas. Everyone and everything is connected these days.

Meg Sakka
La Banque and La Voute, are nestled inside what once was the Homewood State Bank from 1925 until 2013.
Ravisloe Golf Club has been a Chicagoland gem since 1901. It was opened to the public in 2009.
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