Taking a business meeting off-site can help ensure that important decisions get made. But sometimes just choosing where to meet can be a tough decision.

Do you go to the place with a convenient location? An interesting menu? One that offers a tour of the local museum or a luxury spa?

Before deciding on the extras, it is important to take care of the essentials. These days the most essential amenity a meeting location must have is Internet access — the faster and easier, the better.

"Everybody needs to be engaged and plugged in," said Cathleen Wardley, general manager of Boston Marriott Peabody. In the last few years, she said, the hotel has added more Internet access points in the rooms and wireless coverage in the common areas.

Natalie Lindsay, director of sales and marketing for Marriott north of Boston, said taking care of the essentials is the Marriott's focus. It's for business people who want to get their work done and don't care about fancy extras.

"It is a place where business people can do business," Lindsay said.

Of course, some business people try to squeeze some fun or culture into their trip.

The Sheraton Frencroft and Coco Keys Resort on the Danvers-Middleton line offers a large indoor water park for guests of the hotel. In between meetings, professionals can trade their business suits for bathing suits or relax in the resort's hot tub and spa.

In Salem, the Hawthorne Hotel offers a historic angle, and some packages include visits to the Peabody Essex Museum, The House of the Seven Gables, and trolley rides through Salem's famous streets.