Alex Jarvis from our team took on the challenge to visit eight London hotels in one day and report back on his findings. From his comprehensive sites inspections, take a read of his full report…
Radisson Blu Edwardian New Providence Wharf
The next stop on Alex’s tour of London was the Radisson Blu Edwardian New Providence Wharf – a purpose-built hotel a short walk from Blackwall DLR station, and also about a 10-15 minute walk from Canary Wharf. The hotel is also almost opposite the Thames from the Millennium Dome.
The hotel has a nice airy lobby, with the meeting rooms located upstairs to the right as one enters the property. The meeting rooms are fresh and functional, without any bold colours, and most enjoy natural daylight. The meeting rooms (and the hotel as a whole) is decorated in a sleek corporate style, with the bedrooms of a similar feel. Some of the bedrooms have lovely views across the Thames.
“I enjoyed my visit to the hotel, as it is a nice modern property that appears to be well maintained, in a pleasant modern redeveloped area relatively close to Canary Wharf. I thought the hotel could work well for a mix of events, as well as supporting with accommodation for events at the ExCel centre.”
The Crystal
Continuing on his tour of London, Alex has shared his experience on The Crystal – the home of a permanent exhibition on environmentally-friendly urban development, in a purpose-built property that is one of the most sustainable event venues in the UK, having won several awards.
The Crystal houses dedicated meeting/function rooms, as well as a fixed auditorium. The building itself opens onto a large airy atrium space with lots of glass, called The Street, which is utilised as a catering area for the largest meeting spaces, and also works well for either drinks receptions or sit-down dinners.
Having entered the building, the meeting rooms are to the left of this area, the exhibition space is to the right. The auditorium was nice and fully furnished, while some of the meeting rooms on the first floor have great views over the area (including views of the cable car across the Thames). The exhibition space can also be used for drinks receptions, although this would be with the attendees dispersed through the exhibition rather than all in one space.
Despite being a fixed exhibition, part of the features can be personalised with corporate messages or a particular colour scheme, which is a nice touch for some events. Being close to the ExCel means there are lots of accommodation options within an easy walk of the venue too, which can be a key selling point.
Hilton Canary Wharf
The Hilton Canary Wharf is a modern purpose-built hotel just a short walk (5 minutes) from Canary Wharf, although the closest DLR is South Quay, just a little further down from the hotel. The hotel is a tower, with the meeting rooms located on the first floor, most of which have natural daylight.
The meeting rooms (and the public spaces too) are decorated in an inoffensively corporate manner. The largest meeting room does not have natural daylight, but has a large dedicated pre-function area, that can be used for registration, catering or exhibitions, that has lots of natural light. The bedrooms are nice and spacious too.
Although the hotel is located in a busy area, and has a branch of the DLR running directly outside, the hotel has double glazing on all of their windows so that there is very little to no noise disruption.
Novotel Canary Wharf
A very recent newly-built skyscraper hotel, the Novotel is the tallest hotel-only building in London, at 39 stories. On his tour of London, Alex stopped by to report back on his thoughts on the hotel…
The hotel doesn’t resemble a typical Novotel, it has been decorated throughout with a strong boutique theme to reflect the maritime trading heritage of its location. Throughout the hotel there are touches like photographs of the former Docklands, chains and ropes used as decorations etc.
The nine or so meeting rooms are all located on the first and second floor, all but one are of a small size, and all of these smaller rooms have fixed layouts (mostly boardrooms, a few informal layouts), and all have been decorated to fit a particular theme. E.g. the Logs room with wooden furniture. The largest meeting room, the East India, does have a more flexible layout and is of a medium size. The bedrooms are lovely, and mostly have fantastic views (as you can guess; the higher up the better the view), and have been decorated in the same fashion.
The hotel’s best feature is the Bokan restaurant, located on the 37th, 38th and 39th floors of the hotel (the top floors), with fantastic views over London. Parts of the restaurant can be hired for events, down to small semi-private areas, to a total buy-out. The 39th floor also enjoys a medium-sized outside terrace that can be hired for dinners & drinks receptions.
I visited eight venues in total on the day I visited the Novotel, and I would happily say the Novotel was my personal favourite of the day. I very much enjoyed the views, the restaurant is lovely, and the boutique meeting rooms which have a lot of personality, but still possess all the corporate gadgets that you would expect for a modern hotel.
De Vere Canary Wharf
Stop 6 of his tour of London and Canary Wharf, Alex took in more of the corporate experience that De Vere Canary Wharf has to offer meeting planners…
The De Vere Canary Wharf is located about a 5 minute walk from Canary Wharf, off of Westferry Circus. The venue is also a short walk from Westferry DLR, and is also close to Canary Wharf Pier for Thames Riverboat services.
The venue is very corporate, clean and functional, and is built around a large central atrium which provides all of the meeting rooms with lots of natural daylight. All of the meeting rooms I saw where very white and modern (as is the venue as a whole).
The venue is very much a ‘it is what it says on the tin’ venue – it is well designed for day-time corporate events looking to be close to Canary Wharf in a nice, modern, corporate style venue with a large capacity and lots of breakout rooms if required.
The Doubletree – Tower Hill
Coming away from Canary Wharf, Alex headed over to Tower Bridge to see what the hotels here had to offer. First stop – The Doubletree Tower Bridge. Here’s his take on property…
The Doubletree Tower Bridge is a modern purpose-built hotel less than a five minute walk from Tower Hill station, and Tower Gateway DLR station, and the Tower of London itself. The hotel opens onto a large spacious atrium which is about two/three stories high, with a large glass skyroof flooding the area with natural daylight.
The meeting rooms are located upstairs with a large mezzanine area overlooking the atrium. This mezzanine area is used for catering (either set times or free-flowing) and registration if needs be, there is also some soft seating for informal breakouts. The meeting rooms are nice and fresh, with lots of natural daylight, overlooking the neighbouring streets. The bedrooms are decorated in a nice corporate manner, and are of a decent size.
Perhaps the hotel’s nicest feature is the Savage Garden Restaurant, located at the top of the hotel on the 12th floor, with views towards the Thames, the Tower of London, and the Shard. The restaurant has several areas that can be completely privatised (including two private rooms), either for daytime meetings, or more typically for drinks receptions, dinners and parties. The views are lovely, and include some iconic London sights.
Qbic London
Heading over to Aldgate, Alex stopped of at the Qbic London and here’s his take on the hotel…
The Qbic London is located just off Altab Ali Park in the Aldgate/Brick Lane area of the City of London. For fashionistas, the hotel is a very short walk from the famous Brick Lane Market, and is less than a five minute walk from either Aldgate East or Aldgate Stations.
The hotel opens onto a cosy informal reception area, which is also a lounge, bar and the hotel’s main restaurant. The hotel has just three meeting rooms, two of which are directly off the restaurant (and can be combined with each other), both enjoy natural daylight. They are of a small size, together they can fit around 30 delegates. There is also a smaller meeting room downstairs on the lower ground floor that does not have natural daylight, this is the hotel’s last-let room for meetings.
The hotel as a whole is decorated in a stylish modern way with lots of colour and informal touches, the design is to not be a typical corporate-feeling hotel, and instead to be more orientated towards a creative, youthful atmosphere. The bedrooms are slightly unique, they all have a pod built inside them that encompasses the bed and bathroom, these pods are placed into empty bedrooms and built from the inside.
The hotel is one of London’s most sustainable hotels, and has a key focus on being as green-friendly as possible. A lot of hotels pay lip-service to being green, but the Qbic is one of the most consistently environmentally friendly properties I have visited, which is impressive for a densely urban location. The décor is very modern, funky, and youthful, and is well suited for clients looking for a venue which reflects those attributes.
The Clapham Grand – the final stop
As Alex’s tour nears the end, his final stop was to see The Grand Clapham. Here’s his thoughts on what the venue has to offer…
The Clapham Grand is a traditional theatre over one hundred years old, and now operates as a nightclub, live music venue, cinema, and also takes bookings for private hire events. The theatre is directly opposite Clapham Junction station for National Rail and London Overground Services. The venue has a large stalls on the ground floor, with a balcony and boxes overlooking, as well as a private bar that can be hired separately. The venue has been decorated in a modern manner, albeit in a traditional building.
I enjoyed visiting the venue, although the lack of a nearby Underground Station may make it relatively difficult to access by London’s standards. The venue could work well for clients looking for something unusual, or a corporate away-day or creative team building style activities.
