Month: December 2018

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Hotels and venues opening in 2019

Hard Rock Hotel

It’s always exciting to hold your event somewhere new and we’re always looking for something different. So here’s a quick look at some of the hotels and venues that are due to open next year.

In the UK …

  • Belmond Cadogan on Sloane Street will reopen on 1st February after being closed for four years
  • The Hard Rock Hotel, formerly the Cumberland at Marble Arch, will have meeting space and 1,000 bedrooms
  • Battersea Arts Centre is reopening in February after a three-year renovation
  • The Science Museum will open a purpose-built event space, Illuminate
  • The Standard London, near St Pancras will have 266 bedrooms
  • Bankside Hotel, Autograph Collection, a new design-led boutique hotel in London  
  • DoubleTree by Hilton London Kensington is due to open in February will have 230 bedrooms
  • The Dixon, Tower Bridge, Autograph Collection, a mix of heritage and contemporary character
  • Manhattan Loft Gardens Design Hotel in Stratford, with 150 bedrooms and a roof garden that overlooks the Olympic Park
  • The Prince Akatoki, formerly The Arch London in Marylebone, a 5* hotel from a Japanese brand
  • Hampton by Hilton London Park Royal is due to open at the end of 2019, with 162 bedrooms
  • Monkey Island Estate Hotel, at Bray in the middle of the Thames will have four meeting rooms
  • HGI London Heathrow Terminal 2 is due to open in May, with 360 bedrooms
  • The Langley, Buckinghamshire, a boutique hotel in a former royal hunting ground
  • Hilton Garden Inn Abingdon Oxford is due to open in February with 146 bedrooms
  • Courtyard Oxford South, a 4-star hotel with good access to the A34 at Milton
  • DTbH Birmingham is due to open in September with 171 bedrooms
  • Delta Hotel in Cheltenham opening in June
  • Hampton by Hilton Stockton on Tees will open in February, with 128 bedrooms
  • Hampton by Hilton Leeds City Centre is due to open in July, with 192 bedrooms
  • Doubletree by Hilton Harrogate – Majestic opening in October, with 170 bedrooms
  • Moxy Edinburgh Airport opening in January
  • The Fife Arms, a former coaching inn in the Scottish Higlands at Braemar 
  • Hampton by Hilton Edinburgh Airport with 240 bedrooms, opening in January
  • Hilton Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre is due to open in June, with 200 bedrooms
Monkey Island Hotel

And a bit further afield …

France

  • Chateau du Grand-Luce, a 20-bedroom hotel in the Loire Valley
  • The Hôtel du Palais, Biarritz, a Hyatt hotel due to open in the 2nd half of 2019

Norway – Oslo

  • Amerikalinjen will have a winter garden, open fire and jazz bar

Spain – Madrid

  • The Mandarin Oriental will open at the end of 2019, it was previously the Ritz Hotel
  • Riu Plaza de España is opening in June 2019, with meeting space for 1,500 people and 585 bedrooms
  • The Kimpton Barcelona is due to open at the end of 2019, near the La Rambla with 156 bedrooms

Italy

  • Iberostar Fontana di Trevi close to the the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon

Malta – Valetta

  • Iniala Malta is a contemporary boutique hotel made from four townhouses, with a rooftop restaurant and plunge pool

Madeira

  • Savoy Palace is a 5* hotel with 325 bedrooms, due to open in the Spring
Savoy Palace Hotel view

Portugal

  • Longevity Health & Wellness Hotel Alvor in the Algarve is due to open in June, with 70 bedrooms

Croatia

  • Grand Park, Rovinj is a 5* hotel, opening in April

Cyprus

  • The Radisson Larnaca Beach Resort is due to open in the autumn, with 202 bedrooms

Singapore

  • Raffles has been undergoing refurbishment for 18 months and will have three new restaurants

Hong Kong

  • The Rosewood in 43 floors of a skyscraper on Victoria Harbour is due to open in March
  • K11 Artus will have balconies, which is rare in Hong Kong
  • St Regis on Hong Kong Island
  • Soho House due to open in the summer

USA

  • The Hoxton, Chicago will open in the spring with 175 bedrooms, followed by a hotel in New York
  • Hilton Washington DC National Mall, will open in February with 11 meeting rooms and 367 bedrooms

This is by no means a complete list of hotels and venues opening next year, but just to give an idea of what’s in the pipeline.

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Moxy Edinburgh to open early 2019

Marriott has confirmed that its new Moxy Edinburgh hotel will open in January, the new 230-bedroom hotel at Edinburgh Airport is the first opening in the city for Marriott’s lifestyle brand, with plans in the pipeline for a second in the Fountainbridge area to open in 2020.

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CitizenM opens in Copenhagen

First Nordic opening from the design brand CitizenM is 238-room overlooking the historic city centre in Denmark’s capital. The property is located in the Dagmarhus building at H.C. Andersens Boulevard 12, and is the brands 14th hotel – the first in the Nordic region – in the centre of Copenhagen

It has four event spaces, with the largest sitting up to 12 for half-day and full-day bookings.

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Buyers fear long haul brexit challenges

A Business Travel Show survey has revealed that Brexit is not only the biggest challenge facing buyers next year, it will continue to cause them problems as far ahead as 2022.

For the first time in four years, cost-cutting was knocked off the top spot of the list of forthcoming challenges to be replaced by Brexit, which shot up from fourth place –its home for the last two years. Airbus UK travel manager Geoff Allwright even admitted that Brexit is the one thing that ‘keeps him awake at night’. However, our poll of 134 European buyers showed that 65 per cent of travel managers don’t have a post-Brexit plan in place.

While pricing, the value of sterling, globalisation and technology also make the 2019 top ten, duty of care and traveller risk have dropped out of the chart completely after taking the second slot for the last two years.

In line with the Business Travel Show’s Travel 2022 theme for 2019, buyers were also asked what they expect to be the biggest challenges facing them in three years’ time. Similarly, to the 12-month forecast, Brexit and cost-cutting topped the table. Visas also made an appearance at number seven, mirroring the general concern about the impact that Brexit will have on the free and easy movement of people across borders.

“Whether for or against the UK leaving the Europe Union, the last few months have been particularly frustrating and baffling for both sides leaving everyone possibly even more uncertain about any potential outcomes than they were a year or two ago. Because of that, I think our poll captures the Zeitgeist perfectly and it doesn’t surprise me that –right now –buyers are more concerned about Brexit than cost cutting.”


Business Travel Show group event director David Chapple

Additionally, when asked the follow up question, “What will the biggest change in the way you buy/manage travel in the next 12 months be?” buyers responded as follows, with ‘no change’ firmly at number one.

The Business Travel Show is the leading event in Europe for corporate travel professionals, taking place 20-21 February 2019 at Olympia London. Buyers can register for a free visitor pass here.

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IHG’s Voco Dubai to Open in 2019

Voco Dubai will open its doors in the first quarter of 2019 as the first Voco hotel in the region, parent company InterContinental Hotels Group announced on Thursday. Located on Shaikh Zayed Road, which is home to most of Dubai’s signature skyscrapers, Voco Dubai will be set in what is currently the Nassima Royal Hotel. Designed for both business and leisure travellers, the rebranded property will have 471 guest rooms that overlook either Sheikh Zayed Road or the beach. Amenities will include a business centre, an outdoor swimming pool, a gymnasium, a spa, three restaurants and more than 10,000 square feet of meeting space.

IHG launched the upscale Voco brand in June, aiming to combine the informality and charm of an individual hotel with the quality and reassurance of a global and respected brand. Properties will showcase a bold, distinctive identity, informal service style and thoughtful touches, with three specific features in each Voco hotel: a “Come On In” welcome experience that includes fast check-in with a locally inspired welcome treat; “Me Time” guest rooms that encourage guests to take a moment for themselves with amenities like plush bedding, rejuvenating aerated showers and Internet-connected smart TVs; and “Voco Life” bar and lounge spaces that infuse Voco hotels with a sociable vibe

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The Meetings Show welcomes creative papers for 2019 education programme

The Meetings Show is calling on event professionals to get creative when submitting papers for its 2019 education programme.

Conference producer Erica Keogan will curate a large proportion of the show’s 50 hours of free educational sessions but industry experts and those with a passion for sharing their knowledge are also invited to put forward ideas for sessions.

The 2019 education programme will be centred around the event planning journey, covering everything from conception to legacy, and is designed to provide attendees with information on the latest trends and challenges, as well as exploring what may happen in the future.

Alongside suggestions for topics, Keogan, who first encouraged industry involvement last year, is calling for the most creative ideas for session delivery.

The show wants to encourage active learning in a variety of different formats, with no constraints when it comes to how sessions are delivered, what technology is used, where the sessions take place or who they are delivered by.

Keogan said: “We’re looking to tap into the talent and insight of meetings and events professionals to help create something really inspiring for our educational programme this year.

“We are calling for those submitting papers to think outside-the-box and come up with some inventive ways to deliver their ideas. We’d love to hear all your ideas, no matter how unusual or outlandish they may seem.”

Those looking to participate in the education programme when the show returns to Olympia London on 26-27 June for its seventh edition should provide a proposed title, which part of the event planning journey it relates to, and, in no more than 250 words, a brief synopsis of what delegates will discover by attending their proposed talk.

The proposal should include details of how the talk or informative session will be delivered. To submit a proposal, complete the application form online here .

Successful applicants may also be offered the chance to speak on a panel debate.

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What behaviour is and isn’t acceptable at your event?

group of delegates drinking

There’s been a lot of publicity about sexual harassment and the #metoo movement in the last year, but how would you handle a complaint of this sort if it happened at your event?  What about a conference attendee smoking, vaping, carrying a gun or taking marijuana? In some places, this behaviour is permitted and it is important that we all know how to deal with these situations if they arise.

Sexual harassment is not unique to the meetings industry, but meetings do offer opportunities for abusive behaviour. You could get a complaint about any activity that an individual or group considers inappropriate and at meetings people often present themselves differently, as they are away from home, family and in unusual circumstances outside the office environment. Other issues which could offend are social media postings, suitable clothing and verbal comments, such as racist, anti-lgbt etc

inappropriate behaviour

Marijuana is now legal in Canada, as well as in 10 states in the US: California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Michigan, Washington, Oregon and Alaska. If you are holding an event here, you need to anticipate that attendees may want to use and what can be done to make sure that it is done safely. As this is a relatively recent development the liability laws have not been developed, as has been the case with alcohol.

EDGE Venues has looked at some items that you might want to consider when planning your event.  If you’re organising an internal conference, then your company standards may cover some of these items, but if it is an external event then there are additional things to consider.

Checklist:

  • Outline what behaviour is unacceptable at meetings and events
  • Do attendees have a clear understanding of what is permitted and not permitted eg harassment, excessive drinking and other conduct
  • Issue instructions for an attendee to report improper conduct
  • Set up procedures for how you will investigate and respond if a complaint or allegation is made
  • If misconduct is found, plan what corrective action will be taken
  • Document all reported incidents, investigations and results
  • Check your insurance cover and any policy issues
  • Check your suppliers’ insurance cover and make sure these are adequate
  • Check national and state laws and regulations, make sure they are enforced
  • Have adequate security
  • Minimize opportunities for attendees to cause harassment, injuries or damage.

Accusations may be as harmful as proved bad conduct, as the perception of a badly managed event or one with a reputation for inappropriate behaviour will deter delegates from attending and will have a long term detrimental effect.

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The UK’s first nhow hotel to open in 2019

nhow London, a 190-room hotel under NH Hotel Group’s design and lifestyle brand, is set to open in London in summer 2019. The property will be located between the City, Islington and Shoreditch, within the ‘250 City Road’ development, the four-star hotel will be NH Hotel Group’s second property in the UK.

The eight-storey hotel will feature 190 rooms, a restaurant, bar, gym, networking spaces and several meeting rooms as well a ‘Big Ben’ rocket sculpture being one of the lobby’s most striking elements. re.

The restaurant – The Bell – will be an avant-garde version of a traditional British pub, with green leather seating coiling through the room and tables featuring cockney rhyming slang. 

The nhow London is due to open in the summer of 2019.

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Good Hotel London – 2 years of doing good

Two years ago, the unique floating platform that is Good Hotel was pulled across the North Sea from Amsterdam to find its new home at the historic Royal Victoria docks in East London. Good Hotel London is good by name, and good by nature – its inspirational social business model means that  Good Hotel not only donates all of profits to charitable causes, but it also hosts its own Good Training programme.

Good Hotel London works with local authority Newham Workplace to identify people in the local area that are in need of skills and training. It offers these people, regardless of background, a fresh start. Once accepted onto the programme, they are paid to train with Good Hotel for three months, gaining skills in hospitality and catering, alongside self-confidence and interpersonal skills. After completion, Good Group works hard to place them in permanent employment. So far, Good Hotel London has seen 68 people taking part in the Good Training programme in London, with almost 75% going on into further employment.

As for charitable donations, in its first year, Good Hotel donated $80,000, and is now structurally working towards being able to donate $500,000 per year to its Guatemalan NGO partner, Ninos de Guatemala. Ninos de Guatemala is building schools and directly facilitating the education of 500+ students in some of the poorest rural communities in Guatemala. Good Hotel is constantly seeking good partnerships, in 2018 Good Hotel London became home to London’s first Seabin – a floating rubbish bin designed to be placed at marinas, docks and commercial ports as a partial solution to the current global littering problem. Good Hotel always tries, where possible, to source locally and sustainably.

Whether it’s your next breakfast, lunch or dinner, event, or hotel stay – staying with Good Hotel means that you directly help in their efforts to rebuild communities in need, and give disadvantaged people new opportunities to succeed. Stay Good, do Good.