Month: August 2024

Meet Joanne Horobin, National Account Director at The QHotels Collection. With a career spanning three decades, Joanne’s infectious industry enthusiasm shines as she shares insights into the eclectic portfolio of 19 hotels that make up The QHotels Collection.

From historic properties like Crewe Hall Hotel & Spa to modern venues like Delta by Marriott Nottingham Belfry, join us as we explore the unique charm of the portfolio’s properties, alongside industry trends.

Tell our meetings and event bookers about The QHotels Collection 

We currently have 19 hotels in our portfolio under the umbrella of The QHotels Collection. Within that portfolio are a couple of brands: three Doubletree by Hilton, two Delta by Marriott, and the rest are individual properties. By that, I mean venues such as Oulton Hall Hotel and Dunston Hall Hotel. 

Our three Doubletrees are Westerwood Glasgow, just on the city’s outskirts; Oxford Belfry, just outside Oxford in Thame, and Stratford, in the centre of Stratford-upon-Avon. Our Delta by Marriott properties are the Nottingham Belfry and Cheltenham Chase.

All of the hotels in our collection uphold high service standards. And we’re a mix of different styles, too—we’re not a cookie-cutter group. We’ve got properties that are historical, purpose-built, golf resorts, and even arena space—quite an eclectic mix, and many of them are near major motorway networks. We have a number of QHotels in the Midlands area. Our most popular hotel is Chesford Grange Hotel; due to its Midlands location and size – it can accommodate up to 700 people.

Our Collection includes Delta by Marriott Nottingham Belfry a purpose-built hotel built about 17 to 18 years ago. Again, that’s got a big event space of up to 700. There’s quite a big mixture of different styles as mentioned historic properties. So, Crewe Hall Hotel & Spa, Oulton Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, Dunston Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort, Slaley Hall Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort are those things which come with the modern aspects, and they’ve got that historic fit and quirky, boutique style.

We also boast seven golf courses as part of those resort properties. We are a genuinely eclectic, exciting mix of properties across the UK.

Can the Collection support all event types, then?

Yes, there’s not much the Collection can’t offer—anything from a small meeting for two people to large conferences and events. The majority of our hotels have outdoor space, too—that’s advantageous for planners, with such a focus on wellbeing. Getting outside has many opportunities, whether it’s a full team-building exercise on an events field or just time spent having a meal or meeting in fresh air. 

Some hotels have bigger event spaces than others, yet there’s always the opportunity to have that outdoor experience without being in a major city centre.

What trends are the team at QHotel Collection seeing that you can share with EDGE Venues users? 

We’ve seen a massive increase in the day delegate business. So, we’re discussing that as a separate project and what more we could offer to support those bookers. 

It’s interesting to see how some companies are moving away from at-home working and how that affects things, but also vice versa. There is still a lot of at-home work and flexible working. The most significant thing for us is the day delegate business, which we’ve definitely seen in the first part of this year.

Have you seen any change in seasonal events, like corporate Christmas?

The big corporate Christmas party, where you’d get that booking in for 250 people on a Friday night, is probably not as big as it used to be. But then you do get joiner-party nights, which do really, really well. That’s been a significant change, yet Christmas is still a massive market for us. Especially moving into December when the conference drops off and Christmas festivities kick in.

But yes, it’s changed over the years – rather than being recent. Only some people in a company want to go to a company Christmas party. That’s why some companies have stopped doing a massive one – they weren’t all getting the numbers as it isn’t everybody’s thing.

We’re getting more questions and inquiries about outdoor events or about building outdoor events into a meeting. For example, a half-day meeting could be followed by going outside in the afternoon to do X, Y, and Z. I think that’s a big focus for us because of the outdoor space we can offer bookers and their delegates.

It offers a refresh and reset and is also great for wellbeing. You know, bring people out of the office, take them away from their homework, and let them experience something that’s a mixture of business and wellbeing, maybe team building, too.

And what about the Collection’s approach to sustainability?

Our sustainability policy is available on EDGE Venues on each of our venue profiles. We are part of the Green Tourism initiative, and hotels are being accredited as we speak.

And we’ve always been hot regarding energy efficiencies, especially with our older properties – if you consider our historic properties where we can’t have super-strength double glazing. It was a big thing during COVID and during the lockdown times, and that’s continued, coming out of that period. We have league tables in terms of energy efficiency.

So, it’s a big focus, obviously, from a cost point of view and a sustainability point of view. And our hotels look to source things locally if they can, even homegrown from the gardens to the kitchen, you know?

We are actively playing our part – it doesn’t define our properties – yet it’s one of our responsibilities. For some hotel groups, it’s their main brand focus, yet for us, it’s part of our overall commitment to the business impact.

Does the Collection have any plans on the horizon that you can share?

We’re a steady ship this year. Many of our hotels have been through refurbishment or are currently or will be going through refurbishment.

So Chesford Grange Hotel completed an extensive refurbishment in September of last year, and they had everything bar the kitchen sink refurbed.

Crew Hall Hotel & Spa is just coming towards the end of their refurb in terms of bedrooms, meeting space and public areas.

So it’s a continual thing for us – to focus on our product and look where we need to improve, especially from a meetings and events point of view. We’re always trying to keep ahead of the game!

What do you think sells QHotels Collection to meetings and events bookers? 

We are known in the industry for our solid reputation in meetings and events. If you think about “who do I go to for M&E?”, there are few and far between these days. We’ve got some good-sized event spaces in good locations, which tick many boxes. Plus, we can support multi-location inquiries. 

Tell our readers a little about you and your role. 

I’ve been in the industry for about 30 years, which is a lot of experience. I started on a university placement at a hotel in Cheltenham. I worked in all the departments—housekeeping, kitchen, you know, covering all those key areas—and finally in the sales office. And I thought, “I quite like it in here; this is lots of fun.” 

I returned to university and started my life in a hotel in Evesham as a sales coordinator. Yet the thought of going into proactive sales scared the living daylights out of me. I thought, “Oh no, that’s not for me!” Then, obviously, you grow up, you learn, and during my 20s, I was an event coordinator and made the big jump into sales about 20 years ago now.

I started as a sales manager for Moat House Hotels, looking after two hotels in the northwest, and worked in Manchester for a few years, which I loved. I worked with De Vere Venues for six years and then landed at The QHotels Collection as Director of Sales at Crewe Hall Hotel & Spa, moving into the national team about five years ago.

Meetings and events are my passion – it’s always been my market segment of choice. I enjoy being part of it from a strategy and sales point of view. I’ve got some great clients, and I love being out and meeting people in person.

Sometimes, I ask myself why I’m still doing this when I’m standing at an exhibition, but that feeling is a fleeting moment before somebody comes to talk to me, and then I’m back in the room!

With the hotel industry, I think you either love it or hate it. And if you love it, once you’re in it, you’re in for life. It’s a fantastic environment – for people, teamwork, and experiences – whether from a sales point of view or on property. I’ve done so much and travelled quite a lot as well. So, it’s a career that’s given me some great opportunities.

I like selling our hotels, being with the clients – we plan fam trips, run client events, and attend exhibitions, and I think that’s probably my favourite part of selling hotels! 

I’m building relationships with people, which I think is key, especially in our generation, where it’s so easy to send an email or message. We are in a technological age, but you can’t beat speaking to somebody face-to-face for that interaction with somebody. I think it’s essential, especially in sales – because people buy people, you know, regardless of what your product is, they’ll buy you first. 

And if you’ve got that relationship, you can also be honest with each other. I am part of the National Sales Team; we’ve all been with the company for so many years. Between us, you know, we have those relationships with all our agents.

Is there was a favourite event that you’d ever come across or heard about which took place at one of your properties?

Oh, yes. I never went to this one, but it was amazing. It was an event at Slaley Hall Hotel, Spa & Gold Resort, one of our golf resort properties just outside Newcastle in Northumberland and they hosted a big festival-style event. The client took over the whole hotel. They had yurts and Teepees in the grounds. 

And they had all sorts of music and outdoor activities – it was just one of those events that you just wish you were part of, and it’s always stuck in my mind as it’s a beautiful location. Only 20 minutes from Newcastle – they have the quad biking on-site and archery. It was a real ‘wow’ event – it would have been great to even just have been there serving drinks! 

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about QHotels Collection’s M&E offering?

Well, in my humble opinion, we are the M&E brand of choice. What we have to offer is our variety of hotels, our locations, and our flexibility with our spaces with great service & amazing teams.

Whether indoor or outdoor, we have clusters of hotels that can work together in terms of offering space, too. So, we’re great for a roadshow inquiry because we’re dotted all over the UK. And no matter the type of inquiry, we would never say no – we have the flexibility to suggest options – no matter how wild or wacky it is, you know, we’d love to deliver it, whether it’s involved in all elements of the hotels or just a meeting.

The QHotels Collection venues on EDGE Venues

Let’s take a quick look at each property in The QHotels Collection:

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