Hotels, Venues & Event news
The Vienna Hilton Plaza is located on the famous Ringstrasse, a short walk from the historic city centre, as well as the Hofburg Convention Centre. The hotel will complement the Hilton Vienna, located on the Stadtpark, and the Hilton Vienna Danube.
Hilton Brighton Metropole benefited from a £350,000 investment in 2013 including a sun terrace which is available for private hire! The refurbishment of the large event spaces is now complete and ensures that the meeting spaces now look clean and fresh but still retain their original features and characteristics. 50% of the beds have been redone with the remainder due to be signed off this year.
Hilton London Heathrow T4 is attached to the terminal by a 6 minutes covered walkway. The hotel has 398 triple glazed bedrooms which are undergoing investment at the moment, 50% will be complete by June 2014 and the remainder will be started in Jan 2015. There are 22 meeting rooms and a small beach which can host cocktails for up to 200 guests!
Hilton Syon Park has recently become a four star property and has many quirky features including a games room! It has 137 beds and is 5 minutes walk from Syon Lane Station.
Hilton London Wembley opened in July 2012 and by the end of April 2014 will be complemented by the new shopping village opening next door. The venue has 361 beds and can accommodate up to 700 theatre style. It even has its own outdoor bar on the top floor which can be hired for BBQ’s for up to 150.
The Doubletree in Bristol had a £5m investment in 2013 including their beautiful restaurant which used to be a glass kiln so as you can imagine has many interesting features! The hotel has 201 beds and 150 parking spaces which can be included in the DDR, they have complimentary WiFi and are 5 minutes walk from Temple Meads.
Four Pillars Hotels are a UK based brand with 6 hotels under their portfolio which received a £11.5m development spend across 2012/2013.
The Cotswold Water Park extended its kitchen and restaurant so that it can now accommodate two large groups at a time, the bedrooms stock has increased to 328 (98 of which are self service apartments) and they now have 9 treatment rooms instead of 6.
The Oxford Thames property has just opened 20 bedrooms bringing the total bedroom stock to 84 with planning permission for a further 24 rooms. The venue is great for confidential meetings as it is so peaceful. There is a moored boat at the back of the hotel which is stationary but is a great venue for drinks receptions up to 45 people. They have also spend £600,000 on a new conservatory!
Tortworth Court is 17 miles from the centre of Bristol located within 30 acres of land. £5m has just been spent on the grade II listed property including investment on substantial equipment in to the main meeting room. By the end of March 2014 all but 50 of the bedrooms will have been refurbished. The have closed their a la carte restaurant which is now available for private hire, this would be complemented very nicely with drinks in their beautiful atrium.
Oxford Spires is 1 mile from Oxford with free parking! In 2013 they converted a house within the grounds that now forms part of the hotel offering 10 top end bedrooms which can be taken over by 1 group.
The Witney Four Pillars was refurbished in 2008 and is described as a ‘home from home’, just 10 minutes from the centre of Oxford and 40 minutes from the midlands. Abingdon is the only 3 star hotel in the group and is located on the business park, they have put in a planning application for more bedrooms which is yet to be approved so watch this space…
There are ten new hotels about to open or start of construction in 2014 in Lisbon. Almost all are located in the city centre and are restorations of existing buildings. Although most are luxury accommodation with four and five star hotels there are also some more economic categories. The hotels are a combination of Portuguese and international investment.
The Baixa district as far as Santa Apolonia is experiencing the greatest demand for buildings to convert. Hotel Portugal is in this area and launched at the end of January. It is a 4* boutique property and this was one of the most anticipated projects in 2014.
Avenida da Liberdade will also have a new hotel this summer, called the Bessa Hotel Lisbon. The owners of the four star Bessa Hotel Porto are expanding the brand to the Portuguese capital with the opening of a hotel with 113 bedrooms.
For the first time in the history of Turismo de Lisboa, the hotel sector in the capital’s region has exceeded the threshold of 10 million overnight stays in a single year, according to 2013 data from INE – National Statistics Institute. This performance of 10.067 million overnights represents an increase of 6.6% over the previous year.
The city of Lisbon has added a new venue for events with the opening of the Nave da Estufa Fria (Cold Greenhouse Nave) with more than 600m² multi-use space for any type of conference or event. The capacity for a banquet is 800 people or 1500 for a drinks reception.
The 1950s building is located next to Parque Eduardo VII on the Avenida da Liberdade and is surrounded by ponds, waterfalls, streams, statues and specimens of plants from all over the world. It is a semi buried building, made of reinforced concrete, with ten arched vaults that are built into the slope of a hill. The interior is lined with small pebbles.
Hyatt Hotels has announced it will launch its first hotel in Austria in 2014 with the opening of the Park Hyatt Vienna on 1 June.
Situated in Vienna’s new pedestrian Goldenes Quartier and on the Am Hof square, the 143-room Park Hyatt Vienna will occupy a 100-year-old building that formerly served as the headquarters of an Austrian Hungarian Monarcy Bank and forms part of Vienna’s First District, which is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
It will offer more than 800sqm of meeting space aimed at small meetings, cocktail receptions and dinners and five boardrooms.
Other facilities will include the Arany Spa with fitness centre, swimming pool and six treatment rooms, and a range of food and beverage options. These include The Bank, an all-day dining restaurant located in the former cashier hall, Pearl bar, the Living Room cigar and whisky lounge, and the Lounge, which will serve afternoon tea and light meals.
The Park Hyatt Vienna will be just a short walk from the city’s top sights including St. Stephan Cathedral, the Hofburg Palace and many historic monuments and museums.
Courtesy of C&IT Magazine, 04/02/2014
Tracy Winsworth, Commercial Director at Trinity said, “Last year, we set aside a weekend in March when the each member of the team visited hotels and meeting venues in a different area of the UK. In the space of two days, every one of the staff had to report on 20 different venues. We stayed overnight at some, dined at others and called in on many more in between. This year we are developing our adventure by visiting destinations in Europe too.”
This ties in with Destination Champion programme, where members of staff become a specialist in a city or region, carry out site visits and work with the hotels and venues to give first-hand advice to clients, as well as providing advice about the logistics and suitability for events. The next Triple Challenge activity will take place in July and each team member will take one weekend to visit 20 venues either in the UK or overseas. Trinity will ask the venues to donate a prize for an online charity auction, which will take place in September.
This year the charities that Trinity is supporting are: The Children’s Air Ambulance – the first and only dedicated helicopter emergency transfer service for seriously ill children and babies; Hospital at Home, offering patients a chance of hospital level care in their own homes in the Peterborough area; Thorpe Hall, a Sue Ryder hospice providing specialist palliative and respite care for people living with incurable illnesses. The charities were chosen by staff at Trinity’s annual conference.
Any hotels or venues that are interested in participating, should contact Tory Griffiths, for more information.
Hilton Hotels very kindly visited the Trinity offices on Monday and treated us to a lunch and learn session. We had presentations from Hilton London Wembley, Hilton London Heathrow Airport, Syon Park, Hilton Brighton Metropole and Doubletree Hilton Bristol City Centre.
Hilton London Wembley opened on 17 July 2012 with 361 beds and a capacity of up to 700 in The Ballroom. They informed us that by the end of April 2014 an outlet shopping village and entertainment complex will open next door giving another reason to head over to Wembley. The hotel has an outdoor bar on the top floor which can be hired exclusively for up to 150 guests. This space is available for drinks, BBQs and buffets.
Hilton Heathrow T4 is connected to the terminal by a covered walkway taking just 6 minutes. The hotel is triple glazed so there is no need to worry about noise from planes despite its proximity to the airport. The hotel has a total of 398 beds and 50% of these will have completed their refurbishment by June 2014, there will then be a break with the remainder commencing their refurb in January 2015. The USP of the hotel has to be their beach on which you can serve BBQs and cocktails for up to 200 guests.
Hilton Syon Park is a four star hotel located 5 minutes walk from Syon Lane Station. The hotel is full of quirky furniture, vibrant colours and interesting event spaces including its very own games room!
Hilton Brighton Metropole underwent a £350k refurbishment last year on its large event spaces. The spaces now look clean and fresh but still retain the original features. 50% of the bedrooms were also refurbished last year with the remainder to be signed off during 2014. An excellent feature of the hotel is its sun terrace which is available for private hire in the summer.
The Bristol Doubletree is 5 minutes walk from Temple Meads Station yet also has 150 parking spaces onsite that can be included within the day delegate package. The hotels restaurant used to be a 17th century glass kiln and provides a unique space for delegate lunches and breakfast.
After two years of planning and negotiations reconstruction work has now been approved and scheduled for the hotel with a long tradition of service in Rainerstrasse in Salzburg, near the old part of town. From 2014 the Crowne Plaza Salzburg – The Pitter will appear resplendent with its very own glass dome.
‘We are very aware of the historical significance of the ‘Pitter’ in the city of Salzburg and have approached the project with great care’, emphasised Martin Gissel, Senior Hotel Manager of the Crowne Plaza, and assured all concerned that redesigning and reconstruction work would do justice to the history and traditions of the building, and to Salzburg’s architectural heritage.
The entrance area, beer garden and outdoor restaurant facilities are also being remodelled
The Pitterkeller is Salzburg’s oldest beer cellar. It is now being extended, but will nevertheless retain its historical character. The fitness area has been moved from the basement to the 6th floor. From autumn 2014, guests will be able to marvel at the view, and to enjoy meals in the new Panorama Restaurant. A further highlight will be provided in the inner courtyard with the construction of a 450 m² ballroom with a glass dome and a glass facade looking out onto the garden.
First changes due on May 1st
From the 1st February until the 30th April 2014 the hotel will be closed due to work being carried out in and around the building. From the 1st May 2014 the entire facility will again be open to the public. In August the panorama restaurant and fitness area reopen, and from October 2014 onwards the dancehall with a glass dome will also be available for hire.
