South African Hotel Wins Award
Emirates Old Trafford Welcomes Hilton Garden Inn
The crowning glory of Emirates Old Trafford’s redevelopment will be completed in the summer of 2017 when a brand new 150-bedroom four star Hilton Garden Inn opens its doors at the home of Lancashire County Cricket Club.
The hotel, which will be operated by LCCC under a franchise arrangement with Hilton Garden Inn, will replace the Old Trafford Lodge which has served the Club so well since its opening in 1999.
There will be five floors with rooms overlooking the world famous cricket pitch which can be converted to hospitality boxes on match days. There will also be a bar, restaurant, fitness centre and a branded coffee shop.
Portuguese Hotel Joins Representation Company
The award-winning Vidago Palace Hotel has recently joined the UK-based Mason Rose Collection. In the north of Portugal, approximately one hour away from Porto and 15 minutes from the town of Chaves, the hotel was founded in 1910 during the reign of King Carlos I and the iconic Belle Époque era.
In 2010 the hotel was completely redesigned and re-opened, and boasts 70 individually designed rooms and suites, as well as 6 acclaimed restaurants. The hotel offers meeting space in its Conference Centre, this historic building offers 7 meeting rooms, one multi-purpose room, one reception room, one bar lounge and an auditorium in an amphi-theatre, which can seat up to 264 people.
Superlative catering is a key focus of the hotel; the hotel’s multi award-winning consultant chef Rui Paula is recognised for his participation in Masterchef Portugal since 2014, his four outstanding restaurants in Portugal and two books compiling the best of his eye-catching recipes using tasty and fresh ingredients. In 2015 he won the ‘Best Portuguese Cookbook’ award from the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards and this year he was honoured by the Portuguese Gastronomy Academy as the ‘Best in the Art of Cooking’.
Park Plaza’S New Hotel To Open In Nuremberg
Alexandra Palace Came To Visit Us
Queen Elizabeth Ii Centre To The House Of Lords?
There is concern that if the QEII Centre is used exclusively for the lords, then central London would lose its major purpose-built conference venue. The centre currently contributes £122m annually to the UK economy. But no decision has been made yet.
Icc Birmingham Completes Second Phase Of Refurbishment
The International Convention Centre (ICC) has now completed the second phase of its multi-million-pound refurbishment programme.
The ICC celebrates its 25th birthday this year and the venue felt it was time to change the look and feel of the spaces to create an overall better experience for their customers. The ICC has seen halls 8, 9 and 10 refreshed, along with four of its executive meeting rooms which is a key improvement to the venue. The Public Mall has had large format digital screens installed and the WiFi has also been upgraded. The lighting has also been modernised throughout the Mall, registration and foyer areas.
The next stage of the refurbishment will be completed in 2017, and will focus on additional halls and executive meeting rooms.
The Science Museum Launches New Venue
Wonderlab: The Statoil Gallery has been launched at The Science Museum for corporate hire. The £6m gallery is due to open later this month, it is an interactive space featuring more than 50 exhibits in seven zones. The venue can be used in conjunction with other galleries for seated dinners, and on its own it can accommodate 400 guests for an evening reception. Guests can order experiments at the Chemistry bar, watch lightning strike and dance on the revolving solar system under a canopy of stars or take selfies in the infinity mirror.
Visit From Chester Grosvenor
The Chester Grosvenor came in to see us this week. Here are 5 key points about them.
• 5 Red Star Hotel situated in the heart of Chester, Cheshire, built in 1865 and overlooks the famous Eastgate clock – the second most photographed clock in Great Britain
• 68 individually designed bedrooms and suites, all furnished with beautiful fabrics and soft furnishing
• ‘Simon Radley at The Chester Grosvenor’ – retaining its Michelin Star since 1990, only one of 4 venues in the UK to have achieved this accolade
• Up to 10 individual meeting rooms with versatile space up to 250 delegates theatre style.
• Just 2 hours from London Euston, 30 minutes from Liverpool and 45 minutes from Manchester
We Take A Look At Portsmouth
I recently visited Portsmouth to take a look at the venues they have to offer and was really impressed with the city. For event organisers there’s a good range of venues on offer of different standards, which can provide accommodation and meeting space, as well as the Historic Dockyard with the Mary Rose, HMS Victory and HMS Warrior.
Portsmouth Marriott Hotel is easy to get to by car as it’s close to the motorway junction and has free parking. There are a variety of different sized meeting rooms and this hotel is currently refurbishing the bedrooms.
There is a Holiday Inn Express, as well as a Holiday Inn. Both are in the city centre. The Holiday Inn Express has two meeting rooms, the larger one is for 16 boardroom style. This hotel is in a great location on Gunwharf Quays with shops and restaurants around and 5 minutes’ walk to the Historic Dockyard.
No Man’s Fort is in the middle of the Solent (pictured), a really different venue, accessible by boat and would be good for a group which needs complete privacy or an incentive trip. There are only 22 bedrooms and it can be booked for exclusive use.
The Spinnaker Tower has wonderful views and there is a floor which can be used for meetings during the day. At night the three viewing floors can be privatised for a group – lovely for a dinner, or an abseiling event!
Portsmouth Guildhall offers large space, including a theatre/concert hall. There’s a permanent exhibition of the local area’s musical heritage with lots of memorabilia from performers at the Guildhall and Isle of Wight festival.