This past year has been incredibly exciting with enhancements and changes taking place at the Puente Romano. The most impactful transformation has been the rebranding of the resort with a new name and logo, which now complements its fresh contemporary look and feel. The name Puente Romano Beach Resort Marbella embraces the location and new physical style as a beach resort.
During the past 18 months the 8 restaurants have been transformed and the two Michelin starred Dani Garcia Restaurant has been added.
The hotel has refurbished all the accommodation and banqueting facilities and is currently working on a large garden landscape redesign project.
A brand new Intercontinenal Hotel is due to open next door to the O2, construction has started and is due to be complete by Q3 of 2015. The hotel will have Europe’s largest ballroom holding up to 2500 in a pillar free space. This will be supported by 453 bedrooms.
Other news from The Arora Group … The Arora Park Hotel will soon become an IHG property and Macdonald Savill Court has just been taken over by the brand.
Arora also look after The Sofitel T5 which has 605 bedrooms and 45 meeting rooms with much of the furnishings designed by hugo boss! They can hold up to 1200 theatre style and 117 in tiered seating with the theatre.
Finally … one to watch out for is the sixth floor boardroom at Arora Heathrow which has 180 degree views of the runway and a terrace with its own mini golf course!
Fairmont Hotels Incorporate Social Responsibility into Corporate Events
While plenty of hotels have internal corporate social responsibility platforms, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts is trying to get its corporate guests involved in worthwhile causes as well: The company’s Meetings That Matter program lets event planners booking a meeting of 50 room nights or more donate 10 percent of the room revenue generated by the event to the charity of their choice.
Groups supporting the arts, fighting HIV/AIDS and helping children with disabilities have been popular beneficiaries of this incentive, which has been available at Fairmont hotels for several years. If the event attendees want to get physically involved, they can volunteer to clean up waterways, help local school children or support local craftspeople. Jeff Doane, vice president, sales and marketing at FRHI Hotels & Resorts (the umbrella company for Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel), told International Meetings Review that the company specializes in both “socially responsible and signature events options” that are authentically local to each of the brand’s properties.
These activities, Doane added, can ultimately be beneficial for groups. “We have noted an increase in a variety of team-building activities during meetings and conferences,” he said. “[Planners] are placing a heightened value on ensuring that their teams are aligned and engaged with one another. These activities tend to drive that alignment/closer working relationship.” Fairmont also has a dedicated green conferencing program.
Courtesy of International Meetings Review, 30/04/14
Park Inn Hotels have undergone a major investment programme spending £50m on the UK properties in the last 12 months, plus a further £13m on the Park Inn Heathrow property alone. The investment aims to change people’s perception of the brand by offering a ‘Smart Meetings’ concept. The Smart Meetings concept offers brand standards and consistency and was rolled out across 23 UK properties and over 230 global properties in Feb 2014. All Park Inn hotels now offer free basic WiFi, creative lunches and unlimited tea/coffee.
A little more about Park Inn Hotels…
Park Inn by Radisson Birmingham West is located at J1 of the M5, they have 17 meeting rooms and 168 bedrooms and can offer free parking.
Park Inn Heathrow is the largest of the portfolio with 895 beds and capacity for 700 theatre style. Their ‘Conference Red’ area is being totally refurbished during August 2014 and will be unavailable for event bookers. They will benefit from new carpets, chairs, tables, walls and equipment! They have already upgraded all of their Business Friendly bedrooms and 200 of their standard rooms leaving just 350 standards to be completed by the end of 2014.
Park Inn Northampton has just completed a massive refurbishment of their bedrooms (apart one floor), public areas, meeting rooms, bar, restaurant and lobby. They can hold up to 600 theatre style.
Park Inn Telford is located within 3 hours drive of 70% of the population and just 10 minutes walk from Telford International Centre. They invested £4m in to the property in 2013.
The Hilton Waldorf Hotel in London have just employed a new head chef that will be starting next week, they will also soon be launching Cup Cake making classes for team building activities!
The Hilton London Ealing and Hilton London Hyde Park have spent £10m on each property converting them in to Doubletree branded venues. Both are fresh, modern and are offering very competitive rates!
The Hilton London Park Lane have just launched their Meetings Simplified Package and news hot off the press is that they will soon have a casino onsite!!
Moevenpick Paris Neuilly will complete it’s bedroom development in June 2014 increasing it’s bed stock to 281 rooms. All 281 rooms will have a full refurbishment creating a more modern and contemporary look.
A recent opening for Moevenpick is the Jumeirah Lakes Towers which opened in Dubai during November 2013. This is a boutique hotel with just 144 beds.
Other upcoming new openings include… A brand new hotel in Istanbul which is due to open in the summer of 2014, it will be located on the Golden Horn and will be a boutique property but with meeting space for up to 200. The next to open will be in Marrakech during October 2014, this hotel will have over 400 bedrooms and meeting space for up to 600. And finally 2016 will see the opening of a hotel in Bangkok and two in Abu Dhabi.
The Rand has devalued by almost 25% since the same time last year, which makes it the perfect time to visit South Africa. See below for a snapshot of some amazing South African venues waiting to be discovered…
TANDA TULA SAFARI CAMP & TANDA TULA FIELD CAMP: GREATER KRUGER – A truly authentic under canvas safari experience with all the necessary luxuries. Remember Tanda Tula Field Camp is ideal for exclusive walking safaris. Best combined with White Pearl Resorts and Thanda Private Game Reserve.
KWANDWE PRIVATE GAME RESERVE: EASTERN CAPE – One of the largest private game reserves in South Africa with 2 lodges, 2 safari villas and a wide diversity of wildlife. Kwandwe provides the perfect safari for all travellers and is best combined with Le Quartier Francais.
THANDA PRIVATE GAME RESERVE: KWA-ZULU NATAL – With the very exclusive Thanda Safari Lodge, private residence Villa iZulu and great value Thanda Tented Camp, you are spoilt for choice and guests enjoy Big 5 game viewing within 14 000 ha of Zululand wilderness. Best combined with White Pearl in our ‘Zulus and Pearls’ combo package.
LE QUARTIER FRANÇAIS: WINELANDS – Take full advantage of the Gourmet Capital and enjoy fine dining restaurants within the Valley at great rates. Do not forget that when you stay at LQF all transfer within the Valley are included in the nightly rate! Best combined with either Kwandwe or Tanda Tula.
ELLERMAN HOUSE & ELLERMAN HOUSE VILLAS: CAPE TOWN – Situated in the wind sheltered Bantry Bay, Ellerman House offers incredible views over the Atlantic Ocean. Enjoy wine tastings in the new Wine Gallery and stay in the newly launched Ellerman House Villa Two. Best combined with Singita and Azura.
The Vienna Hilton Plaza is currently undergoing a refurbishment, due to re-open in May 2014, with renovated meeting space available from June 2014, and final completion in December 2014.
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…
